A push notification has a title, a text, an image and a link. But on a locked phone, with the notification squeezed between ten others, the reader sees one thing: the title. The text gets truncated, the image does not show on many systems, the link is invisible. The title is everything.
And yet most push titles are written by copying the article headline, which was designed for a different situation: an open page, a reader who has already decided to read, sixty characters of room. A push has thirty to forty visible characters, a reader who is busy doing something else, and one second to convince them.
Below are twenty examples, rewritten before and after, grouped by the rule that makes them work. They come from real pushes sent by news sites, blogs and shops, with details changed. First the rules in short, then the examples, then the mistakes that cost subscribers.
The five rules
1. The first four words decide. On mobile the title gets cut early. If the information is at the end, it does not exist.
2. A piece of news, not a label. "Update on the exams" is a label. "Teacher exam: applications open October 3" is news. The first says what it is about, the second says what happened.
3. The reader must know what happens if they click. Curiosity works once. If the click leads somewhere different from what the title promised, next time the reader does not click, and the time after that they unsubscribe.
4. Numbers and proper names beat adjectives. "Big news" says nothing. "3 new dates" says everything.
5. The text under the title completes, it does not repeat. If the title states the fact, the text says why it matters or what to do.
Twenty examples
News and current affairs
Before: Everything new about pensions in the reform just approved After: Pensions: what changes from January The first buries the news at the end. The second puts it in three words and promises a concrete answer.
Before: The situation with the bad weather across the region After: Red alert tomorrow: schools closed in 4 counties A fact, a time, a number. Anyone with kids clicks.
Before: New article: exclusive interview with the mayor After: The mayor: "The new hospital opens in March" "New article" is wasted space. A quote with a fact inside is the strongest title there is.
Before: Transport strike: all the useful information After: Train strike Friday: guaranteed times 6-9 and 18-21 The reader does not want "useful information", they want to know whether they get to work.
Jobs, exams, public notices
Before: Important updates on the rankings After: Staff rankings published today: check your position The word "important" has never made anyone click. "Published today" and an action have.
Before: The exam: here is the complete guide to applying After: Teacher exam, deadline the 30th: the 5 mistakes to avoid A deadline and a number. Anyone who has to apply feels called.
Before: Salaries: this month's news After: October pay: back pay on the slip for 120,000 teachers A large, specific number is credible. "This month's news" is not.
Before: Everything about the workers' bonus After: 200 euro bonus: who gets it and when The two questions the reader asks, in the order they ask them.
Sports
Before: Our take on last night's match After: Modena win in the 92nd minute: watch the goal Result, moment, and a precise promise about what sits behind the click.
Before: Transfer market: the latest rumours After: Official: Rossi signs until 2028 "Official" is the most powerful word in the transfer market, if it is true. If it is not, see the mistakes section.
Before: The line-ups for the next round After: Line-ups: captain out, 18-year-old in The surprising detail is worth more than the list.
Shops and e-commerce
Before: Discover our new autumn collection After: Autumn collection is live: free shipping until Sunday "Discover" is the most overused verb in push. A benefit with a deadline is not.
Before: Unmissable discounts for you After: The sofa you looked at dropped to 499 The personal push, when you can send it, beats any generic promotion. It is worth twice the work.
Before: Last days of the promotion After: Last 40 units, then it is gone Everyone says "last days". A number going down is something the reader checks by clicking.
Before: Your cart is waiting for you After: Cart saved: the price stays locked for 24 hours The same push, but with a reason to click now instead of later.
Blogs, guides, content
Before: New blog post: tips for the autumn vegetable garden After: What to plant in October: 6 vegetables that survive the cold Number, month, promise. And no "new blog post": the reader already knows it is a post.
Before: Recipe of the day After: Pasta and beans in 25 minutes, with the pressure cooker The time and the method are the reason someone cooks it tonight.
Before: Complete guide to your tax return After: Tax return: the 3 deductions almost everyone forgets "Complete guide" is intimidating. "Almost everyone forgets" is intriguing and promises a gain.
Before: An article that will change your mind about coffee After: Coffee after 3pm: the study that measures how much less you sleep The first is clickbait: it promises an emotion. The second promises a data point. The second holds up over time.
Before: Today's news After: Today's 5 stories in 2 minutes If the push points to the "latest news" page, say so, and give a reason to open it: how long it takes and what is inside.
The mistakes that burn subscribers
The titles above get clicks. But some things get clicks today and unsubscribes tomorrow, and the second part matters more, because a lost subscriber does not come back.
Promising one thing and delivering another. "Official" when it is a rumour. "50% off" when it applies to one product. Every time, the reader learns your title is worth nothing, and next time they do not click. It is the most expensive mistake of all.
Capitals and exclamation marks. "INCREDIBLE!!!" makes the notification look like spam, and on many phones it lands in the group of notifications the system collapses. A calm title with a fact inside always wins.
The title cut in half. If your title is "The city council unanimously approved the new plan for the…", the reader only sees that the council approved something. Write it, look at it in the mobile preview, and cut.
Sending everything to everyone. The best title in the world on a topic the reader does not care about is still noise. Someone who reads about schools does not want the transfer market. Audiences exist for this: the right push to the right person is already half the title.
Too many pushes. Five excellent titles in one day are worth less than one. The reader does not judge the single notification, they judge how much you disturb them. If you publish a lot, use daily caps and quiet hours on automatic feeds.
Titles for recurring pushes
One category of push deserves its own note: the recurring ones, sent every day at the same time to the same page, typically "latest news". Many news sites send three or four a day, and the title is always the same: "Today's news". After a week the reader no longer sees it, literally: the brain files it as background noise.
Two tricks keep them alive. The first is tying the title to the hour: "5 stories to start your day" at 7, "What happened this morning" at 11, "Tonight's reading" at 6pm. Same link, three titles, and each tells the reader at which point of their day it is arriving. The second is promising the time: "in 2 minutes" is the reason to open a summary page instead of postponing.
If you run fixed pushes with Natom's recurring campaigns, every slot has its own title and text: set them once and they stay different forever.
A three-step method
When you have an article in front of you and need to write the push, try this.
First: write the fact in one sentence, the way you would tell a friend on the phone. "They published the staff rankings." That is the base.
Second: add the thing that makes it useful now. A deadline, a number, an action. "Published today, check your position."
Third: look at the mobile preview and cut everything after the fourth word that is not essential. In the Natom dashboard the preview updates as you type, desktop and mobile: use it before every send, not after.
If you use WordPress, the plugin prefills the push title with the article headline. That is a starting point, not a finish line: all twenty examples above are cases where the article headline, on its own, was not enough.