Can deep links in push notifications carry campaign data?
We send a few push campaigns a week from our CRM tool. Every tap opens the home screen and none of it shows up in attribution. Can the push itself carry the campaign?
Answer from the Linkrunner team
Yes. Put the route in a dedicated deep_link field as one URL the app parses, with UTM parameters appended, for example myapp://product/sku-42?utm_source=push&utm_campaign=summer_sale. Add an optional route_id as a fallback, and keep routing out of the body text. A route plus UTMs is typically under 200 bytes, well inside the 4KB payload limit on APNs and FCM. On MoEngage, WebEngage or CleverTap, the deep link field is usually a column in the campaign builder, so use it. Then fix cold start, where most push routing breaks: register the deep link handler in the launch path, block navigation until SDK init completes, and fall back to home only when no route is found. Use one canonical link across push, email and SMS, with the channel in the UTMs. Most MMPs treat a push open as a reattribution, not a new install. Re-engagement reporting: https://linkrunner.io/retargeting
More on this: linkrunner.io/blog/deep-linking-for-push-notifications