One of the best features offered by the Progressive Web Apps stack is push notifications. They may reengage your users in a level that was previously only possible for native applications when combined with Service Workers and Web Push. However, Spider-Man movies have taught us that "great strength" also comes with enormous responsibility.

Placing the objectives
Setting goals is the first thing that has to be done. It will be difficult to know how to execute it well without knowing what we are striving for.

• Users should opt-in for push notifications, of course.
• But what we really want is to prevent them from ever clicking "block" on the subscription pop-up.

It's critical to comprehend why the second aim is much more significant since the first one may seem clear to you.

When a user rejects a subscription, we are unable to display the pop-up again. The only way to modify the notification settings is to go to the site preferences, which is not something most users do. Furthermore, there is no way to make the user's decision-making process simpler.

Opt-in methods: soft vs. hard
There are two typical methods for presenting the opt-in popup for subscription to Push Notifications, even though its appearance is constant:

• Hard opt-in occurs when we immediately show the visitor a subscription popup after they reach the website without any prior context.

• Soft opt-in occurs when a user clicks on the subscription pop-up. This tactic is typically demonstrated by displaying a second popup that lists the benefits of subscribing.

...and you ought to utilize the second one in most circumstances. See why after this;

Why should I avoid using hard opt-in?
There are three instances in which a native subscription pop-up could display to the user:

• User accepts the suggested subscription, which is plainly the intended situation.
• User dismisses pop-up.
• User denies subscription — worst case scenario — it's practically hard to ask him again at this point. It will be displayed once more on the following visit.

We are expecting that by presenting the subscription pop-up without any background, users would have enough faith in us to subscribe. But why in the world should he believe a web application he just used? Asking individuals to mindlessly subscribe to Push Notifications is comparable to asking them to take sweets from a stranger; both actions are hazardous and discouraged. Instead of explaining the benefits to consumers, we ask them directly whether they are bold enough to sign up via forced opt-ins.

On the other hand, with soft opt-ins, we gently notify individuals about the option to opt-in precisely as we want rather than just displaying the pop-up without a context. We may attempt to persuade them by explaining the advantages of subscribing. Statistics demonstrate how much more popular this strategy is. For instance, the NHL increased their opt-in rate by over 10% after using a customized screen instead than the standard one. What's more, we may present it again after some time if someone refuses on such an opt-in.

Making effective soft opt-ins
A successful subscription opt-in depends on the appropriate context. The user should be aware of two factors before choosing:

• Why precisely he or she should sign up and why it's advantageous
• What kinds of signals will he or she get

There aren't many methods to do this, but the two that are most popular are as follows:

• Immediately after the person reaches the website, display an opt-in banner to them. In contrast to hard opt-in, we may provide the user details rather than merely displaying a pop-up with no meaningful information. The default setting of "Show alerts" is considerably less detailed than "Hey, do you want to get discount coupons from time to time?"

• As soon as a person reaches the website, an opt-in banner should appear. Instead of merely displaying a pop-up without any valuable information, as is the case with hard opt-in, we may provide the user details. Hey, would you want to sometimes get discount coupons? is far more detailed than the default setting of "Show alerts."

Summary
It will always be challenging to persuade people to subscribe for push notifications. It's necessary to at least preserve the option to attempt in the future, even when we can't always accomplish this aim right now. We have far more control over this process with soft opt-ins, and we can explain to the users why it's advantageous to them or decide when to request permission.