Note

Journeys is becoming Banners. Opt-in access starts October 13, 2026. To get access, fill out the Banners opt-in form. Your existing Journeys keep running whether or not you opt in.

A banner campaign decides where a banner appears, who sees it, which creative it shows, when it runs, and where it sends visitors. You build it in the Define, Audience, and Creative steps, then preview the banner on your site and publish it.

For details on each setting, such as placement rules, audience attributes, formats, dismissal options, and link data, see the Banner Settings Reference.

Before you begin

To use Banners on your website, you first need to:

• Add the Branch Web SDK to every page where the banner can appear.
• Integrate the Branch iOS SDK and Branch Android SDK into your apps.
• Add your -alternate.app.link domain to your iOS Associated Domains and Android intent filters.

Your developer can find the details in the Banners Developer Guide.

Start a campaign

Each campaign is for either mobile or desktop visitors, and you choose which when you start it.

1. Go to Campaigns > Banners in Branch.
2. Select Create Campaign in the Campaign Manager.
3. Select Mobile Campaign or Desktop Campaign.

The builder's right panel has Summary, Preview Link, and Creative Preview tabs for checking your work.

To save your progress and finish later, select Save & Exit. If you close a new campaign with X and select Discard & Exit, Branch deletes it.

Define the campaign

The Define step names the campaign and sets the pages where it can appear. It also holds optional analytics tags for reporting.

1. Enter a unique name in Campaign Name.
2. (Optional) Add a placement rule to show the banner only on certain pages. Without one, the banner can appear on every page.
   1. Select Add filter under Placement.
   2. Choose a condition, such as whose path contains.
   3. Enter one or more values to match, and press Enter after each one.
3. (Optional) Choose an Objective under Analytics Tags.
4. (Optional) Choose an Objective Event. The list includes your custom events.
5. (Optional) Set Channel (utm_source) and Tag (utm_campaign) to group the campaign in reports.

Choose the audience

The Audience step sets who can see the banner.

1. Select at least one device type under Device & Operating System, such as iOS Phone. Desktop campaigns don't have this setting.
2. (Optional) Add conditions under User Attributes to narrow the audience, such as visitors who've completed a purchase.

Without user attributes, Branch shows the banner to every visitor who matches the device and placement rules. When you add several, a visitor must match every one.

Add the creative

The Creative step sets what the banner looks like and what happens when a visitor selects or dismisses it. To compare two or more creatives, run an A/B test.

1. Select a format under Format.
2. Select a creative under Options, either a template from Branch Templates or a saved creative from Creatives. A template opens in the editor right away.
3. Customize the template, if you chose one:
   1. Design the banner in the editor. For help, see Design Banner Creatives.
   2. Select Save & Return to Campaign.
4. Choose a Dismissal Period, which is how long the banner stays hidden after a visitor dismisses it.
5. Select Close banner or Redirect to a new webpage under Dismissal Behavior. A redirect sends the visitor to the Web URL you enter.
6. Select Dismiss this banner to hide only this campaign, or Dismiss all banners to hide every banner for the dismissal period.
7. (Optional) Add link data under Link Data Configuration, such as a $deeplink_path value that opens specific content in your app. Without link data, Branch uses your app-level link settings.
8. (Optional) Select Auto-Open the app to open the app automatically for visitors Branch believes have it installed.

Run an A/B test

An A/B test splits the campaign's traffic between two or more creatives to compare how they perform.

1. Select Run an A/B test under Variants in the Creative step. Variants A and B appear with a 50/50 split.
2. Choose a creative for each variant.
3. (Optional) Drag the divider under Traffic split to change each variant's share. The shares always total 100%.
4. (Optional) Select Add variant to test another creative.

To use a single creative again, select Remove test. To compare results after the campaign runs, see Compare A/B variants.

Preview the banner

Before you publish, preview the banner on a page of your site. Make sure the campaign has a creative first.

1. Select the Preview Link tab in the right panel.
2. Enter a page address in Webpage URL. The page must run the Branch Web SDK.
3. Select Generate Banner Preview Link.
4. Open the preview on the device type the campaign targets, either by scanning the QR code or by selecting Copy and opening the link.

Publish the campaign

When you select Publish Campaign, Branch checks your settings and then asks when to start the campaign.

1. Select Publish Campaign. If a field is missing or invalid, Branch shows an error next to it.
2. Select Publish campaign now to start right away, or Schedule campaign to start later.
3. If you chose Schedule campaign, set when the campaign runs. See Schedule a campaign.
4. Select Publish campaign.

A campaign that starts right away is Active and runs until you pause it. A scheduled campaign stays Scheduled until its start time. For more on statuses, see Campaign statuses.

When a visitor matches more than one active campaign, Branch shows the one with the highest priority. To change this campaign's priority, see Set priority.

Schedule a campaign

When you select Schedule campaign in the Publish Campaign panel, these settings appear:

• Start date, Start time, and Timezone set when the banner starts. You need all three.
• End date and End time set when it stops. They're optional, and without them the campaign keeps running.
• Run on sets the days of the week the banner shows. Every day starts selected, and you need at least one.
• Specific time each day is optional and limits the banner to the hours between a Daily start time and a Daily end time.

To pause, edit, or reschedule the campaign later, see Manage and Measure Banners.