“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” Warren Buffet
It’s amazing how much can change in a relatively short time. Fifteen years ago, when Warren Buffet made the quoted observation, it may have indeed taken five minutes for a company to ruin its reputation; digital has changed that. Just as it takes less time to shop for clothing and food, it takes little time to become annoyed and frustrated by friction points in our digital buying journeys, especially during challenging times like today. And while it may have taken five minutes to ruin a brand’s reputation back in 2005, today, it can take five seconds, and often less, to tarnish a brand.
Digital marketers and app developers are well aware of how quickly a prospect or customer can bounce during a journey. Marketers and UX developers know that they walk a tightrope when they design customer journeys. They labor diligently to analyze and measure data with the aim of continuously optimizing journeys and customer experience, thus ensuring that a brand’s cachet is bolstered.
Deep Linking and Your Reputation
The mobile channel has become key to any digital marketing organization, and the use of deep linking has become an integral tool in the quiver of app developers and marketers seeking to acquire and grow their install base.
Why are deep links so powerful? Because they help marketers move prospects from point A to point B in a seamless way, optimizing user experience. The same link directs users of any platform, OS, or channel along “a path of no resistance” that if done right — for example, by using contextual data — can be optimized for users. Now that’s powerful, right? After all, the less resistance and friction, the more likely you’ll be able to maintain and enhance your brand’s reputation.
AppsFlyer has offered OneLink, a robust deep linking solution, since 2014, and thousands of customers benefit from it each day. Today, we announced a new feature enabling digital organizations to configure branded links. This feature makes OneLink even more powerful because it strengthens brand prestige and eliminates a potential friction point for customers.
Drive trust and brand equity
Why You Should Brand Your Deep Links
What’s the difference between a branded deep link and a “regular” deep link? If you use a non-branded deep link, the domain will typically include the deep link provider’s branding, e.g, yourbrand.onelink.me. A branded OneLink does everything that a non-branded one does, including support for Universal Links and App Links… but it displays your brand name in the domain without a deep linking vendor’s name.
So, back to Buffet’s warning, a branded OneLink helps elevate your brand because it:
- Delivers brand consistency – URLs should echo and emphasize your brand name; just as important, a link that does not include your brand name can impact brand equity negatively.
- Promotes the brand – One of the biggest benefits of branded links is that your brand, not a generic or potentially suspicious link, marks your campaign.
- Fosters trust – Users are more likely to click on branded links (e.g., in SMS, social media, etc.), while email validation systems are more likely to consider emails containing branded links as valid promotion emails.
Ultimately trust and brand awareness further one of the main goals of deep links: removing friction and pain from the user experience. In other words, when users “come across” branded links, their path to their, and hopefully your, end destination just got shorter.
So no matter why you use deep links, whether it’s to grow your install base, retain existing customers by re-engaging, onboard with ease, or the countless other deep linking use cases, OneLink’s branded links just made your life and your users’ lives better.
What would Warren say?
If you care about your brand and want to maintain trust in the eyes of your customers and prospects, try OneLink Branded Links today and compare their performance to your non-branded links.
To learn more about OneLink, head to our marketer and developer guides. And if you’re a customer that wants to implement Branded Links, talk to your CSM today.
The post Announcing Branded Links: Ensuring Customer Trust and Brand Consistency appeared first on AppsFlyer.