Attribution for health and fitness apps that measures growth, not health data
See which ads, landing pages and shares bring the patients, members and customers who book a first consult, place a first order or start a paid plan. Your events stay generic, so no condition, symptom or medication ever leaves the app.
Health, pharmacy and fitness teams measure installs to first consults, orders and memberships with Linkrunner
Customers include August AI, tap health, Zeno Health, BigOHealth, Doctor911, CycleBae, KineticAge, 20Fit, Endorfin.
The install is a question, the first consult or paid plan is the customer
In health, the install is a question, not a customer. A telemedicine app earns on the first booked consult, a pharmacy on the first completed order, and an AI assistant, cycle coach or fitness app on the first paid plan. The assessment or first chat in between is the earliest signal that the user has a real need you can serve.
- Install
- 1assessment_completedSame session to 1 dayFirst proof of intent, and the earliest event most campaigns can learn from
- 2consult_booked1 to 7 daysThe value event for telemedicine and doctor-booking apps
- 3first_order (with value)1 to 3 daysThe value event for pharmacy apps; only completed payments count as revenue
- Optimise on thisfirst_payment3 to 14 daysMapped from RevenueCat as FIRST_PAYMENT; the value event for coaching and fitness plans
- 5week_1_active7 daysShows which campaigns bring users who keep logging, training or chatting
Name every event for the step, never the condition. assessment_completed is fine; diabetes_assessment_completed is not. The same goes for properties and deep link parameters: use opaque content IDs, not article titles or symptom names.
Why health attribution needs more care than other categories
Ad platforms restrict health signals
Ad platforms restrict how health and wellness data can be used, so some networks will not optimise toward every event you track. Keep the full funnel in Linkrunner, send each network only the generic events your category allows, and judge campaigns on first consults and paid plans.
Google and Meta campaign setup →
PurchaseUSD
purchaseUSD
PurchaseUSDThe journey starts on the web
Patients often meet you through a health library article, a symptom checker or a web app, then install later. Without a deferred deep link behind every "Get the app" prompt, that install lands as organic and the conversation they started on the web is lost.
Web-to-app attribution →Owned channels hide inside organic
Landing page heroes, footers, Instagram bios, in-app shares and clinic QR codes drive most installs for many health apps, and they all look like organic unless each has its own link. Deterministic matching recovers installs that would otherwise go uncredited.
Deep links →1. Campaign destination
https://get.example.com/product2. The link a user taps, with your parameters
https://get.example.com/AbCdEf?variant_id=987&promo=summer3. getAttributionData() on first open after install
{ "deeplink": "https://get.example.com/product?variant_id=987&promo=summer", "campaignData": { "name": "Summer sale", "type": "INORGANIC" } }4. Your app routes the user
navigate("Product", { id: url.searchParams.get("variant_id") }) // 987
Trust is part of the product
A user who shares a symptom with your app expects it to stay there. Attribution should run on generic events, with PII hashing available when you need it and data hosting you can explain to your compliance team.
Security →
Linkrunner data planePurchaseUSDpurchaseUSDPurchaseUSDChannels that bring patients and members who stay
- Owned web and landing pages: Health intent often forms on your own content, and a deep link behind every app prompt turns readers into attributed installs with context intact.
- Google Ads: Search captures people already looking for a doctor, a medicine or a programme; send consult and order events where your ad category allows.
- Meta: Strong for fitness, cycle and wellness awareness. Optimise on the events Meta accepts for your category and judge results on the full funnel in Linkrunner.
- Creators, coaches and doctors on social: Per-creator links show which trainer, nutritionist or physician brings members who pay, not just clicks.
- Referrals and in-app shares: A friend with the same goal converts well, and referral links carry the code so your backend rewards the right user.
- QR codes at clinics, pharmacies, gyms and studios: One QR per location reports installs by front desk, counter or class instead of organic.
How August AI turns web visitors into mobile patients
Challenge
August AI, an AI health assistant, grows through owned channels rather than paid ads. Patients start on its web app, health library and landing pages, and the team needed each of those surfaces measured and the web-to-app handoff kept intact.
What changed
August runs a separate Linkrunner campaign for every surface, from landing page heroes and footers to Instagram bio links and in-app shares. The deep link behind the web app prompt carries the patient into the native app, and deterministic matching credits installs that would otherwise land as organic.
Outcome
145K+ installs measured, 60% web app to native conversion, 70% peak click-to-install on owned landing pages, and 25% of installs (36K+) recovered from organic.
Frequently asked questions
Find the campaigns that bring patients and members who stay
Tie installs to first consults, orders and paid plans, with no health data in your events. Your first 25,000 attributed installs are free.