Ready for Takeoff: Instant App Linking into Marketplace Apps from Social Media

Published on March 09, 2023

Linking into marketplaces and ecommerce apps (Amazon, Walmart etc.) from social media and other channels is fast becoming one of today’s hottest marketing strategies to increase revenue for brands and commissions for affiliates. One important reason is that today's 'app-to-app' linking technology is codeless and does not require technical resources or SDKs while giving marketers control over the consumer journey.

When your campaign links let shoppers move more freely between social apps and ecommerce marketplace apps, sales increase— it's that simple.

Some of you reading this post may already know how to compose or generate a single app deep link to open a marketplace app like Amazon from social media. It’s easy and only takes a few moments but what if you need to create thousands or even millions of marketplace app links for Amazon, Walmart, Target or other retailers for use on websites, social campaigns, data feeds, and other more advanced solutions?

At URLgenius, we call this Instant App Deep Linking but before we explain that concept let's consider why scaling app deep links into marketplace apps is so important at this moment in time— important for sellers, influencers, and even the social media companies themselves.

Learn more about how to directly link social media ads to the Amazon app and other marketplace apps in this video.

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The Influencer Industry is Hot Hot Hot

Apart from new, innovative codeless app linking solutions like URLgenius, linking directly into marketplace apps from social campaigns is especially important right now because social commerce and the influencer industry is growing and evolving at lightning speed. The trends are taking shape in a variety of ways across the ecommerce ecosystem but some of the most exciting involve 'live-stream' shopping which many say is the future of e-commerce.

It's no surprise that Amazon is in the mix in a very big way. Launched in 2019, Amazon Live is reimagining the affiliate channel in the age of social media and instant celebrity by letting influencers (affiliates) curate and promote collections of products right on the Amazon platform. By tapping into the power of their own personality, influencers are set to rack up huge commissions while driving serious revenue and new customers for brands. The evidence is everywhere!

Just look at some of these recent headlines:

To maximize this tidal wave in revenue, sellers and influencers are optimizing the consumer journey when linking from social media to marketplace apps. That means removing any web login friction between apps.

So, you might be thinking— what's the upside? And why would I want to invest in scaling app deep linking for marketplaces across all my links for social media and other off-site channels?

Learn how mobile app deep links in your social media bio can increase by 2x-5x in this video!

The answer: money.

Removing Login Friction between Apps Increases Revenue 2-5x

Sellers and influencers already using using app links to open storefronts and product listings from social media are driving 2-5x higher conversion compared to regular marketplace web URLs while affiliates are seeing the same results in the form of increased commissions.

When your marketplace links are not optimized with app deep linking, the shopper clicks from social media and then they're sent to the embedded web browser within the social app where they need to login to the marketplace's website. The app does not open and this applies to any marketplace (Amazon, Walmart, Target etc.) In addition attribution tags cannot be passed if the user doesn't login.

Ready for Takeoff: Dynamic App Linking into Marketplace Apps from Social Media

There's nothing wrong with the marketplace link or with the attribution system (e.g. Amazon Attribution). That web login screen between apps is a common industry challenge when linking app-to-app and it's often called hitting a walled garden.

URLgenius, however, has a patented solution to remove login friction between apps while passing attribution tags in the cloud (seller or affiliate). Marketers, of course, can generate one app deep link at a time and programmers can use the URLgenius API to generate links but with URLgenius Instant App Deep Linking one can light up millions or even billions of links without having to compose or update each link separately.

When sellers and influencers use URLgenius links for the first time in their campaigns, they often marvel at how easy it is— it's a unique and patented platform after all!

Brands and affiliates are also assured that the URLgenius platform is a verified Amazon partner solution and complies with today's latest privacy policies.

URLgenius app links for marketplaces and many other other apps are trusted by brands and agencies around the world and drive real, measurable results from social media and other off-site channels each and every day.

Learn more about how instant app linking increases sales and conversion!

The Opportunity Cost of Not Scaling App Deep Links for Ecommerce / Marketplace Apps

So, what is the opportunity cost of not updating your marketplace links with app deep linking? More than an inconvenience, money is being left on the table all around:

Sellers see extremely low conversion from social media campaigns that drive traffic directly to their storefronts and product listings sometimes even close to zero and often think marketplace attribution systems are not working which is not the case.
Second, influencers lose out on commissions when the marketplace app doesn't open from social media because the website login blocks affiliate attribution tags from being passed into the app.
And third, ecommerce platforms and brands lose out on revenue because when the customer abandons their shopping journey and attribution tags are not passed into the app not only is a potential sale lost but consumer interest signal like product detail clicks and add-to-carts are never captured and attributed to the campaign. So remarketing suffers and finding new customers via social media and other off-site channels is severely limited.
And finally, the social media companies themselves also lose out on revenue because brands and sellers invest less in social media ad spend because they either think it doesn't convert or they simply can't measure the campaign ROI so additional ad spend can't be justified.

Dynamic App Deep Links and Scaling Marketplace Link Generation with Ease

Whether you have hundreds, thousands, or even millions or billions of marketplace links to update, Dynamic App Deep Linking is something to consider. As a codeless solution, there is nothing to install and no SDK to manage.

So, how does it work?

Your URLgenius team will give you a special tag (which you can choose) that is unique to your account. Your team can then turn regular marketplace links into app links by simply appending the retailer's link to that special tag. That's it! The new link structure turns regular marketplace links into an app deep link on-the-fly which can open the retailer's app from social media and other channels.

When it comes to reporting, URLgenius securely sends attribution tags over the cloud into the marketplace app and into any reporting platform to capture not only sales but brand and product interest signal which can be used for remarketing.

Start using app links in social media promotions and other off-site channels at scale and you'll see results immediately. Plus, there's no need to learn how to navigate another reporting dashboard. You can just continue to use the reports you already use today.

Get Started and Implement Dynamic App Deep Linking for Marketplaces in No Time

Let's recap and consider what's not to love. Higher conversion and revenue for DTC brands and sellers, increased commissions for affiliates, increased media spend for social media companies, and don't forget a friction-free shopping journey for consumers— everybody wins.

Isn't it time to scale marketplace app links across all your social media promotions and other off-site channels with URLgenius Dynamic App Deep Linking.

Remember, we're here to help! Talk to us and tell us about your campaign plans and we can also tell you about our special dynamic discounted pricing. Just reach out to info@urlgeni.us to schedule a demo.

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