For anyone that knows me, they would say there are two ways to my heart: good food and good apps. So, you can imagine my happiness upon discovering the union of a seamless Branch integration and Cheesecake Filled Pumpkin Muffins.
Deep Linked Sharing
Cookpad has the world’s largest online recipe community. They’ve developed a social network based around great food, interesting people, and the idea that sharing is caring. They currently feature about 213,000 recipes and a community of over 1,000,000 cooks who bring new recipes directly to your newsfeed. With 15 million downloads to date, Cookpad features location-based preferences, so you can find recipes with the distinct cultural taste of your region. Beyond finding new recipes, Cookpad has an active forum with question and suggestion threads, cooking equipment information, food photography, and recipe competitions. But most importantly, Cookpad has the profound effect of making me extremely hungry every time I open the app.
Cookpad uses Branch links to improve the recipe sharing experience. Every time a user wants to share a recipe, Cookpad automatically creates a Branch generated deep link that can be easily shared via text, email, Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. What makes this link so special is that it directs the recipient to the recipe inside the app right after install, regardless of whether or not they had previously downloaded the app.
There is no better way to understand this seamless experience than through a simple example. Imagine the referrer wants to email one of their favorite dishes, The Ultimate Crab Cake Sandwich , to a friend. Since the friend doesn’t have Cookpad previously installed, they are directed to the AppStore. After install is complete, they are brought directly to the delectable culinary treat that they originally intended to see. Without Branch deep links, this user would see a standard, non-unique, and unengaging welcome screen after install. More importantly, without passing referral data through the install process, there is no way for the app to know where to send the user, or which recipe they were looking at previously. Branch allows developers to customize the user’s first experience depending on where they came from.
As soon as the user decides to share their recipe, a dynamic Branch deep link is generated on the fly.
All the the referred user has to do is download the app from AppStore (works across iOS and Android!) and they will be brought directly to the linked recipe when the open, providing a streamlined, custom UX.
Rafael Sanches, a software engineer at Cookpad, said that they sought out Branch deep links to “improve the user experience and create that ‘wow’ effect.” Although the Branch integration is relatively new, they’ve already seen an 11% install rate on clicks from shared recipes using deep links. Rafael added:
“Cookpads mission is to empower everyone to make cooking more fun. We work hard to make this the best place to share your personal recipes. Branch fits perfectly with this mission. I can quickly share my personal recipes to my friends and make sure I give them the best experience possible either on mobile or web.”
Cookpad demonstrates how deep links can be used to promote organic growth. Anyone can take advantage of Branch’s technology to increase their growth and deliver an amazing UX — our online guides walk you through integration, step-by-step, from incentivized referral systems to deep linked ads .
We love seeing all the cool ways developers use our links. So what are you waiting for? Re-ignite your growth engine today with Branch links. We can’t wait to see what you build with them!