What Is a Smart App Banner? 

A Smart App Banner is an interactive banner that appears at the top of a website when viewed on a mobile device, prompting users to download or open the mobile app associated with the website. It detects the device's operating system and directs the user to the app's page on the App Store, Google Play Store or opens the app if it's already installed.

According to Airbridge, it has been found that 60% of all brands’ acquisition campaigns send users to the web first, even though mobile apps are their main product service. In other words, while app installs and in-app conversions are the ultimate goals, more than half of all campaigns direct users to the mobile web first. Because of this, Smart App Banner, designed to enhance user acquisition and engagement directly from a website to a mobile app,  is becoming more and more important. 

👉 You can find more insights with Airbridge’s Web-to-App Marketing Guide.

How Does a Smart App Banner Work?

First, we should keep in mind these notes regarding iOS and Android Smart App Banner:

• iOS: On iOS devices with the release of iOS 6, Smart App Banners are supported natively through only Safari browsers and are not customizable. They utilize a simple meta tag to display the app banner: 

<meta name=”apple-itunes-app” content=”app-id=myAppStoreID, app-argument=myURL”>

• Android: Android does not have a built-in equivalent to iOS's Smart App Banners, but similar functionality can be achieved through third-party libraries or custom implementation. These solutions allow for the customization of the banner's appearance and behavior, providing flexibility to match the website's design.

When a user visits the website on a mobile device, the site displays a banner at the top of the page with the app’s icon, a brief description, and a direct link to download or open the app from the App Store. If the app is already installed, the banner will offer the option to "Open" the app via deep linking. If the user hasn't installed the app, Deferred deep linking will be used to redirect the user to the App Store to download first before opening the app. 

The Benefits of Smart App Banner

Here is what Apple's own help pages says about Smart App Banner:

“Smart App Banners vastly improve users’ browsing experience compared to other promotional methods. In iOS, Smart App Banners provide a consistent look and feel that users come to recognize. They trust that tapping the banner will take them to the App Store and not a third-party advertisement. They appreciate unobtrusive banners at the top of a webpage, instead of a full screen that interrupts their experience with the web content. And with a large and prominent Close button, a banner is easy to dismiss. When the user returns to the webpage, the banner doesn’t reappear.”

Besides providing a pleasant web-to-app experience, Smart App Banner is also one of the best ways to boost conversion rate and organic downloads. Learn how Airbridge can deal with web + app attribution to maximize your app growth.

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