Justify Marketing Efforts

Justify Marketing Efforts With Accurate and Measurable Results

Are you satisfied with your ability to track direct mail or email campaign responses? Most CMOs are not! Chances are, since you're reading a blog about PURL technology, that you're not satisfied either and are looking for solutions.

Whether your knowledge of PURL technology is novice or advanced, you've probably heard the following terms: PURLs, personal URLs, microsites, microsite marketing, and personal websites. All of these terms refer to an interactive technology that allows advertisers to manage consumer data, track responses, and personalize customer service and sales in turn increasing response rates and ROI.

Okay, so how do you incorporate PURLs into your existing advertising? Setting up a PURL campaign is easy. By merging your database with PURL technology, a password-protected page is created for each person on the list in a matter of seconds! Each address can then be incorporated into a personalized email, or direct mail marketing campaign. Who doesn't want to see the offer waiting for them at TheirName.YourCompany.com? Once your customers or prospects take that call to action and visit the PURL they find it to be a familiar sight as it continues the look and feel of the direct mail or email. This is when you start to see the value in PURLs.

As good as the offer may be, PURL technology is worthless unless attached to a compelling email or direct mail piece with a strong call to action. To see an excellent example of customized direct mail used in conjunction with PURL marketing, check out Variable Thinking's website. Variable Thinking is a great example of a marketing firm that strategically uses personalized marketing with PURLs, achieving extremely high response rates for their clients.

As respondents fill out a few survey questions the information is imported into your database; sales is instantly notified of the lead by email or via their Blackberry or cell phone; the message contains their contact information and answers to survey questions; and sales can not only call while the prospect is interested, but the conversation can be personalized. Simultaneously, the prospect is sent a customized email based on their answers. If this were a PURL campaign for a car dealership, and the prospect stated an interest in SUVs from the current year only, then a follow-up email might have a picture of that car with a list of similar vehicles on the lot. PURL technology is an easy choice for strategic advertisers since it can easily enhance any existing campaign and is extremely affordable.

Everything you've just read can be achieved for just pennies per PURL. Whether you refer to PURLs as personal websites, microsites, or personal URLs, PURLs will:

---Improve your market reach.
---Provide value to your organization with measurable, increased campaign performance.
---Route leads for immediate follow-up.
---Capture market intelligence to drive future sales and marketing success.

Are you using PURL technology? Share your thoughts and comments with readers!

RESOURCES:
Variable Thinking
PURL Marketing

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.