Social media mobile app Snapchat is launching deep linking tech, allowing app install advertisers on its platform to better target users.

Prompting users to swipe the screen in order to download an app, brands will now be able to deep link their campaigns, allowing for re-engagement with users that have interacted – downloaded features or opened an app – around specific product features.

Already used by Google and Facebook, Snapchat’s update will connect app installs with links automatically, allowing advertisers who run ads on the platform to target specific content while prompting users to engage with features on the app.

In addition to deep linking, brands can manage and evaluate their ad spend on the platform; through its Ads Manager, brands will see enhanced attribution measurement and the impact of their ads which drive downloads by viewing post-install events.

ROI among gaming apps

According to Snapchat, the deep-linking approach has seen the most successful among gaming apps. For example, installs of Golf Clash by Playdemic driven via the platform made a return on ad spend of 27% above its target. Peak Labs, meanwhile, saw initial success from the app install ads, garnering 1.7 million downloads in just two months.

“There’s an appetite for app discovery on Snapchat, and our team has doubled down on building tools for those advertisers,” said Peter Sellis, director of revenue product at Snap Inc; “With this launch we can now offer more granular metrics and new ways to reach the right audience, and we’ll continue to do more.”

This move comes as Snapchat looks to encourage advertisers to purchase ads programmatically through its self-service platform, while also continues its efforts in the market space, amid competition with Instagram, having fallen short of its revenue targets in Q3 last year leading to a loss of $443 million.