Direct Mail

Personalized PURL Landing Page in Direct Mail Marketing

By 12 September 2023February 1st, 2024No Comments
purl landing page in direct mail

PURL (Personalized URL) Landing Page in Direct Mail Marketing Campaigns

Direct mail is no longer expensive and time-consuming like it used to be a decade ago. Instead, it has evolved into one of the most affordable, creative, and fruitful marketing channels to exist today.

But, not every marketer does it right the first time. You can conduct A/B testings before you figure out the best direct mail strategy for your brand.

purl landing page in direct mail

It is crucial to track your campaign results and draft periodic reports. These insights help you understand your target audience better—what they like, how they react to your mail, etc. 

There are many ways to record your campaign responses, like:

  • Adding QR codes
  • Personalized URLs (PURLs)
  • Discount coupons
  • Unique phone number, etc. 

The minute a customer visits your pURL or dials on the provided number, you can count it as a response. It is the simplest and yet the most effective way to keep track of all the respondents. 

However, it may get difficult to select any one trackable feature out of all these options. Out of those, we are going to discuss everything about pURLs in this blog. If you are unsure of whether to use pURL marketing or not, you may get your answers here. 

What Are Personalized URLs?

Sending your website link to prospects has become old-school now. People are already tired of seeing similar web pages with almost the same information. This practice is not good enough for today’s tech-savvy audience. 

PURLs help you offer your target audience their own URL and landing page—making them feel special and appreciated. Plus, pURLs remain an effective method to track responses in real-time. But, what exactly are pURLs?

PURL is short for personalized URLs. It is also the acronym of Personalized Uniform Resource Locator in technical terms. PURLs are unique web addresses that aim at targeting specific people.

In short, a pURL is a web page link with the recipient’s name. For example- www.tom-jones.postgrid.ca/. This link can be sent to the recipient either via direct mail or email. 

When Tom visits this link, he finds more details about the brand’s products, and these details are suited to his needs. All the information on his screen is personalized and well-crafted to make him stay longer.  

Similarly, you can create pURLs for every person on your mailing list. It can help you increase your engagement and response levels dramatically.

How Do PURLs Work in Direct Mail Marketing?

Personalized URLs give you a simple way to direct recipients to your pURL landing pages or microsites without getting distracted by competitors’ ads. They also help you get real-time updates about who visits the page and completes the CTA. Hence, you can closely track every respondent’s actions. Here’s how they work:

  • Businesses can create pURLs through marketing automation, wherein you upload your mailing lists and map them into a software program. 
  • Then, a domain is linked to these lists to create pURLs for every person on the list. 
  • This process merges the first and last names of your intended recipients to create a link. With the right tools, you can get it all done in no time.  
  • The next step is to print these pURLs on your direct mail items through variable data printing, which PostGrid’s direct mail API can help you with. 

Also Read: Bulk Or Mass Mail Services

Why Is It Beneficial to Use PURLs In Direct Mail Campaigns?

PURLs are unique and can help you track every recipient’s engagement with your items. But, there are various more reasons why you should incorporate personalized URLs into your mailing campaigns, and they are:

  • Personalized URLs increase response rates. A person is more likely to interact with personalized mailpieces. Hence, including pURLs can push up your response rates to a great extent. 
  • They make your mail items eye-catching. Recipients may toss out a mail item even without looking at it. But, including pURLs can help you prevent this scenario as recipients can spot their names easily. Also, people tend to save things that carry their names on them. 
  • Attract people by using personalized URLs and push them ahead in the sales funnel.
  • PURLs offer a sound response tracking system. You can access your campaign performance live. 
  • They help gather the recipients’ email addresses. Marketers can utilize such data for their future marketing plans. 
  • Segment your mailing lists based on preferences and demographics. 
  • Adding pURLs to your mail increases customer loyalty and satisfaction. They tend to keep buying from you over and over again.
  • Trace customer interactions to define your buyer persona.
  • Nurture your already existing leads.

Top Best PURL Marketing Practices

PURLs can work wonders for your brand if used correctly. Sometimes, marketers are unable to let pURLs work up to their full potential. Thus, here are some best practices for you to refer to:

Keep Generic URLs Handy

Sometimes, recipients might enter their pURL wrong—it could be a spelling mistake, an extra hyphen, or a forgotten dot. In that case, they would not be able to see the landing page you designed for them, and your campaign motive would fall apart. 

To avoid such situations, create a generic version of these links. Thus, whenever a person enters their pURL incorrectly, it takes them to the main webpage. 

Create and Use Simple URLs

This one goes without saying! PURLs should attract your audience; they should make the recipients want to check them out. But, for that, use short and sweet pURLs. 

When crafting the URL structure, it is best to use the recipient’s name before the domain. For example, instead of creating www.postgrid.ca/promotions/pip-gillies, consider using www.pip-gillies.postgrid.ca.   

Also, avoid inserting coupon codes along with the recipients’ names, like ‘PIP2520.’ The recipients might completely miss seeing their name in the link or ignore it as it’s a little off-putting. 

Combine PURL Marketing With Other Channels

As discussed above, pURLs are a great way to track direct mail responses. Plus, they can help you boost your social media and email marketing campaign results. 

It is advisable to diversify your efforts and employ everything from online to offline advertising. Leveraging multiple marketing channels and integrated messaging can help you reach out to more people. 

Personalized URL marketing can help you track online marketing campaigns as well. For example, you can add a pURL to email marketing campaigns and record the read rates easily. 

Test Your PURLs Beforehand

Testing is significant before every direct mail campaign. You need to test various elements, like your offer, design, copy, and more. Why not also test your CTA like QR codes and pURLs? 

Test whether they are generating the desired results. Also, check if you can improvise on their design and structure. 

Next, make sure that the link works on all devices like iPhone, Mac, Android, Laptop, etc. It should also work on all browsers. 

Follow Up With Your Respondents

Plan on what to do after the campaign. A person visiting a pURL you sent is only the first step towards a conversion. Hence, make a list of all these leads and start following up. 

You can drop an email or call them up the minute they get to the landing page.

Also Read: Best Direct Mail Marketing Companies

Conclusion

PURL marketing is gaining more and more popularity every day due to its several advantages. The possibilities of using pURLs for your direct mail marketing campaigns are not limited to tracking alone. You can direct your visitors to any webpage you want. From there, the user might fill in their contact details, sign-up for your newsletters, or even buy something. 

PostGrid’s direct mail software can help you conduct successful direct mail marketing campaigns with pURLs. You can automate the whole campaign in a few minutes and let the API handle the rest. 

We offer many end-to-end features like:

Also Read: Canada Post Verifying Recipient’s Address

Want to combine your direct mailing activities with personalized URL marketing? Look no further and get started now!