A short time ago, before smartphones and tablets were invented, the phrase 'deep linking' simply meant a links that lead users to a page deep within a website beyond the home page. Today, however, deep linking also means linking to a 'page' within a mobile app for iOS or Android. Linking is still important in the world of apps because consumers often find themselves in a web browser first for different reasons such as using a search engine, reading emails and clicking on display ads from mobile websites.
Incredibly, however, a recent survey of retailers, found that 63% do not track app opens from any channel. Multi-channel links for most retailers send traffic to the mobile website while ignoring whether the brand's mobile app is installed. As mobile apps mature and convert at higher rates than mobile websites, the lack of an omnichannel deep linking strategy translates to lost revenue.
This type of app deep linking may seem obvious. Amazon, for example, has a deep linking strategy but the technical requirements to make it happen are often too much, even for big agencies and brands. That is why we created URLgenius, the first and only enterprise grade, cloud-based deep linking platform. Agencies, advertisers and publishers now have easy-to-use deep linking tools that optimize the consumer journey between apps and websites.
Unlike other deep linking solutions, URLgenius does not require the installation of an SDK or software development kit. Instead, URLgenius uses an enterprise grade, cloud-based approach that uses the app's URL schemes. Marketers can update any web URL, giving the link the ability to detect and open the corresponding app. If the app is not installed, the user is routed to the designated fallback web URL or app store entry. Marketers can update one link for testing or scale to thousands of links for paid search, email and display campaigns.
This cloud-based approach to mobile app deep linking is aligned with a major trend in marketing and advertising technology. This software is moving to the cloud in the effort to streamline marketing operations. Controlling your app deep linking capabilities eliminates a key technical burden for your development team giving you more time to focus on mining insights from the consumer journey.
You can immediately test deep linking to your app with URLgenius from any channel. Campaign marketing managers for display, email, paid search, social and affiliate will gain new information about app vs. web conversion across mobile moments. You can also leverage your current analytics and attribution strategies simply by appending UTM parameters. Learn more in our FAQs and the URLgenius blog for how-to's, tips and best practices.
login to get started.