Mobile advertising and publishing platform Tapjoy today announced Tapjoy Reconnect, a new ad unit which aims to help app developers improve retention rates and user loyalty with an alternative to push notifications.

With Tapjoy Reconnect developers can reach out to consumers directly through the Tapjoy offerwall, incentivising them to re-engage with their app. Upon launching the desired app, Tapjoy Reconnect can be used to motivate users to complete any sort of desired action. For example, developers can reward them for coming back to complete an unfinished level or discover a new part of an app.

As many app developers know, user retention is a serious challenge. As Fisku recently reported, for the month of September, the average cost to acquire a loyal iOS user — defined as someone who will open an app at least three times — was $1.13.

Tapjoy says Reconnect is a good alternative to push notifications which are often used by developers to remind users about apps they’ve downloaded but haven’t used in a while. The problem with push notifications, as Tapjoy points out, is that they can seem overtly intrusive and can also be turned off.

Tapjoy’s Reconnect solution claims to be both user-friendly (because users have to opt-in), and cost effective as it’s on a pay-for-performance model, meaning a developer will only pay once a user reengages with an app.