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Smart tracking link

This is a single universal tracking link that comprises multiple target URLs for each platform, automatically detects user device's platform, and redirects users to the target URL specified for that platform.

What is it for

Sometimes, when an ad campaign is launched, you do not know which platform your prospects may have. Some examples include:

  • Offline ads: fliers or billboards with QR codes
  • Advertising through blog and social media posts
  • SMS or Email campaigns

The question arises: how to direct a prospect to the right URL, when the app is available for multiple platforms and may be downloaded from app stores or launched on the website?

Of course, you can create separate tracking links for each platform your prospects may be using and place them next to each other with labels specifying relevant platforms. However, this is an inconvenience that may confuse users, and, moreover, such links take up a lot of space.

One suggested solution is to use the smart link technology and place just one link for all platforms that support your app.

How it works

When setting up a smart link you can specify target URLs for the following platforms:

  • Android
  • iOS
  • Web

You need not include all of them in your smart tracking link. You may omit any platform, for which you app is not available.

In addition to links for these platforms, you need to specify a Fallback URL that provides a Target URL for omitted platforms. For example, a Fallback URL may be a landing page URL.

Then, when the smart link is clicked, MyTracker detects user's platform and redirects the device to the respective target URL, or, if there are no links for that platform, to the Fallback URL.

Make links even smarter

Smart tracking links for mobile apps may be associated with a deep link, thus creating a single truly universal link that would work with any platform and any type of audience. This may be useful when you want to redirect users that have already installed your app to a particular screen within that app (regular deep link). Conversely, if your app is not installed, the redirect will lead the user to an app store, and after the app is downloaded and installed, the user will be redirected to a specific screen within the app (deferred deep link).

Thus, once your deep link is set up, the smart link technology will decide what to do for each specific user depending on their platform and whether the app has been installed.

For more details on providing deep link support in your apps, see the Deep link settings section

  1. From the ad campaigns list, select the campaign to which you want to add a tracking link.
  2. On the Tracking links tab, click Add.
  3. You can also duplicate the link with the required settings. For more details, refer to the Duplicate links section.

  4. Fill out the form:

    The form depends on the type of advertising campaign. For more information on special tracking links, see sections Pre-install tracking, VK Mini Apps, and VK Play.

    • Title * — will be displayed in the links list and may be changed later.
    • Link type — Smart link.
    • Project * — each smart link may combine only apps that are parts of the same project. The platforms that are supported for apps included in the selected project are listed under Platform links. Information must be entered for at least one platform. To enter the data, click on the platform you need, and fill out the form that will open. Green check marks will appear on the left of completed block: .
    • Application — the app that will be promoted using this tracking link. Only apps set up under the selected project are available.
    • Target URL * — the address of the relevant app in an online store, a website, or a landing page. This is the page to which users will be redirected after clicking the relevant link.
    • Add UTM tags (only for web apps) — option to add UTM tags to the target URL.
    • If UTM tags are already defined in the Target URL, leave the option disabled, otherwise the tag values in the added link will be replaced with macros (empty values).

    • Deep link (only for mobile apps) — a specialised link that redirects users to a specific screen within a published app. By default, this link works as a deferred deep link, i. e. it's used to redirect only new users. To activate this link for existing users as well, turn on the Use a deep link if the app is installed option. The default for the Advanced settings block is Deferred deep link window which you can change. For more details, see Deep links and Deep link settings sections.
    • The Use a deep link if the app is installed option is unavailable for the unpublished Android applications. If you select several Android applications, and at least one of them is unpublished, the option is also unavailable.

    • Fallback URL * (only for mobile apps) — an address for redirecting devices with unsupported platforms. For example, if the smart link supports only iOS, all requests from Android devices will be redirected to the Fallback URL.

      If you've specified a Fallback URL, maybe you'd better fill out the Platform links > Web block for web attribution.

    • Attribution settings — attribution window settings that will be used for this tracking link. Default values are pre-filled, but you can change them. For more information on attribution modes, see the Attribution section.

    * — required fields.

  5. Click Add.

Once the tracking link is created, you will be redirected to the view page, where you can copy click and impression URLs and share the required link with your partners.

The list of all campaign click URLs can be copied in one click. Just click Copy on the Tracking links tab and select the option you need:

Example: smart link in action

Below, you can see a QR code and a link that illustrate smart tracking link operation without deep link. Try scanning this QR code or follow the link from several different mobile platforms: in all cases you will be redirected to the platform-specific app store or the website.

https://trk.mail.ru/c/spruo4

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