With over 70% of the total internet traffic being mobile driven,  advertisers have been keen to improve upon the user experience when it comes to advertising products on mobile apps. With bill-boards and other conventional marketing tactics losing its charm and being ignored by the users,  marketers were in a desperate  need of something which could provide the users with the personalized feeling  and efficiently grabs user’s attention. Targeting millennials via mobile ads required developers to come up with a user friendly app with a clear call to action and smooth traversing through the conversion process.  Deep linking on mobile apps has completely transformed today’s mobile world and the results of mobile advertising is the reflection of the same. Mobile ad campaigns have become far more effective and engaging.

Let’s understand what exactly App Deep Linking means.

Deep Linking is a technology which directs users to a specific location within the mobile app.  Users can browse to the desired location inside the app by clicking the link without having to find their way through the app. Prior to the advent of this concept,  clicking a promotional link of any product would send users only to the homepage of the app instead of the product. Users had to track the product by browsing through the homepage which involved additional effort. This often resulted in users getting irritated and running away from the app. 

For instance,  clicking on www.xyz.com/radialtyre should ideally show up the exact tire which is being mapped to this URL.  But,  if deep linking isn’t configured,  then clicking on this link would take the users only to the homepage of www.xyz.com from where they will have to look out for the tire. This definitely being a tedious task often led to mobile advertising failing to achieve desired results. Until deep linking, marketer had no option to send clickable link to their customer and share what products does the app contains.

What is the need for App Deep Linking?

The structure of mobile apps is different to that of a web browser. All web browsers have a similar structure which is why clicking web links always directs you to a desired location without facing any issues.  But with mobile apps,  each app has a different structure and it isn’t possible to interconnect multiple apps together. This is where Deep Linking plays a key role.  Its serves as an interconnection between different mobile apps and makes it possible for the marketers to share clickable links to their customers which could take them directly inside the app.

What if the users doesn’t have the App installed?

If the users have already downloaded and installed the app then its an ideal scenario for Deep Link to work.  But most of the times, a user would not have the app installed on his cell phone. That is where Deferred Deep Links must be used.

Deep link performs better if coupled with deferred deep links.  Deferred deep links are used to direct the user to app store if they do not have the app already installed in their mobile.  Once the app is installed and launched,  deep links would ensure directing users to specific location. Without Deferred Deep Link. if the user who doesn’t have the app installed clicks the link,  he would be directed to app store to download it but on launching it would show up the homepage instead of exact product.

Advantages of App Deep Linking:

With Deep Linking,  marketers can now share what’s there within the app.  Earlier, they could only share the link to the app and convince users to download it.  Now,  they can actually promote the product that’s inside the app.

1. Brings more traffic: Marketers can smartly use Deep Links on their social profiles to divert more traffic towards the app.  Deep Links could be placed on Facebook,  Twitter or Instagram and once clicked,  the visitors would be able to view the product within the app.  Similarly, advertisers can float Deep Linked urls via emails or text messages resulting in higher visits and app downloads.

2. Personalized user experience: Using contextual deep links,  app designers are able to know a lot more about the users who installs the app.  Various custom details like links clicked by the users,  product searched by them,  links shared etc. , which could reveal a lot about the interest of the users.  App publishers can use this data to offer personalized offering and discounts based on the user’s browsing interest.

3. Enhanced user engagement: Deep Linking technology has made it possible for marketers to share clickable similar to weblinks.  With this feature,  even users can now share links with their friends and use referral features on various apps. All this brings in more user involvement and the engagement rate on the apps gets higher.

4. Higher conversion: Deep Links has certainly reduced the friction between communication within the apps.  Easy access to mobile apps and by providing utility to their customers,  marketers are witnessing better conversion rates.

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