A PURL, or a personalized URL, is a website with content that is dependent upon the visitor. PURLs typically include a person’s name in the web address such as www.JohnDoe.BestCompanyInTheWorld.com and they are often used in conjunction with a direct mail campaign to get recipients to visit a company’s or organization’s website. It also provides the option for recipients to respond online, which a large portion of respondents prefer to do, and creates an opportunity for dialogue.

The beauty of the PURL is that marketers can collect information from visitors by asking questions and then use that information in the future to tailor any future communication to respondents. This concept of personalization and tailoring a message to a consumer/client can almost be defined as a necessity in the marketing world. There’s a definite shift towards personalization that is taking place in order to get your message heard. Some of the best ways to utilize PURLs are as follows:

• Qualify prospects before spending time and money on the wrong people – A PURL that includes a survey and some incentive to complete the survey can help to accomplish this.
• Gain customer insight – If your company is venturing into new markets, developing new products, or venturing into new territory otherwise PURLs can be used to get feedback from your target market and steer your efforts in the right direction.
• Optimize cross-selling opportunities – Customers may not be aware of or informed about the full range of products your company offers and therefore your company could be missing out on some cross selling opportunities. A PURL could be used to attract customers to a website where they can answer questions about their current product usage and preferences and once questions are answered proper suggestions may be made for cross-selling.
• Improve Direct Mail Response Rates -35% of people prefer to respond to direct mail offers online. This number is only going to continue to grow as technology continues to take over all methods of communication.

Despite these benefits that personalized URLs can provide most companies still do not utilize this approach according to the Direct Marketing Association. The impact of the PURL is not to be overlooked as it brings together traditional marketing approaches and digital interactive marketing approaches combining the best of both worlds. Click here to read some case studies of companies that successfully used PURLS in their campaigns; Hewlett-Packard, Pacific Northwest Bank, and Carlson Companies, Inc.