Push Notifications &

Mobile Engagement:
2021 Benchmarks
ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS TO ASSESS
& ELEVATE YOUR MOBILE STRATEGY

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 1

Table of Contents

Introduction 3
Industry Verticals 4
How to Read the Data 5
Opt-in Rates for Push Notifications 6
Opt-in Rates for Push Notifications: Overall Performance - Android & iOS 7
Opt-in Rates for Push Notifications: Performance By Vertical - Android 8
Opt-in Rates for Push Notifications: Performance By Vertical - iOS 9
Direct Open Rates for Push Notifications 10
Direct Open Rates for Push Notifications: Overall Performance - Android & iOS 11
Direct Open Rates for Push Notifications: Performance by Vertical - Android 12
Direct Open Rates for Push Notifications: Performance by Vertical - iOS 13
Average Monthly Push Notifications Per User 14
Average Monthly Push Notifications Per User: Overall Volume - Android & iOS 15
Average Monthly Push Notifications Per User: Volume by Vertical - Android & iOS 16
Methodology 17
Conclusion & Additional Resources 18
About Airship 19

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 2

Introduction
As the leader in mobile engagement solutions, Airship works with leading brands from across industries and around the
globe to help them connect with customers on any channel — from apps and SMS, to email, web notifications and more —
at the right place, at the right time.
Airship is also the world’s most trusted provider of push notification solutions. Last year we delivered more than 600
billion push notifications to more than 2 billion users, giving us the most robust benchmark data available for mobile
marketers and brands.

In the pages ahead, we share essential benchmarks to help you assess and refine your mobile engagement strategy, and
answer questions such as:

• How do my app’s mobile engagement rates compare to those of my industry peers?

• What’s the delta between average and top performers?
• How does message response vary by mobile operating system?
• How many push notifications do my industry peers send their customers?
Check it out, and get in touch to learn more about how Airship can help you assess and enhance your push strategy.

BENCHMARKS FOR HIGH, MEDIUM & LOW PERFORMERS:

To offer performance benchmarks, we reported results on the 10th, 50th
and 90th percentiles for all apps and verticals.
• High: 90th percentile
• Medium: 50th percentile
• Low: 10th percentile

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 3

Industry Verticals
EDUCATION MEDICAL, HEALTH & FITNESS
Apps that provide training and learning opportunities for consumers, and Apps for fitness tracking, health management, pharmacy, health reference.
apps for schools or learning institutions. Total apps in vertical: 86
Total apps in vertical: 147
NONPROFIT, CHARITIES, FOUNDATIONS
ENTERTAINMENT Apps that provide an interface between the end user and a nonprofit
Apps that provide entertainment in the form of video streaming, music, entity, charity, foundation, and/or apps whose purpose is to generate
movies, TV, radio, as well as artist apps. revenue for a cause.
Total apps in vertical: 184 Total apps in vertical: 34

FINANCE & INSURANCE RETAIL

Apps to manage finances, banking, investment, insurance. Grocery, discount/deals, specialty retail (i.e., greeting cards or toys),
Total apps in vertical: 601 fashion, big box/warehouse.
Total of apps in vertical: 318
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Apps managed by restaurants and beverage companies as well as recipe/ SOCIAL
cooking content apps. Networking, messaging, dating, communication.
Total apps in vertical: 117 Total apps in vertical: 78

GAMING & GAMBLING SPORTS & RECREATION

Free and paid gaming apps and apps that allow you to place bets/gamble. Team apps, sports news, recreation.
Total apps in vertical: 209 Total apps in vertical: 255

MEDIA TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION

Apps that include national & breaking news, local news, newsstands, Airline, automotive, hotel, bookings, rail, vacation rental, public transportation.
books, magazines and radio. Total apps in vertical: 108
Total apps in vertical: 1,226
UTILITY & PRODUCTIVITY
Navigation, reference, weather, other tools for productivity.
Total apps in vertical: 263

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 4

How to Read the Data
The benchmarks were broken down into high

76.5%

76.1%
(90th), medium (50th) and low percentiles (10th).
The 50th percentile number is the median for
the vertical. The 10th percentile number means

67.5%
10% of the apps had a lower value, while the 90th
HIGH - 90th Percentile:

60.0%
percentile number means 10% of apps had a
10% of apps in this vertical

57.1%
higher value.
have a higher value

For example, in this graph showing direct opt-in

MEDIUM - 50th Percentile: The median

44.5%
rates, if you are a media brand with a 60% direct
value. 50% of apps in this vertical have
opt-in rate on iOS, you compare with the top 10%
a lower value, 50% have a higher value.

36.0%
of apps in this study and can feel confident that
you have some of the highest direct opt-in rates

29.8%
in your vertical. LOW - 10th Percentile: 10%

25.9%
of apps in this vertical
have a lower value
However, if your direct opt-in rates are less than
29%, you’re in the bottom 10% for your vertical
and there’s significant room for improvement.

Questions about this data? Feel free to get Media Medical, Nonprofit,
in touch! Health & Charities &
Fitness Foundations

LOW MEDIUM HIGH

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 5

Opt-in Rates for
Push Notifications

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 6

Opt-in Rates for Push Notifications
W H AT I T M E A N S
The percentage of an app’s audience that has
opted in to receive push notifications. This
benchmark is based on monthly opt-in rates
averaged over 12 months.
Overall Performance - Android & iOS
W H Y I T M AT T E R S
Push notification opt-ins are essential to deepening
LOW MEDIUM HIGH
engagement with your customers. When app users
opt in, brands can reach out beyond the confines
of the app to engage people right on their device
48.9% 81% 94.5%
lock screens—the most visible real estate available!
That creates a world of opportunities to be there for
your customers in the moments that matter most,
keeping them engaged and driving conversions. 29.2% 51.2% 73.3%
ANDROID VS. IOS
Opt-in rates for mobile app push notifications are
significantly higher on Android than iOS, because
iOS users must opt in to receive push notifications.
Android automatically opts users in.

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 7

Opt-in Rates for Push Notifications: Performance by Vertical - Android

97.3%
96.3%

96.4%

95.6%
95.1%

94.5%
94.2%
94.0%

93.9%

92.2%
92.1%
91.8%

91.6%
90.4%
90.0%

90.4%
89.4%

86.8%

86.0%
84.4%

82.0%
81.8%
81.5%

81.0%
80.8%

79.7%
78.4%

71.3%

65.8%
59.9%

59.9%
58.5%
55.9%
54.2%

53.6%

47.6%
45.0%

40.3%
38.2%

Education Entertainment Finance & Food Gaming & Media Medical, Nonprofit, Retail Social Sports & Travel & Utility &
Insurance & Drink Gambling Health & Charities & Recreation Transportation Productivity
Fitness Foundations

LOW MEDIUM HIGH

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 8
Opt-in Rates for Push Notifications: Performance by Vertical - iOS
100
85.8%

82.9%
80.3%

76.5%

76.1%

75.1%
74.4%

73.0%
72.9%

67.5%

67.5%

64.5%
63.9%

64.2%

62.2%
60.0%
59.2%

59.0%

58.2%
57.1%
55.5%
54.3%

48.7%
46.0%
45.1%

44.5%

44.8%

39.5%
37.6%

36.0%

33.0%

32.6%
31.4%

30.4%
29.8%

25.9%
23.4%

23.1%
19.6%

Educataion Entertainment Finance & Food Gaming & Media Medical, Nonprofit, Retail Social Sports & Travel & Utility &
Insurance & Drink Gambling Health & Charities & Recreation Transportation Productivity
Fitness Foundations

LOW MEDIUM HIGH

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 9
Direct Open Rates for
Push Notifications

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 10

Direct Open Rates for Push Notifications
W H AT I T M E A N S
The percentage of total sends within a month that were
tapped and triggered an app open. For this benchmark,
we looked at monthly direct open rates per app averaged
over 12 months. Overall Performance - Android & iOS
W H Y I T M AT T E R S
Direct open rates are a key way of measuring your push LOW MEDIUM HIGH
notifications’ impact on app engagement. Keep an eye
on this figure, while also monitoring conversions, active
users, opt-outs, indirect opens and uninstalls to get a 1.1% 4.6% 16.8%
more granular understanding of how push messages are
influencing engagement and retention.

ANDROID VS. IOS

Across industry verticals, engagement with Android 1.1% 3.4% 10.2%
notifications maintains a wide lead over iOS. This
is primarily due to differences in how notifications
behave on iOS vs. Android devices. When you unlock
the screen on an Android device, notifications persist
on the lock screen, requiring you to swipe left or right
to dismiss them. In iOS, the notification vanishes from
the lock screen as soon as you unlock the device and
are grouped with the app’s other messages in the
notification center.
Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 11
Direct Open Rates for Push Notifications: Performance by Vertical - Android

30
31.1%

27.4%

25.1%

23.6%
22.2%
22.1%

20.9%
16.8%

13.2%
11.3%

10.8%

10.5%
9.9%

9.9%
9.8%
9.6%

9.2%

8.6%
8.5%

6.6%
6.1%

5.2%

1.7%
3.9%

1.4%
3.5%
1.0%

1.1%

1.1%
0.7%

0.6%
2.9%
3.1%

0.5%

2.7%
2.6%

2.3%
2.3%

2.2%
Education Entertainment Finance & Food & Drink Gaming & Media Medical, Nonprofit Retail Social Sports & Travel & Utility &
Insurance Gambling Health & Charities & Recreation Transportation Productivity
Fitness Foundations

LOW MEDIUM HIGH

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 12
Direct Open Rates for Push Notifications: Performance by Vertical - iOS
20
18.2%

14.6%
13.3%

12.2%

11.9%

11.5%
10.9%

9.8%
7.8%
7.6%

6.5%
6.4%

6.5%
6.2%
6.0%

5.1%

4.7%
4.3%
4.2%
3.2%
3.0%

2.8%

2.8%
1.2%

1.0%
0.9%

0.9%
0.8%

0.8%

0.7%
2.2%

0.5%
2.0%

2.1%
2.0%

1.9%

1.9%

1.3%

1.3%

Education Entertainment Finance & Food & Gaming & Media Medical, Nonprofit Retail Social Sports & Travel & Utility &
Insurance Drink Gambling Health & Charities & Recreation Transportation Productivity
Fitness

LOW MEDIUM HIGH

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 13
Average Monthly
Push Notifications
Per User

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 14

Average Monthly Push Notifications Per User
W H AT I T M E A N S
The average number of push notifications an
app sends to its users per month.

W H Y I T M AT T E R S Overall Performance - Android & iOS

This figure helps brands answer the question:
how much is too much when it comes to push
notifications? Overall, we know that more frequent LOW MEDIUM HIGH
push notifications increase app retention rates.

.5 8.4 188.4
However, too many notifications can erode trust
and come off as spam. The key is to find the right
balance to keep customers engaged, without
overwhelming them.

VA R I AT I O N S I N H I G H V S . M E D I U M
& LOW PERFORMANCE
.8 8.8 202
You’ll notice that the high values for this benchmark
are much greater than the medium and low
figures. That’s because our count includes both
transactional and promotional push notifications,
which vary widely depending on the vertical. Also,
Sports and Media brands typically send far more
notifications than those in other industries.

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 15

Average Monthly Push Notifications Per User: Performance by Vertical

LOW MEDIUM HIGH LOW MEDIUM HIGH

MEDIA 7.8 114.8 284.6 MEDIA 9.1 97.7 297.9
SPORTS & RECREATION 1.8 25.3 200.5 SPORTS & RECREATION 1.9 23.6 237.3
ENTERTAINMENT 0.9 6.3 117.1 SOCIAL 0.9 9.8 108.9
SOCIAL 0.8 3.1 61.5 ENTERTAINMENT 1 5.5 108.5
EDUCATION 0.4 2.9 41.7 EDUCATION 0.9 5.3 91.6
GAMING & GAMBLING 0.5 4 36.3 UTILITY & PRODUCTIVITY 0.3 2.6 54.2
FOOD & DRINK 1.4 4.6 24.8 GAMING & GAMBLING 0.6 4.7 35.7
RETAIL 0.8 5.6 24.7 RETAIL 0.9 6.4 32
UTILITY & PRODUCTIVITY 0.1 1.2 19 MEDICAL, HEALTH & FITNESS 0.2 2.9 17
MEDICAL, HEALTH & FITNESS 0.2 3 17.3 FOOD & DRINK 0.9 2.8 11.4
TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION 0.2 1.4 9.4 TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION 0.3 1.5 9
NONPROFIT, CHARITIES & FOUNDATIONS 0.6 2.6 7.7 NONPROFIT, CHARITIES & FOUNDATIONS 0.6 2.7 6.5
FINANCE & INSURANCE 0.2 1.3 7.4 FINANCE & INSURANCE 0.4 1.9 5.9

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 16

Methodology
Airship analyzed customer data in aggregate from January to
December 2020 to identify apps with at least 1,000 active users
that had sent at least 1,000 cumulative push notifications in
one month. That group included more than 2 billion app users
across thousands of apps, with figures broken out across 12
industry verticals. All of our benchmarks are based on monthly
calculations, which are averaged over 12 months.

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 17

Conclusion &
Additional Resources
Want to learn more about how you can grow your customer
relationships and lifetime value one game-changing push
notification at a time? Check out the following resources
and get in touch to request a demo.

• Airship Push Notification Solutions

• 45 Ways to Boost App Engagement & Retention
• Push Notifications Explained
• Push Notification Cheat Sheet
• 14 Types of Push Notifications You Should
Almost Certainly Be Sending

Increase Opt-ins with Airship!

Want to learn more about how to increase your opt-in rate:
who to ask, when to ask and what to do if they say no?
Airship offers a best practice service that can help.

Contact us today!

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 18

About Airship
Thousands of the world’s leading brands rely on
Airship to spark closer connections with their
customers through highly contextual and relevant
interactions. Only Airship’s Customer Engagement
Platform takes a mobile-first, data-led approach that
enables brands to focus on individuals and their
needs, not which marketing channels to use. Airship
makes it much simpler and more effective to grow
customer lifetime value in the omnichannel era.

With trillions of interactions intelligently orchestrated

across mobile apps, mobile wallet, SMS, websites and
email, Airship optimizes the entire customer journey
across all digital touchpoints at scale.

For more information, visit www.airship.com, read our

blog or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Push Notifications & Mobile Engagement: 2021 Benchmarks | 19

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