Deep linking in BannerFlow: Connecting to the right content

BannerFlow allows you to deep-link your banners ads. But what does this mean and how can this help improve your HTML5 display advertising campaigns?  This article explores the concept of deep linking in BannerFlow and how you can take advantage of it as a feature.

What is Deep linking?

Deep linking refers to a URL within an online banner ad that, when clicked, sends the viewer directly to a defined page within your website. This function is particularly useful if you want to link a particular product, offer, landing page or a defined screen on a mobile device or app.

For example, you can link to a particular page on a website, such as the BannerFlow blog:

http://hub.bannerflow.com

Or you can link to a specific product screen on a mobile:

Mobilebannerflow://hubpage01

Why use Deep linking?

Deep linking is useful due to its direct targeting approach rather than sending all traffic to a website's homepage. It provides a more seamless customer experience by directing them to targeted content such as a specific product or offer. Instead of clicking through multiple windows from the advertiser’s homepage, the customer is directly engaged with content which is related to what was on the banner they clicked.

Another example of how deep-linking can be useful is when advertising in multiple languages, the customer can be redirected to information in their native language rather than the default homepage of the advertiser which may not be the language of the user. This gives advertisers another opportunity to connect more deeply with their audience, in order to make campaigns more relevant. 

How do I create deep links in BannerFlow?

As shown above, Bannerflow sets a default target URL in each of your translations based upon your account settings. 

When viewing a banner within the campaign view, each specific text field of each translation or version can be defined to a separate URL. This can be customised for each version of any language and each text field. These fields also encompass any text on call to action buttons.

Deep linking is not currently available within the Bannerflow Platform for images but is able to be linked through an image widget linked to a dynamic content feed.  Within a Dynamic Content feed, text and images can be updated according to your set URL parameters.

Static content link vs dynamic content linking

A static link is a link that remains the same regardless of the number of times a banner is shown. A dynamic link is one that changes upon every refresh and is able to retarget the customer to a specific page.  A unique URL can be set for each impression through a separate website text field within your feed. This causes a new URL to be generated.

When using an XML or JSON feed, you may predefine the fields that you wish to use, as well of the frequency in which the text and images refresh. This will be updated according to a set interval defined by the user (default setting every 20 minutes).

Example: Updating a campaign is a simple task of changing your XML Feed content and Bannerflow does the rest!

Mobile deep linking

Just as you can link consumers to a web page, it is possible to open an application on the user’s mobile device and direct them to a specified screen within the app. This is done by setting a URI address instead of a standard URL. The URI contains information which triggers the launching of the app. The format of the launching address differs per device (eg. Andriod, IOS).

Check with your publisher to see if this is supported within your ad network.

Publishing

Banners published through Bannerflow are hosted on our servers, which means that if your particular link is required to be changed for whatever reason, editing the link is easy. Simply log into your Campaign view, update the target URL as shown above, click save and you’re done! You can even edit the links when your campaign is live. This is a useful feature for those looking to optimize their campaigns in real-time.

Custom click tag- target URL

Bannerflow automatically sets the default target URL to your brand address designated within your brand settings. However, if you’re looking to direct all of your ads to the one target URL, you can change this in your publishing settings. This will alter the final banner tag with your designated URL. The default setting will allow the deep links used in text fields and variations.

Example: If you are running a campaign and you want to drive traffic to a specific landing page, ensure that all elements of your banner link to that designated page.

Note: Using this function will override all of the deep links that you have created in your account

Link hierarchy

Creating a Deep Link naturally has a rule system to ensure that the input link remains functional. These are represented numerically as well as shown in the hierarchy below:

1. Custom target URL overrides any link (if set)

2. Ad network (if used) overrides any link if ad network supports deep-linking, deep-link from steps 3 to 5 will be used.

3. Feed deep-link (if set)

4. Text field target URL (if set)

5. Text/translation target URL

The advantages of using Bannerflow Deep-linking

The death of Flash has made  HTML5 banner ads the new standard and opened up new possibilities; banners produced within Flash do not support deep linking.

Retargeting campaigns are becoming increasingly popular, with advertisers searching for ways to further engage with their consumers by encouraging them to return to a website and continue their sales journey.

If there are particular offers or deals that you want your consumer to see, deep-linking within your banner advertisements is an effective way to capture and redirect the customers interest and to help them make a purchase.

Need more information about deep linking in BannerFlow? Contact support@bannerflow.com