We're talking PURLs, but not this kind
Customers expect a lot these days (especially the tech-savvy type) and personalized attention — from your first marketing message to post-sale followup — can provide your business with a huge marketing boost. “Personalized URLs” — or PURLs — are a marketing personalization tactic that’s been used by big companies, but now becoming available to small business, along with custom landing pages and so-called micro sites.
PURLs are a natural Web extension of a market tactic that’s been happening for years. Just think of all those personalized credit card pitches you used to get in the mail. But as personalized marketing firm OnDialog, Inc. points out, few small and medium-sized businesses have had the budget to conduct personalized marketing campaigns in the past. New Web-based systems are changing that equation, offering easy and low-cost ways for small business owners to pursue this powerful tactic.
Using demographic details from your customer or prospect lists, OnDialog’s service, for example, can generate PURLs that take prospects to a Web page that describes a specific offer or promotion in greater detail. An example of a PURL would be www.YourBiz.CustomerName.com, or it could contain other personalized info. PURL technology is one of the latest tools for small businesses looking to expand their Web-based marketing, and can be used in combo with direct mail (for example) to boost response rates and improve tracking.
The OnDialog software-as-a-service approach is making it possible for even small companies to talk one-on-one to customers and prospects via the Web. The company’s whitepaper on PURLs explains how it works in greater detail.
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I helped with at PURL marketing campaign for Concentric Network’s new VPN service back in 1998 and the results were fantastic. It was a highly targeted direct mail campaign that incorporated personal URLs inside a sort of fortune cookie. The target landed on a very personalized liner web site that ended with a form — and we could track everything. I thought the marketing director was crazy for trying it, but after we were done, I couldn’t argue with the fantastic results — over 25% of the targets filled in the form and over 50% of them went to their sites. This blog post got me thinking of how I could maybe reproduce those results for my business…these days I could use the fresh approach. Thanks.
I would encourage your readers looking for a simple Personal URL application to check out http://purlem.com. You can get up and running with a personal url website in less than 5 minutes, and you can get started for free.