Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Can Your Corporate Site Track Responses?

A common worry among CMOs is their inability to track direct mail responses and provide measurable campaign responses.

Does it pain you to know that the 42% of direct mail respondents who prefer to respond online probably get lost in your help desk que. Has your webmaster or help desk ever sat in on a marketing or sales meeting? Do they know how to close the sale when a prospect responds online? Probably not.

The fact is corporate websites are incapable of tracking direct mail responses resulting in lost sales revenue and the inability to accurately measure marketing campaign responses. CMOs who once took job security for granted are now scrambling for solutions on how to track online responses and build relationships with web-savvy consumers.

What they’ve found are PURLs, (personal websites) which are microsites that communicate with customers in real-time. PURL technology is so sophisticated it can engage in spontaneous communication based on answers provided by the respondent.

Here is a quick overview on how PURL technology works.

---A unique PURL is created, in seconds, for each person on your mailing list, or customer database.

---The PURL is listed on the direct mail or email piece, along with the consumer’s username and password.

---The consumer visits their PURL and receives an incentive to answer a few questions

---Specific answers to these survey questions trigger different messages, images, and offers on the next page of the PURL.

---This valuable data, including updated contact information is automatically entered into a database.

---The company’s sales team is notified in real-time of the lead.

---The respondent receives an instant thank you email based on the answers given on the survey.

There are a few companies that provide PURL technology, but the only marketing firm that can provide everything under one roof (ideas; ad creation; personalized direct mail; PURL, email, event, and franchise marketing; custom banners; direct mail fulfillment; and campaign tracking) is Variable Thinking located in Tinley Park, IL, Phone (815) 806-1400; sales@variablethinking.com.