The Twitter service has added “deep links” (deep-links), which allow developers to link certain game events to tweets. There is an opinion that this innovation has made Twitter a full-fledged platform for the distribution of games.
What is a “deep link” is better explained by a concrete example. Let’s say you’re playing farm. We have built a beautiful garden, arranged tomato beds in it with a heart, and now you want to share this with your friends. Press the button, and a tweet with a link to the game is ready. If another player clicks on it, the link takes you to the application page, and if it is installed, the link launches the game and shows your garden in it.
But this is only one of the many possibilities of such links. Ryan Hoover, the main producer of PlayHaven, has compiled a whole list of events that can be linked to deep-links.
1. Gifts and rewards
Click on the link and get an item, a game resource, currency or any other content in the game.
2. Special IAP offers
Saw and clicked the tweet? We got the opportunity to download exclusive content at a special price or even for free.
3. Invitations
It is this type of event that we cited just above. You don’t just brag about your own achievements, but also invite your friends to download / return to the game. Moreover, invitations can sound completely different: from a completely neutral “play with me” to an aggressive “I broke your record” or “it’s your turn to draw something”.
4. UGC
Demonstration of any content generated by the user in the game. It can be again some kind of record or a new skin on the character.
In fact, all the things that the developers used on Facebook can now be applied on mobile platforms via Twitter. In addition, thanks to such an innovation, a new tool for increasing virality falls into the hands of developers.
Hoover himself believes that the innovation will make it possible to better measure ROI from promotion on Twitter, increase LTV, allow developers to receive direct feedback on some decisions in game design, and so on.
At one time, the popularity of Facebook was actively promoted by games. Therefore, Hoover is confident that the arrival of Twitter in the gaming industry is also a good solution.
Out of curiosity: Rain talked about the main differences between Facebook and Twitter. According to him, Facebook is a service where you connect with those you know, and Twitter is a service where you connect with those you want to know. In this regard, the new Twitter feature will attract a wider audience to the project (and, yes, do not forget about hashtags, they will also contribute to this).
P.S.
A small nuance: the new feature does not concern ordinary tweets, but the so-called Twitter Cards. This is a service that automatically creates a “card” of this page with a photo and a brief announcement at the time of posting a link to the site on Twitter. And in order for it to work, you first need to add a couple of lines of code to the site. Thus, deep-links, in fact, is an extended functionality of Twitter Cards.