Smart App Download URL: How to Connect Your Mobile Users Directly to the Correct App for Their Devices

Now that you've started using the new At-The-Event feature in your mobile apps, you will want to make sure that your audience has the Apple or Android app downloaded to their mobile device.

Including the Redirect Script on your standard website takes mobile users to the mobile website, which will display a banner link to the proper app store. Word of mouth also helps build app awareness, but nothing beats providing your patrons with direct links to the Apple App Store and Google Play pages for their specific devices.

To help you with this, we've created a Smart App Download URL (SmartURL) that will automatically detect the type of mobile device accessing it and redirect the user to the link on the appropriate app store for their device.  If the link is visited from a desktop or laptop computer, it will display a page with links to both app stores.

How the Smart App Download URL appears on a desktop computer.

Since At The Event is specifically available to your Apple and Android app subscribers, the Smart App Download URL guides users directly to those apps and bypasses the mobile website, which is not compatible with At The Event.

Building the URL

The first step is to build the SmartURL. This is comprised of three parts starting with the base URL. To begin, copy and paste this text:



http://services.instantencore.com/Util/Share/DownloadApp/

Next, you will need to include your Partner ID - a unique 7 digit number linked to your account which lets the URL know to connect to your specific apps.

• Find this by logging in to your Control Panel
• Click your Partner Name in the upper right corner to visit your Partner Page on InstantEncore
• Copy the number at the end of the URL:

 

Lastly, you will need to provide a Qualifier. This can be anything, but for basic uses we suggest using the "Menu App Name" from the Mobile >> Basic Settings page in your Control Panel:

These elements are then combined into a single URL that looks like:
http://services.instantencore.com/Util/Share/DownloadApp/PartnerID/Qualifier

For example:
http://services.instantencore.com/Util/Share/DownloadApp/5109242/bcsd2go

Be sure to visit the URL in your web browser and make sure it is valid before publishing it anywhere!

Advanced Techniques

As we mentioned, this link can be used in a variety of different mediums.  If you want to keep track of how much the link is used in different ways, you can use anything you like as a qualifier such as:

http://services.instantencore.com/Util/Share/DownloadApp/5109242/qrcode
http://services.instantencore.com/Util/Share/DownloadApp/5109242/twitter
http://services.instantencore.com/Util/Share/DownloadApp/5109242/facebook
http://services.instantencore.com/Util/Share/DownloadApp/5109242/email



Short URL

Now these URLs are very useful, but they are not practical for social media.  To make them more manageable, we recommend Google's URL shortening service: Goo.gl

In addition to an easy-to-use shortened URL, this service provides some "Details"; basic analytics to help you keep track of exposure including the number of "clicks" and what Platform (iPhone, Linux - which includes Android, etc) visited the link. These analytics are important to have as they will not be recorded by your regular mobile app's Google Analytics.

QR Codes

Also available in the "Details" area of the Goo.gl short URL is a QR Code image.

You can save this image to your computer and then use it in your printed materials such as signage, flyers, and programs.  You could even go so far as to create different SmartURLs for different printed methods to get a fine-grained view of what methods work best:

http://services.instantencore.com/Util/Share/DownloadApp/5109242/qrBanner
http://services.instantencore.com/Util/Share/DownloadApp/5109242/qrPostcard
http://services.instantencore.com/Util/Share/DownloadApp/5109242/qrProgram

QR Codes are the ideal use for SmartURLs as you are guaranteed that your audience member is already using their mobile device and will be able to bring up the correct app with immediate access to your At-The-Event content.

Tip:  When adding a QR code to a postcard, program or other printed item, it is best to include a bit of text telling the mobile user exactly where that QR code will take them.  For example, "Scan this code with your smartphone to download our mobile app and access exclusive content for tonight's show."