For ages, we’ve been sending out push notifications like everyone else, but we were flying blind. We had a gut feeling that different messaging styles mattered, but we didn’t know which ones were actually working! We needed to find the golden ticket—the caption style that would make our users stop what they were doing and tap into our app.
Our old assumption was just to tell people about the value, but we suspected we were missing out on a huge opportunity by not speaking their language.
Background / Problem
We decided to go all-in and run a massive test. We collected data from 39 different campaigns and grouped them into five distinct caption styles. Crucially, we made sure to test each style across all our user tiers (low S-Coin, high S-Coin, etc.) so we could be sure the results were about the message, not just the user’s wallet size.
Here were the five styles we pitted against each other:
- Personalization & Exclusivity: (“🎁 A Gift For You,” “Unlock Your VIP Reward”) – Making it feel like a personal message.
- Curiosity & Question-based: (“❓ Do You Know?”) – Making them tap to find the answer.
- Scarcity & Price Anchor: (“Limited stock! Redeem this reward TODAY 🏷️”) – Highlighting limited supply and value.
- Social Proof & FOMO: (“2,497 Users Viewed Recently”) – Leveraging the fear of missing out.
- Urgency & Value Proposition: (“⏰ Don’t Miss Out!”) – Just shouting, “Hurry up!”
We blasted over 208,000 notifications to get a solid verdict. Ready for the results?
Results / Impact
The data is in, and the findings are crystal clear.
| Style | CTR |
| Personalization & Exclusivity | 3.62% |
| Curiosity & Question-based | 3.10% |
| Scarcity & Price Anchor | 2.96% |
| Social Proof & FOMO | 2.37% |
| Urgency & Value Proposition | 2.22% |
Case Study 2
Although S-Coin tier segments were already used for audience targeting, it remained unclear which message style — Curiosity & Question-based, Personalization & Exclusivity, or Scarcity & Price Anchor — would perform best within the same audience group.
Actions Taken
To ensure fair comparison, we conducted an A/B/C test targeting identical audience groups within three S-Coin tiers:
- Group A : S-Coin balance 2,500 – 7,500
- Group B : S-Coin balance 7,500 – 15,000
- Group C : S-Coin balance 15,000 – 25,000
Each group received three different message styles:
- Curiosity & Question-based — engaging users through intrigue or open-ended phrasing.
- Personalization & Exclusivity — focusing on user-specific rewards and VIP treatment.
- Scarcity & Price Anchor — emphasizing urgency and value comparison.
CTR performance was tracked and compared across all groups and styles.
Results / Impact
| Message Style | Delivered | Clicks | CTR % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curiosity & Question-based | 22,185 | 440 | 1.98% |
| Personalization & Exclusivity | 22,190 | 580 | 2.61% |
| Scarcity & Price Anchor | 22,186 | 545 | 2.46% |
- Personalization & Exclusivity achieved the highest CTR (2.61%), outperforming other styles across all S-Coin groups.
- Message style clearly influenced performance, proving that creative direction can significantly affect engagement.
- CTR trends were consistent across different S-Coin tiers, showing that message style had stronger impact than user tier itself.
Key Insight:
Personalized and exclusive messaging resonates more effectively with users, driving higher engagement even among audiences with varying S-Coin balances.
The Big Takeaway
The Personalization & Exclusivity style absolutely crushed it with a 3.62% CTR! That’s almost 30% better than the average 2.80% CTR across all our campaigns.
What does this mean? It means our users don’t want to feel like they’re getting a generic announcement. They want to feel special. They want to feel like they have been personally chosen for a reward or offer. The message, “A Gift For You,” speaks louder than any “Don’t Miss Out!”
And here’s the kicker: The two styles that performed the worst were the most direct ones: Urgency and FOMO. Turns out, trying to scare or rush our users is the least effective way to get them to engage.
