PURL Landing Page in Direct Mail Marketing

PURLs or Personalized URLs have quickly gained popularity in the digital world to the point where it has almost become the standardized format for marketing campaigns. PURL marketing is now a thing, and it is more popular now than ever before. But, what is the reason for their immense success in the digital landscape? Well, for one, marketing, regardless of whether it is online or offline, works best when it is personalized for the target audience and PURL does just that.

PURLs are one of the few multi-channel solutions that can be implemented for a relatively lower cost. Additionally, personalization in PURLs is data-driven, ideal for drip campaigns, and can work seamlessly with a CRM integration. That is not all PURLmarketing has to offer either. You also get access to accurate tracking and attribution, which in turn allows you to streamline your marketing efforts. If you play your cards right, you’ll have a perfect marketing campaign with a remarkably high ROI.

PURLs also happens to be the best combination for Direct Mail Marketing as it is the most convenient choice for direct mails and also helps you to maintain a low cost for the campaign. Furthermore, PURLs can give you valuable insights by employing your website’s existing tools, including CRM and analytics tools, to get access to all the relevant data with almost no additional costs. This article discusses what PURL is, what PURL marketing is, the role of PURL landing pages in direct mail marketing, and how you can optimize them to get the best results.

You can’t get a comprehensive picture of your Direct Mail campaigns, which employ PURL landing pages, without first understanding how the PURLs work. PURLs are usually generated by the marketers who upload lists and map them into specialized software. The list for creating the PURLs is often obtained from sources such as data brokers or your own CRM systems. Once the list is successfully joined with the required domain, you will have successfully created a PURL for each person or name in your list of the target audience.

You should keep in mind that for the proper rendering of the PURLs, you must modify some technical domain settings. The best way to go about this would be to make use of a vanity URL as the base of your PURLs. You can even choose from the numerous advanced software available in the market that utilizes Vanity URL search and purchase features can make your life easier by automating the task. Typically a PURL generator would take the data from the first two columns, which usually contains the first and last name, and they are then merged with the domain to create a unique URL.

As we have already mentioned before, a Personalized URL or PURL is a unique landing page or microsite that is specifically created for each potential customer in your target audience list. The PURLs work best when it is used in combination with direct mail marketing. The goal of using PURLs in the direct mail campaign is to drag in more traffic to the business’s website. Furthermore, the PURLs can be assembled in different ways.

Typically the target audience/user opens the unique PURL they receive through direct mail by either typing in the URL or by an even easier QR code scanning. The URL/QR code leads the user to a landing page or microsite, which uses the data obtained through the marketing list to present the user with a personalized experience. The personal touch also appeals to the emotional side of the user and this could, in turn, be beneficial in boosting the conversion rates.

Furthermore, the personalized landing page or microsite also comes equipped with some nifty features that make the browsing experience convenient for the user. For example, pre-filled forms are easily implemented by using PURLs because they can be automatically rendered using the marketing list. Additionally, you can also equip the landing page/microsite with personalized headings, images, and other content. Finally, thanks to the unique URLs, the user behavior can be tracked individually and analyzed for improving the performance of the campaign.

One of the golden eggs laid by PURL landing pages is their superior tracking capability. The personalized landing pages or microsites created using a PURL allow you to keep track of everything that goes on in there, and by everything, we mean everything! As the PURLs are unique and sent to specific users, it becomes increasingly easy to assess their behavior and the data obtained is precise, which tells you exactly what touchpoints may have encouraged the user to take the desired action and what might not have.

With a PURL-based landing page/microsite, you know exactly what the user did after navigating themselves to the landing page. This means your marketers no longer have to go about in the dark second-guessing every action made by the users. Some might even say that the PURLs are a dream come true for a true marketer because the valuable insights obtained through the PURL-based landing page/microsite can potentially help them create the perfect marketing strategy for a business.

So we already know how great PURLs are, and we also know that they work best when used in combination with direct mail marketing. Now, all that’s left to discuss is how you can create PURLs in direct mail. The truth is that it is relatively easy to set up PURLs in your direct mails, and this can be done with a few simple steps, and we will discuss those steps below

1. Prepare Alluring Content

Direct mail coupled with advanced address verification tools like PostGrid can only guarantee the deliverability of the mail to your target audience. It does not guarantee conversion. Content still remains the pivotal aspect that will decide the fate of your campaign. Make sure that your content is creative, captivating, and concise. You must be able to convey what you can offer your customers and how you intend to resolve their pain points. Furthermore, ensure that the PURL is a prominent part of the direct mail.

2. Prepare Your Personalized Mailing List

Setting up your mailing list is a walk in the park with the proper tool. In your mailing list, you can include the customer’s name and address. The advanced tools available in the market today come with a variable data feature that even allows you to add new data columns such as purchase history. Furthermore, the address data can also be filtered for direct mail marketing using advanced address verification tools like PostGrid.

3. Prepare a Landing Page Template

You can prepare a landing page template using your marketing automation software, and all you have to do is navigate yourself to the template manager. Assuming that you already have a good template editor, you can easily create an attractive landing page. However, what you should focus on while creating the landing page is presenting the variable data, survey questions, coupons, etc. Furthermore, make sure that you maintain consistency in your landing page and the direct mail that leads to the landing page.

4. Generate Your PURLs

Once you have prepared your landing page template and have your mailing list ready, you can proceed to generate a PURL for your landing page or microsite. You can make use of the campaign creator of your marketing automation platform and follow the step-by-step process for generating your PURLs. Generating PURLs are simplified with the advanced tools available in the market today, and you should have no trouble creating the PURLs.

5. Send & Track Your Mails

The next thing to do is to send you direct mails, and for this, you can use whichever method is more convenient for you. The easiest would be to use a fully automated direct mail service like PostGrid, where you can verify not only the addresses you are sending the mail to but also automate the entire process, including the printing and mailing. Furthermore, the PURLs allow for more comprehensive tracking of your marketing efforts.

6. Analyze The Data

The final step you need to take is to analyze the data you obtain from the PURL-based landing pages or microsites. As we have mentioned before, the PURLs are a great way of getting valuable insight that reveals customer behavior, and furthermore, PURL does it individually for each user. Analyze every data that you can get your hands on that may be relevant to improve your marketing strategies and thereby boost the conversion rate.

PURLs are a great way of tracking your direct mail campaigns, but that is not all it does. With the right strategy, you can make the most out of PURLs. Creating and applying PURLs is easy, and with the right tools, there’s pretty much nothing to hold you back from using PURLs to their full potential. PURL marketing works best when used in conjunction with direct mail marketing. PURL direct mail can do wonders for your business.

While direct mail ensures that the message is received by the target audience, PURL enhances their user experience and encourages conversions through their personalized approach. One thing that is worth noting, however, is that to get the full potential, you also need to ensure the deliverability of the direct mails, and to do that, it is best to employ an advanced address verification tool like PostGrid.

As we move forward, it is essential that we understand the customer behavior and cater to their unique requirements if you want to grow as a business. Make use of advanced tools like PostGrid to make the process easier for you as well as your customers, and most importantly, always update yourself with the latest trends and analytics data to develop the ideal solution for your unique needs.