Introduction
With the rise of online purchasing, businesses are striving to increase revenues by improving their online sales methods. Trying to attract as many potential customers as possible has led to the rise of PPC, social media, ASO, and SEO.
Deep Linking is one of the most intriguing strategies to emerge from this hunt for enhancements to online business experiences.
If you run an online store, you have most likely considered deep linking when sharing individual product pages. When it comes to an online business, deep links can have an immediate effect on conversions. When deep links are used, customers have a much simpler time landing on the category or product pages. For instance, if you were to launch an online campaign for Diwali presents on your website, the last thing you would want is for customers to arrive on the main page first and then go for the section that is dedicated to Diwali gifts. On the other hand, people are more likely to take some kind of action if they directly come to a website or category page related to Diwali Gifts.
What exactly is meant by the term “deep linking,” and how does one implement it into the complex landscape of an e-commerce strategy? Let’s take a deep glance at everything you need to know to have a grasp on deep linking and the implications it can have on your business strategy.
What is deep linking?
Deep linking is an adaptable technique for enhancing important metrics like retention rates and engagements. By allowing users to go from the web to the app (and vice versa), deep links enhance the user experience and make it as user-friendly as feasible. Customers are able to click on a link on the web, in an email or SMS, or another app and be taken immediately into particular functionality on a specific screen inside an application thanks to deep linking, which makes applications act more like the web. Deep linking is widely utilized for re-engagement initiatives. You can also utilize deep links to provide information to an app, such as a coupon code or a unique identification for a product.
What are deep links?
Deep links are a form of link that directs consumers straight to an app, as opposed to a website. A hypertext link that takes you to a page on a website other than the main page is known as a “deep link.” When referring to a page on a website, “deep” refers to its position in the hierarchical structure of the site’s pages. Therefore, any page that is not the main page but is farther down the hierarchy than that is regarded as ‘deep.’ They are used to take visitors directly to specified in-app destinations, saving them the time and effort of manually accessing a page and considerably enhancing the experience for users.
A quick overview of deferred deep links:
Deep linking using memory is basically the same thing as deferred deep linking. Even if the user hasn’t yet downloaded your app, a deferred deep link will function in the same way as a regular deep link would, namely by connecting to a particular screen or page inside your app. In this circumstance, customers will be sent to the App Store or Google Play to install your application. After installation, the first launch of your app will send the user to the selected destination. Therefore, deferred deep linking is essentially deep linking that is delayed until a user has downloaded your app.
What are the benefits of deep linking?
Deep links are an important tool for mobile marketers to have at their disposal for a wide variety of reasons. These benefits may be shown by the following important advantages of using deep links, each of which contributes to one of the most effective engagement tools now available in the business.
User experience is simplified by the usage of deep links
When you learn how to deep-link to an app from an advertisement, it just takes one click for a person to be taken to the location of your preference. There is no need for signposting, and there will not be any frustrated consumers due to having to look for an item on their own. The same reasoning applies when you create a deep link from an email to your app.
Acquire new and potential customers
When users click on deferred deep links, the link itself will ascertain whether or not the user already has the app installed on their device; if the user does not already have the app installed, your link should take them to a landing page with a link to the relevant app store, where they can download your app. The deferred deep link will send the user directly to the screen that was specified in the link that they first clicked on after the application has been downloaded and run for the first time. There is no need to do any searches; rather, the experience is straightforward and streamlined, making it possible to engage new people instantly.
Deep linkages provide impenetrable user funnelling
Never lose sight of the fact that lowering friction is one of deep linking’s most important benefits; after all, this is widely considered to be the case. When users click on a deep link, they are sent to a specified point inside the app immediately. This not only makes the user experience better but also allows you to optimize campaigns based on a specific page, stage, or catalogue without having to worry about how the user will navigate the site.
Run more efficient marketing campaigns
In order to launch ads across external digital platforms that send people directly to your app on the page you’re searching for, deferred deep linking is the only method to achieve this goal. Think about it this way: texting. When it comes to marketing, SMS is still the best option:
- 75% of us, on average, are interested in receiving promotional content from companies through text messages.
- When compared to email, the open rate for SMS messages is approximately twice as high.
- 60% of consumers read the SMS texts they get within the first five minutes of receiving them.
- The click-through rate (CTR) for SMS marketing campaigns is about 9.18 percentage points greater than any digital medium.
When you employ deep links in your SMS campaigns, you can deliver offers that are timely, engaging, and personalized; re-engage consumers who have dropped off; create referral campaigns, and experience conversion rates that are higher than usual.
Email: Traditional email service providers allow marketing teams to track the number of clicks on campaign links, but they often are unable to send customers to either the app store or the app itself. Deep linking allows you to get around this limitation by transporting viewers directly to the information you want them to see. In addition, for referrals and sharing, deferred deep links can assist raise your campaign results by smoothly connecting new users to your brand. This will help increase the number of people who engage with your business.
Deep links are more effective than any other link type
Deep links are not only an intelligent approach to enhance the experience of users, but their conversion rates are also much higher than those of other links. It is probable that you will observe an increase in retention rates as well as an increase in conversions when you use deep links. For instance, if you have an e-commerce app, deep links can help you convert the majority of mobile customers, who would rather complete their purchase inside the app rather than on a web browser.
Deep links enhance your credibility
Aside from the fact that deep links may increase engagement, you can also track the source of the conversion. Your user acquisition costs can be reduced while also ensuring that users are guided to the appropriate spot inside your app with just one single step!
Key takeaways:
The use of deep linking is very necessary for mobile user acquisition and engagement. Marketers and product managers make use of it as a tool to assist them in competing effectively and achieving their user acquisition and engagement objectives. It efficiently handles important difficulties faced by businesses today, such as web-to-app migration cart abandonment, brand recognition, in-store conversion, etc. So, let’s start taking action to reap the advantages of implementing it into your strategy. Deep linking has a lot to offer. There are a lot of different strategies to make deep links work for your online business, ranging from content marketing to targeted redirection and a lot other things.
