There are over 4 million apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store combined (as of Q3, 2018). Getting your app on your customers' phones can be a challenge.
With SMS, you can deliver direct links to your app without the need of searching.
Normally when you want to download an app, you will need to go to the app store, search for the app and tap to install. Depending on the search input, other apps alike may appear instead of yours, making it hard to ensure your customers can find your app specifically.
The Benefits of Using SMS Link
With an SMS link, you eliminate the guesswork out of searching for your specific app. This saves time and ensures your app will be found.
ad:tech Sydney saw this as an opportunity to leverage the simplicity of SMS link by putting up posters advertising SMS keywords that could be texted into a virtual number that would return a direct link to the app download page.
Using the Burst SMS Keyword System
Each Burst SMS keyword can be setup with an auto responder. The responder can have a link within it that can take the recipient directly to a web page, app store page, or trigger apps to open maps or video.
Finding Your App Link
For Apple App Store, you can find the link when you visit iTunes and bring up your App page. On the page, there is a drop down that has an option to copy the link. This is the link you will need for your SMS.
Creating Shortened & Measurable Links
Because SMS has a limit on characters, using a URL shortener is highly recommended. Bit.ly is a free tool for creating shortened links while providing basic analytics on the links. You can even customise the URL with your own URL and extension which can enhance your SMS.
Got Multiple Versions of your App?
When a link is activated in an SMS, the browser of the phone opens and performs a detection. At this stage, we can run a simple piece of code to pick up whether the phone is iOS, Android or others, and deliver them to the right store. The below example uses links to the Google Gmail App.
Browser detection and redirection code:
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>Redirect</title>
<script type="text/javascript"> // <![CDATA[
//iPhone Version:
if((navigator.userAgent.match(/iPhone/i)) || (navigator.userAgent.match(/iPod/i))) {
window.location = "http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gmail/id422689480?mt=8";
}
//Android Version:
if(navigator.userAgent.match(/android/i)) {
window.location = "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.gm&featu...?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5nb29nbGUuYW5kcm9pZC5nbSJd";
}
</script>
</body>
</html>The Power & Simplicity of SMS
As you can see SMS and SMS Keywords are simple and cost effective tools to distributing apps and increasing your visibility.