Why Deep Linking is Essential for Your App Marketing

Deep linking is an advanced yet highly effective app marketing technique that delivers tremendous value. By sending users directly to specific content within your app, deep linking provides a streamlined user experience while unlocking greater engagement, conversions and retention.

In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore what deep linking is, why it‘s valuable for app marketers, how to implement it, creative examples, best practices, and more. Let‘s dive in!

What Exactly is Deep Linking?

Deep linking enables you to send users directly to targeted content or screens within your mobile app via a URL. Instead of landing on your app‘s home page, users can instantly access specific products, promotions, content pages, and more.

For example, let‘s say you want to promote a sale on yoga mats in your ecommerce app. With deep linking, you can create a unique URL that sends users straight to the yoga mat product page when clicked.

The key technical piece that enables deep linking is the URI scheme. This identifies your app so that clicks on deep links open directly in your app (instead of a web page).

Diagram showing how deep linking sends users from an ad directly into an app

Deep linking sends users directly from an external source like an ad or email into a specific in-app page or content piece.

Deep links can be shared via:

SMS/Text Messages
Email
Social Media Posts
Webpages
Ads
QR Codes

And they take users directly to in-app destinations like:

Product Pages
Shopping Cart
Specific Content
User Profiles
Transactions
Search Results
In-App Promotions

The seamless user experience deep linking provides leads to a host of benefits for app marketers and developers which we‘ll explore next.

Benefits of Deep Linking for App Marketing

Implementing deep linking as part of your app marketing strategy delivers quantifiable results across a number of key metrics. Let‘s explore some of the data-driven benefits:

1. Higher Installs and Engagement

Deep linking enables you to send users who don‘t have your app installed directly to the App Store or Play Store to download. In a study by Adjust, deep linking led to 52% higher install rates compared to regular links.

Once installed, deep links provide a seamless user experience that boosts engagement. AppsFlyer found that re-engagement rates were 20-30% higher for users who clicked deep links vs standard links.

Here is a graph summarizing the install and engagement lift seen from deep linking:

Graph showing 52% higher installs and 20-30% more engagement with deep linking

As you can see, the impact on these core app metrics is quite significant.

2. More Conversions and Sales

By sending users directly to product or checkout pages within your app, deep linking leads to more conversions and sales. In the yoga mat example above, the user can instantly add that mat to their cart and check out in just a tap or two.

AppsFlyer data shows that deep linking results in over 30% more in-app purchases. For ecommerce apps especially, this additional revenue via deep linking can be very noticeable.

Here‘s a summary of the in-app purchase lift driven by deep links:

Graph showing 30%+ lift in in-app purchases with deep linking

That‘s a tremendous boost in sales directly attributed to deep linking.

3. Improved Retention

Deep links can be used creatively to keep users engaged in your app. Send promo links to lapsed users, link to new features from your email newsletter, promote content to social followers – endless possibilities!

One retailer saw a 60% increase in reactivated users when leveraging deep linking in their marketing campaigns according to a Branch.io report.

Here‘s a look at that re-engagement lift from deep linking:

Graph showing 60% more reactivated users with deep linking

As you can see, deep linking has a measurable impact on bringing lapsed users back into your app.

4. Brand Consistency

With deep linking, your brand experience is consistent no matter where users click from. Users get a streamlined experience whether coming from a social ad or email, rather than ending up on your homepage and needing to hunt for content.

This creates seamless omnichannel interactions with your brand.

5. Simplified User Experience

Deep links provide a smooth, frictionless user experience. By skipping navigational steps, users can instantly access what they want in one click. This results in higher satisfaction and engagement.

In research by Google, 73% of users prefer apps that offer deep linking because it provides quick access to content.

6. Deeper Analytics and Insights

With deep linking, you can track exactly how users are interacting with your app based on the source of the link. This unlocks deeper user behavior insights that can inform marketing.

For example, you may find emails drive more product page visits, while social links see more conversions from promotions. These insights help optimize your deep linking strategy.

As you can see, deep linking delivers real value across a number of critical metrics for app marketers. Now let‘s look at the different types of deep links.

Types of Deep Links for Apps

There are several different types of deep links, each suited for different use cases.

Deferred Deep Linking

Deferred deep linking involves two redirects: one to the app store to install the app, and a second into the app content after installation.

This is useful for marketing to users who don‘t already have your app. You can pique their interest with the link, install the app, then take them directly to content they want to see.

Contextual Deep Linking

Contextual deep links take users to customized landing pages within your app tailored to the specific link they clicked.

For example, if a user clicks a link promoting yoga mats, you could create a dynamic landing page within the app highlighting mat deals for that user.

Universal Links (iOS)

Universal Links are deep links that meet Apple requirements to directly open iOS apps. If the app isn‘t installed, the link opens the associated webpage.

Universal Links provide a seamless, trusted user experience on Apple devices. Learn more about implementing them.

Android App Links

Android App Links enable deep linking for Android apps using HTTP URLs that either open directly in the installed app or associated website if the app isn‘t installed yet.

Learn more about setting up Android App Links here.

Now let‘s walk through how to implement deep linking for your mobile apps.

Implementing Deep Linking for Your App

Setting up deep linking for your iOS and Android apps only takes a few steps:

1. Choose a Unique URI Scheme

First, create a unique URI scheme that will identify your app when deep links are clicked. This should follow a consistent format like yourbrand://.

URI schemes are defined in your app manifest file. Avoid common schemes like http:// that are already claimed.

2. Define Deep Link Behaviors

Next, determine what actions you want different deep links to trigger in your app.

For example:

yourbrand://checkout – Opens cart and checkout screen
yourbrand://promos – Opens promotions page
yourbrand://support – Opens help/support page

Map out the different pages and use cases to build these mappings.

3. Compile into Deep Linking Code

With your URI scheme and deep link actions defined, compile these together into deep linking code you can add into your app.

Here is an example in Android:

<intent-filter>
   <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
   <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
   <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />
   <data android:scheme="yourbrand" android:host="checkout" />
</intent-filter>

And in iOS:

<key>CFBundleURLTypes</key>  
<array>
    <dict>
        <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
        <string>Editor</string>
        <key>CFBundleURLName</key>
        <string>com.example.myapp</string>
        <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
        <array>
            <string>yourbrand</string>
        </array>
    </dict>
</array>

This code will open your app when yourbrand:// links are clicked.

4. Test Deep Links

Test your deep links on real devices to make sure they open your app and content properly before launching them more widely. Iteratively tweak and test as needed.

With the code added and links tested, you‘re ready to start sharing deeplinks! Let‘s look at some creative examples next.

Creative Examples of Effective Deep Linking

Deep linking opens up endless creative possibilities to engage mobile users. Here are a few examples of brands using deep links effectively:

Exclusive Promotions

The clothing retailer H&M shared deep links via email and social that led users to exclusive sales and offers when clicked. This drove purchases from followers who had the app installed.

For those without the app, they could download and then instantly access the sale. After running this campaign, H&M reported a 21% increase in app engagement from deep linked promotions.

Personalized User Onboarding

The Dropbox app onboards new users with a personalized deep link workflow. Users receive an email with a unique deep link that opens the app and guides them through tailored onboarding based on their plan and account type.

Dropbox found this onboarding flow doubled activation rates compared to standard onboarding.

Direct Access to New Features

When ridesharing app Lyft adds new features, they activate them first for users who click deep links from their email newsletter. This gives those engaged users early access and builds excitement.

According to Lyft, these users were 25% more active in the app in the month after clicking the exclusive deep link.

Media Content Streaming

Media apps like Netflix use deep links extensively to send users to specific movies or shows from almost any external source. This provides a unified, omnichannel content experience.

Netflix reported a 19% increase in streaming hours from users who came directly via deep links compared to the homepage.

Refer a Friend Bonuses

Referral programs are a great use case for deep linking. Give existing app users a deep link to share that gives their friends signing up bonuses or rewards if clicked.

One travel app found referrals via deep linking converted at a 35% higher rate compared to standard referral links.

As you can see, deep links can be incorporated throughout the user lifecycle from acquisition to activation, retention and revenue. Next let‘s go over some best practices.

Deep Linking Best Practices

To maximize the impact of your deep linking efforts, keep these best practices in mind:

Make links descriptive – Use intuitive page names so links are easily identifiable.
Keep links short – Long deep links can break across lines or overflow. Short, simple links work best.
Use links consistently – Don‘t change deep link structures too often, as old links may break.
Track link analytics – Use parameters to track deep link performance by channel or campaign.
Retest periodically – Confirm deep links continue working after app updates to avoid breakage.
Fallback gracefully – If broken or expired, deep links should open your homepage as a fallback.
Secure links – Use cryptographic signing to prevent tampering with deep link URLs.

Following these tips will ensure your deep linking implementation is scalable, trackable and delivers results for the long haul.

Should You Use Deep Linking?

If used strategically as part of your app marketing strategy, deep linking delivers tremendous value.

Deep links are best for:

Driving conversions and sales from ads or outreach
Onboarding and activating new app users
Re-engaging dormant app users
Promoting content and new features
Streaming omnichannel media content
Creating seamless referral programs

Avoid deep linking when:

You don‘t have many external channels to share links
Your app doesn‘t have clear internal navigation
You don‘t have resources to manage and test links

Like any marketing tactic, you need to take time to plan your deep linking approach and purposefully incorporate it throughout your user‘s journey.

When executed successfully, deep linking provides a frictionless user experience that boosts nearly every app marketing metric – making it a powerful tool in any mobile marketer‘s arsenal.

Thanks for reading this deep dive on deep linking! I hope you found this guide helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions as you implement deep linking in your app marketing strategy.