These days, there’s no denying that one of the most effective ways to engage users is via email. Through email, the modern marketer can instantly reach millions of users who are significantly more likely to engage with their digital content. After all—most people don’t want to waste their time, so what inherent incentive do they have to interact with content that isn’t valuable and delivered directly to them? This is likely one of the reasons email marketing provides excellent ROI; for every $1 spent, the return is $44.
The world’s dependency on email communication is only strengthening, but the real news is that the way users are receiving email messaging is changing increasingly quickly. In fact, recent studies show that over 70% of emails are opened on smartphones, citing the world’s rapid transformation into a network of interconnected mobile first societies.
You might wonder how this simple change in the way users receive messaging can affect opportunities for further engagement, conversion, and retention. It’s a reasonable question to ask—after all, an email is an email is an email, right?
Not quite. In our unapologetically digital world, the context in which we encounter brand and product messaging tends to govern our response (or lack of response). Gone are the days of undivided user attention, when conversion funnels could afford to necessitate profound user investment and effort. These days, by employing such techniques as deep linking from email campaigns to mobile app content, brands must streamline their conversion funnels without detracting from the resonance of their messaging.
The benefits of deep linking also bring to light another trend—the rising prevalence of mobile app conversion and engagement. Email marketing without deep linking routes users to the mobile web regardless of whether they have the app installed or not.
Your users are probably not logged in to their account on the mobile web. In fact, according to Conversion XL, 92% of users will leave a site if they’ve forgotten login info.
Incorporating deep links into the fabric of a brand’s email marketing allows users to freely and immediately move across channels and platforms, directly from email inboxes to specific content pages in mobile applications. Ultimately, creating a truly seamless, streamlined mobile experience doesn’t just build trust in your brand—it takes the work out of user conversion, engagement, and retention.
If you still aren’t convinced, feel free to check out how Instacart drove a 6x increase in purchases from email by implementing deep links in their email campaigns!
Employing deep links can unfortunately be difficult, since the infrastructure is fragmented and constantly changing. Apple’s Universal Links break the click tracking links embedded in many brands’ emails, forcing them to make a choice between missing out on revenue because they aren’t deep linking into their apps, or missing out on attribution data that will drive future campaigns.
Fortunately there is a solution: Branch’s Universal Email links users to relevant content within mobile apps and retains the ability to track clicks. Branch has partnered with several major ESPs to make the integration as simple and seamless as possible.
Email is still one of the most effective marketing channels available. Learn more about how you can drive enhanced revenue while improving UX today.