Strava Drives Results with Mobile-optimized Linking

Strava drives results with mobile-optimized deep links

As a leading mobile-first social network for athletes, Strava sought to provide an optimal and unified user experience across all mobile marketing channels, platforms (iOS, Android, etc.), devices, and product offerings. Aware of the difficulty associated with building these complex linking experiences in-house, the Strava team turned to Branch’s linking infrastructure to power their mobile needs. Strava saved thousands of dev hours and saw immediate increases in click-to-install rate from Facebook Ads (up to 75%) and email clicks resulting in app engagement (up to 41%).

Launching Strava’s Clubs with user journeys in mind

When Strava launched Clubs, a new feature to allow groups of all sizes to create workout communities, the team used Branch to deep link users from mobile web and social pages into the relevant club within the app.

By optimizing journeys from other channels into the Strava mobile app (where both user engagement and user conversion are substantially higher), Strava was able to retain the context of the link click, even through the app install process. In this way, the team ensured that each app user—whether new and onboarding or existing and returning—would be routed directly to the appropriate in-app content.

In the first three months, 12% of users who clicked on a Clubs link installed the app across all marketing channels. Launching Clubs resulted in a 21% increase in the number of daily installs driven from Branch’s deep links.

Personalizing the web-to-app user flow at scale

To convert the mobile web into a successful user acquisition channel, Strava used Branch’s web-to-app smart banners. With Banners, Strava could encourage users to view the same content in the mobile app.

Because Branch links retain the context of each individual user’s experience through app install or app open, Strava immediately began routing users directly to the proper destinations in the app. The links in Branch’s Banners directly route app users to desired in-app content, even through the install process.

Marketing email links for the cross-platform world

Strava noticed that app users who engaged with marketing emails were being routed to the mobile web, where engagement was significantly lower. To remedy this, Strava turned to Branch’s email-to-app, easily adding deep links to emails serviced by both Responsys and Sendgrid. Branch allows email recipients who have the app to instantly access content in the Strava app with a single link click. With Branch, Strava quickly saw over 40% of email clicks result in app engagement.

Optimizing social, content sharing, and paid channels with deep links

Strava relies on Branch to power viral growth from social marketing activities and referrals. If users invite friends via email, social, or SMS, for instance, a Branch link will take the new user to the exact content shared with them.

Additionally, Strava uses Branch links in paid acquisition channels to promote specific app content, such as challenges or marketing campaigns, to specific audiences. In one example, Strava saw a 75% click-to-install rate within two weeks of integrating Branch, by using Branch links to route from Facebook ads to specific app content.

With each integration of a marketing channel, Strava derives more and more value. From ads to content sharing to social media to email marketing, Strava uses Branch’s linking platform to scalably drive users across channels and platforms to the app, where they are most likely to convert and continue to engage.

Partnering with Branch has allowed us to easily optimize user flows from almost every product and marketing channel, resulting in significant performance improvements across the board. Not only has Branch driven a large percentage of our installs, Branch has also enabled us to provide smooth user experiences across all of these channels to delight and retain users—all while saving us well over 20x the amount of development time it would’ve taken us to build these features in-house.

Alex Macintosh Product Manager – Growth, Strava

Looking forward: What’s next for Strava?

By trusting Branch as their cross-platform linking provider, Strava has increased the number of channels the team can use to engage users with their app. Additionally, Strava knows that users will receive the best experience on mobile, regardless of which of the many available marketing channels, platforms, or devices they are using.

With Branch’s built-in attribution and analytics, Strava confidently compares all of its organic and paid acquisition channels to continually optimize the team’s overall mobile marketing strategy.

Are you interested in learning how Branch can produce similar growth for your mobile app? Request a demo, and we’ll be happy to help you form a plan.