Are Those PURLs Real?

Posted August 14, 2011

"PURLs allow you to merge the traditional benefits of direct mail with the advantages of the interactive channel marketing."

If diamonds are a girl’s best friend then PURLs (not pearls) are surely the new best friend of any marketing professional.  If you’ve been thinking about discontinuing direct mail marketing to use the internet as a sole marketing resource;  Don’t.  Once you dress up that old campaign with a brand new set of PURLs you’ll have a change of heart.

Let's take a closer look at what PURLs are and how they can work for you.

URL is the abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the world wide web (www).  You know it as your web address or the address of your web page.  So then, PURLs is the abbreviation for Personalized Uniform Resource Locator.  Obviously the key difference is the word personalized. What this means is your customer will have a landing page (1 page web address) that is unique to them.  On this page you can collect additional information for future marketing efforts and redirect them to additional information or shopping opportunities.  Pretty neat huh?

If you want to Turbo-charge your next campaign here are a few things you’ll need to consider.

PURLs allow you to merge the traditional benefits of direct mail with the advantages of the interactive channel marketing. By creating Personalized URLs, and giving them a unique landing page, you'll convert substantially more direct mail recipients into not only qualified prospects, but lifetime customers.

Capture Attention
Send recipients direct mail offers that feature Personalized URLs. You’ll utilize your mailing list to create a unique URL for each direct mail recipient. Then insert the Personalized URLs into the mail file for seamless incorporation into the printed collateral using ink jet, laser or variable data printing. Personalized URLs display the customer's name, offering positive reinforcement and increased incentive to visit the site. The result is a dramatic increase in response rates.

Capture Responses
The respondent arrives at his or her customized landing page, which maintains the design and tone of your direct mail package with a personalized greeting and pre-populated fields that help drive immediate response. The user learns more about your offer and can instantly respond to it, request additional information by mail, or even make a purchase without ever leaving the page.

Capture Future Opportunities
The PURLs platform records the user's actions so that you can track the effectiveness of your campaign, generate detailed reports, extend additional offers, and immediately follow up on sales leads. It's a winning, three-step strategy that delivers superior results while continuing to build upon your direct mail campaign.