What are push notifications?
Push notifications are messages a fitness app can send to a member's phone without them opening it, and they are the only channel an operator has that reaches a member on a day they were not already thinking about training.
The most valuable and most abused channel
Nothing else an operator owns lands on a member's lock screen. Email is ignored, posters are only seen by people already in the building, and social media reaches whoever the algorithm chooses. A push notification arrives.
Which is exactly why it gets squandered. Most gym notifications are promotional, generic and sent to everybody, which trains members to disable them. Once permission is withdrawn it is almost never granted again.
Ask at the right moment
The standard mistake is requesting permission on first launch, before the member has any reason to say yes. Asking after the first useful moment, such as a completed first session or a booked class, with one line explaining what will be sent, produces dramatically better opt-in.
The permission is a one-time asset. Spending a member's notification permission in the first ten seconds of the relationship is the most common unforced error in fitness apps.
What members accept
Things about them. A booking confirmation, a class starting soon, a waitlist place becoming available, a coach reply, a check-in due, a personal best. All of these are specific, timely and welcome.
What they reject is broadcast promotion. A reasonable rule is that a notification should be about this member and something they can act on now, and anything that fails both tests belongs in email.
Questions operators ask
Four that come up on almost every call about push notifications.
After the member has experienced something useful, not on first launch. A completed first session or a first booking is the right moment, paired with one sentence saying what you will send. Opt-in rates differ substantially between the two approaches.
Guided by relevance rather than a schedule. Transactional messages about the member's own bookings, coach and progress can be frequent because they are wanted. Promotional broadcasts should be rare, and in many businesses should not be sent at all.
Anything specific to the member and actionable now. Class reminders, waitlist openings, coach replies, check-in prompts and personal bests. The common thread is that the member would have wanted to know.
Rarely, which is why the first ask matters so much. Once a member has turned them off, the app can explain the benefit and link to settings, but very few people go back. Treat the permission as something spent once.
Building a fitness platform?
Tell us where you are and what your members are doing. We will tell you what we would do about it.
Start a conversationRelated terms
The terms that come up in the same conversations as push notifications.
Member Engagement
Member engagement is the degree to which members actually use a platform rather than merely having it installed, usually measured through sessions...
What members touchCoach Messaging
Coach messaging is the direct line between a member and the person coaching them, inside the app rather than in a personal inbox, so that the...
What members touchMember Onboarding
Member onboarding is the first session a member has with your app: the questions you ask, the plan they receive, and whether they reach a first...