Take Direct Marketing to the Next Level with Personalized Url’s (PURLs)

In today’s increasingly web centric world, it is crucial to maintain an online presence. It is equally important to make sure that your website connects in a meaningful way with your target market/s. A personalized URL, also known as a PURL, gives your customers and prospects a feeling of importance, enabling you to maintain current relationships and build new ones in current and new markets. It also allows you to tailor your landing page directly to their interests; increasing the amount of time they spend on the page and therefore the likelihood of buying. A common example of a PURL is a web page with an URL such as www.cofknows.com/Michael_Jones.asp in which “Michael Jones” is a recipient who receives a direct-mailer or email message that encourages him to visit the web page to learn more about its new cross-channel marketing capabilities. For each recipient on the list, the web address is unique to the recipient, as is the content of a web page. PURL techniques are similar to those used in variable-data printing, through the use of variable fields and pages that are linked to a database that contains information about each potential visitor. Often, the two are used hand in hand.

Utilizing cross media strategies, such as PURLs, engages your audience in your message, which increases response rates as compared to traditional direct-mail and email campaigns. If a visitor is asked to answer a few questions or provide information when he or she visits the PURL web page, the answers provided can then be immediately used to determine which secondary pages the visitor is directed to or what specific information is included on secondary pages. A PURL campaign also allows for a very detailed level of tracking, which can provide the host organization with better information with which to target their prospects or members. For example, if a PURL campaign microsite contains a landing page, two secondary pages, and a final page at which the visitor purchases a product, joins an organization, etc., the host organization can track which visitors left after the landing page and which visitors continued to the third page but left without completing a transaction. The latter group could be considered a stronger group of leads than the former, and the organization could market to each group accordingly.

PURL 101 at Miami University

A- Name personalization

A- Name personalization

B- Gender-based image of actual student including name, 

year of graduation, and student quote

C- Major specific image

D- Survey to further understand individual student interests

A- Image specific to major 

B- Image specific to gender 

C- Image based on student visited or not visited campus  

A- Personalized URL 

B- Text based on major 

C- Name personalization 

D- Address pre-populated 

E- Image based on major

College admissions/recruitment officers and marketers often ask what techniques work best to increase enrollment. PURLs actually play an integral role in accomplishing this. A case in point is Miami University. They recently conducted a cross-channel marketing campaign that integrated the relevance in direct mail, e-mail, and personalized URLs to engage with potential college-bound students. The campaign results were incredible. Web activity on the PURL (personalized landing page of the campaign) generated important information for Miami University. 76% of the unique visits on the PURL were from students who had received the prospect variable data mailer. That reinforced the importance of initiating contact with potential students as early as possible, ideally before their senior year in high school, to turn suspects into prospects before the final recruitment effort. It also demonstrated the effectiveness of 1-to-1 communications designed to direct students to personalized URLs containing targeted information and calls to action.

One significant call to action on the Miami Honors Program PURL was a carefully worded survey soliciting further information from respondents. 39% of the PURL visitors completed the survey form, a very high rate of response for an action that offered no incentive for participation. This indicated to Miami University that the survey was deemed relevant and easy to perform by respondents—useful information for future campaigns. Of the students who completed the survey, 89% had received the prospect variable data mailer —another indication that the personalized mailings were working. The survey yielded valuable insights about the types of students showing strong interest in the Honors Program. 42% of the survey respondents had already visited the campus, and 34% said they were very likely to visit in the future. 72% expect to study abroad during college. Business, engineering and biological sciences topped the list of projected major areas of study. 99% of respondents expressed interest in receiving future communications from Miami University. And more than 20% clicked through directly from the PURL to the Miami University Honors Program Application Page. All of this data will enable Miami University to refine its messaging and approach in future recruitment campaigns.

Here are the final results from the Miami University campaign using PURLs. They surpassed the target enrollment number by 30%, 91% of the student enrollment had received the data-driven mailer, and there was a 1,466% increase in response over the control. Furthermore, there was over a 6,000% advantage with the data driven mailer for suspects converting to prospects and printed pieces decreased by 29% using the targeted approach.

Along with our many direct mail marketing services, COF proudly offers our clients personalized URL marketing and other cross-channel marketing services. At COF, we help for-profit and nonprofits around the globe use personalized URL marketing to their best advantage, and we’ll be happy to assist you as well.