Recently, Facebook released a new feature called App Invites which got a lot of attention in the press. This feature, touted as Facebook’s attempt to help mobile app developers grow their application’s user base, allows users to share apps to their friends on Facebook. However, rather than posting publically such as on a wall or newsfeed, the app invite shows up as a personalized notification to the invitee. You can read more about how it works in Facebook’s developer portal.
What are Facebook App Invites?
App Invites are another example of Facebook deep linking. The user flow is very similar to SMS app sharing. However, as seen below, Facebook’s app invites actually recommends which friend to share with based on your relationship with them. This seems like a much better user experience than the alphabetized, complete contact list that we’ve grown to hate with SMS. If you want to learn more, check out our study comparing SMS to Facebook App Invites.
Facebook suggests which friends to invite to a new app. Picture courtesy of Facebook’s developer portal.
The recipient of an App Invite receives a Facebook notification for each invite and a push notification if they don’t already have the app installed. The invite is coupled with a personalized, customizable message from the invitee. Tapping the install button brings users to the app store where they can choose to download the app. Once Facebook detects that the install is complete, it will send another notification indicating that the app is ready to be used.
Accepting an app invite will direct you to the app store to download the app. Picture courtesy of Facebook’s developer portal.
Using Branch for Facebook App Invites
App Invites provide another channel to grow your app. Although still in beta, and unproven whether or not push notifications will translate to installs, we can be sure that the massive Facebook user base will attract developers to App Invites. The good news is that the Branch deep links that you’ve set up for SMS, email, and Twitter shares work the exact same way when you use them with App Invites!
To take advantage of deep linking on Facebook, check out Branch’s freshly made Facebook App Invites developer guide. Every Branch link automatically comes packed with all of the AppLinks to handle deep linking off of Facebook posts, including invites. The Branch contextual deep link works for both fresh installs for new users and opens for users who already have the app. If you drop a Branch link into the URL for the App Invite, you can use Branch to determine if a new user came from an existing app user, allowing you to create a personalized welcome that will dramatically increase the conversion of new users.
Facebook’s App Invites give developers another medium to potentially grow their app. At Branch, we’re excited to support this, along with many other channels, so that we can continue to help developers grow their app on any platform they’d like.
If you have any questions, please contact support. We look forward to seeing what you create!
Check out our guide on App Links as well!
Branch is now a Facebook Mobile Measurement Partner! This means that in addition to enhancing Facebook ads with deep links, Branch can also provide you with best-in-class attribution and analytics for Facebook app ads. To learn more, click here!