How to Generate a Link to Open a Specific Post in the Facebook App

Published on March 28, 2023

In 2023, Facebook turns 19 years old and the platform now has 2.6 billion monthly active users around the world! That incredible reach means all types of companies and individuals are using the platform to reach audiences for what seems like an infinite number of reasons. Sending people directly to your company’s Facebook profile is only one way to drive awareness of your brand’s activities, products, and services. You may want your audience to zero in on a specific topic especially if it happens to be time sensitive.

Consumers, however, are busy and their time is more fragmented than ever so how do you call attention to a specific post within your Facebook profile so they won't get distracted by other content on the way?

The answer is to link directly to that post in the Facebook app not just the Facebook website. It's often overlooked that when you promote Facebook links outside the Facebook platform they do not open the app. That means, when you promote a regular link that leads directly to a Facebook post, you may get clicks and views but no likes, comments, or additional followers.

The reason is because in order to engage, your visitor needs to login to the Facebook website and no one wants to do that because most people use the Facebook app on iOS and Android which has a persistent login.To fix this issue all you need to do is update the link to the Facebook post with URLgenius and then use that app deep link to promote the post instead of the regular Facebook link.

how-generate-link-open-facebook-How to Generate a Link to Open a Specific Post in the Facebook App

The link opens the Facebook app directly to that screen from other marketing channels like social apps, SMS or text messages or any channel. Now we'll show you how to update the link to your post.

Open another tab in your browser to follow along!

Step-by-Step: Generate an App Deep Link to Open Specific Facebook Posts

The first step in generating your app deep link is to grab the link to the post. You can click on the date and time of the post and then the post will open in another tab in your browser.

Copy the link from the address bar of your browser. The link to a specific Facebook post will look similar to this one for Sephora.

www.facebook.com/sephora/photos/a.72908389404/10159884380374405/?type=3

Paste that link into the home page of URLgenius to compose your app deep link. When you paste the link, notice the Facebook icon appears in the upper right corner of the box. That means URLgenius understood the type of link you entered. Also notice the field that lets you customize the end of the link rather than use the assigned random characters. In this example we will call it 'april-2023'.

Pro Tip: Notice the link to the Facebook post contains the word 'photos'. If you do not see the word 'photos' in the link try clicking the picture in the post and you should see the updated URL in the address bar of your browser. Deep links made with links that have the word 'post' will only open in the Android app not the iOS app. iOS users would still be sent to the Facebook website.

When you click 'Compose Deeplink' you will be brought to the settings page for the link. If you want to go back to this page later just choose 'Console' from the menu for a list of your links. Note there is also a QR code on this page which you can use to test the behavior of the link by scanning it with your iPhone or Android camera. You can also email the link to someone for testing purposes using the button provided.

How to Link to a Specific Post in the Facebook App

Pro Tip: Your app deep link will look like this example but you can use your brand's domain for all your app deep links. This helps your extend your brand name and inspire trust when deep linking from your website to different apps.

Did you know? Cross-promoting your social profiles are a great way to maximize social engagement across social media platforms:

App Deep Linking and Reporting Insights

Another great thing about app deep linking platforms designed for marketers and agencies is the reporting. At a glance, URLgenius will give you insight into how many times the app opened and if your audience an iOS or Android device.

In addition to seeing the number of app opens you can see insights to referring URL and app when available as well as the city from which your audience is clicking.

App deep linking to specific Facebook posts is a great way to maximize awareness and engagement of topics that you're marketing which will increase your likes, followers and engagement.

This concept applies not only to Facebook but to other social apps like Instagram or shopping apps like Amazon and Ebay or any other app. You can even try it with your brand's app!

If you found this content helpful, check out some of our other popular how-to posts about linking to apps from different marketing channels:

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