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    • Attribution
      Attribution
      Complete visibility into all of your marketing activities.
    • Deep Linking
      Deep Linking
      Powerful links that work across all platforms and channels.
    • Journeys
      Journeys
      Bring web visitors into your app with smart banners.
    • Universal Ads
      Universal Ads
      Attribute ad conversions across every device and platform.
    • Universal Email
      Universal Email
      Increase results with a seamless bridge from email to app.
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      NativeLink™
      Solve the deep linking challenges of Private Relay on iOS.
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      QR Codes
      Deploy QR codes designed especially for mobile apps.
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      Data Feeds
      Import and export your Branch data everywhere.
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      SKAdNetwork
      Generate detailed reports via our centralized data dashboard.
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      OTT/CTV Support
      Deep link and measure ads across over-the-top platforms.
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How Branch links work

The fundamentals of Branch's contextual deep links.

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How exactly do Branch links work?

Don't know what a deep link or a contextual deep link is? Start here.

1. Creating links
2. Tying data to links
3. Clicking links
4. Using data
5. Matching accuracy
1. Creating links
2. Tying data to links
3. Clicking links
4. Using data
5. Matching accuracy

1. Creating links

The first step toward deep linking greatness is creating a Branch link. Once you’ve signed up with Branch, you can easily change your links to something like you.app.link, or add your own domain. Then you can create a link via:

Mobile SDK
Web SDK
API
Dynamic long links
Quick Links

Mobile SDK

When you’ve integrated the Mobile SDK, you can create a Branch link every time a user clicks to share or invite another user from within your app. Your app makes a call to us, and we return a Branch link.

Mobile SDK

Web SDK

When you’ve integrated the Web SDK, you can create a Branch link every time a user clicks to share or invite another user from within your website, or direct users straight to your app from your website. Your website makes a call to us, and we return a Branch link.

Web SDK

API

You can use the API to create Branch links in bulk, for instance if you wanted to send a unique link to every user on your email list. You make a call to us, and we return Branch links.

API

Dynamic long links

If you’re creating lots of links and you don’t want to call the API, you can use dynamic long links by manually appending query string parameters to your link. You can deliver Branch links to your users this way without ever making a call to us.

Dynamic long links

Quick Links

The Quick Link creator in the Dashboard allows anyone to create a Branch link without technical know-how. You can still customize the appearance, redirects, and other aspects of the link, but no coding is necessary. It's easy to fill in open graph tags so your links look great on social media.

Quick Links

2. Tying data to links

No matter which approach (or approaches) you choose to create Branch links, you can always associate each link with data. In the Dashboard’s Quick Link creator, that means filling in some form fields, or with the programmatic routes, it means writing a key-value data dictionary with whatever information you like. We encourage you to specify:

channel:
The medium you use to distribute the link
ex. Facebook, email, SMS
ex. Facebook, email, SMS
feature:
The action associated with creating link
ex. share, invite, deal, gift
ex. share, invite, deal, gift
campaign:
The marketing push associated with a link
ex. "Fall Sale," "Launch Event"
ex. "Fall Sale," "Launch Event"
tags:
Unlimited free-form tags associated with a link
ex. boots, recipes, paid
ex. boots, recipes, paid

You can put any key-value pair you want in there.

2. Tying data to links

3. Clicking links

A Branch link is an actual page on the web. When users click a Branch link, they open that webpage, and we get pinged. We use matching to detect your users’ device, operating system, and browser, and combine that with cookies to either remember or check whether they have the app installed. Then we can redirect them for an optimal experience.

Click through for some examples:
iOS link click
Android link click
Desktop link click
iOS link click
Android link click
Desktop link click

4. Using Data

The long-standing challenge with deep linking to apps has been that any data associated with a link – like where the user originated and where they should go – gets lost at the app store. As soon as your app opens, it makes a call to Branch using the Mobile SDK. We again use device fingerprints to match that app open to the original link click, even if there was a detour through the app store.

When a match is made, we send the data associated with that link and link click – that you decided on in Step 2 – back to your app. Then your app is free to use that data however you wish. You could use an image associated with a link to personalize onboarding, or, of course, deep link to app content.

The Mobile SDK is an optional way to create links, but an essential part of interpreting deep links and their data. The Mobile SDK calls Branch on app open, retrieves link data, and makes sure that data is available to your app.

4. Using Data

5. Matching Accuracy

How can you be certain to recognize users when they have come into your app from a broad set of potential customer touch points? That’s where matching accuracy comes in. On the traditional web, matching accuracy is easy: you’re staying within the same channel and one page leads seamlessly to the other.

Matching users who go from the web into a mobile app is an art; users are changing channels and it is not easy to trace the identity from one to the other. By being focused on the user, Branch does this better than anyone else in the industry.

For full details on how Branch matches users, visit our docs. You can also learn more about why matching accuracy is important.

5. Matching Accuracy

6. Analytics Dashboard

All of the data associated with links, link clicks, and app use is available to you via the Dashboard. Think about what you could learn from this data, for example:

Views, clicks, and installs for specific pieces of content
Channels that drive the most downloads
Users that contribute the most referrals

For a more in-depth explanation of how Branch deep linking works, visit our docs.

Link click analytics
Content Analytics
analytics dashboard dashboard.branch.io
analytics dashboard dashboard.branch.io/#/content
View the entire Branch link routing infographic.
Branch link routing infographic
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