Forum - September 2008

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?

The Wisdom of PURLs

BY MIKE NORBUT

An interesting promotion recently caught my eye. The brochure from a suburban Chicago university invited me to visit a Web site with “MNorbut” in the URL.

Intrigued, I visited this site, where I found a page that again offered me a personal greeting. Amazed, I dutifully answered the school’s request for my e-mail address and other contact information, and another entry into the university’s “Prime Target” database was born.

What the university used to distinguish its piece from other clutter was a personalized URL, or PURL. It’s a 1-to-1 marketing strategy that connects a traditional marketing source, such as direct mail or e-mail, with the Internet to create a collection of personal messages for each individual recipient. A PURL offers:

• Obtain immediate feedback from recipients, both in real time as the PURLs are accessed and in summary after the campaign is completed.

• Attract younger prospects by answering their demand to respond to offers online.

• Gather new information to further build your database, such as e-mail addresses, special interests and other data.

FINDING THE PROSPECT

Prospects can be an elusive group. You can blanket them with collateral, only to receive no response. Marketing experts say a direct mail campaign generally has a success rate of about 1 percent.

With a well-constructed PURL campaign, however, it’s realistic to expect a response rate increase of at least 25 percent and as high as 300 percent over a traditional direct mail strategy, says Mark

Sterne, president of Express Printing & Promotions, Inc. More importantly, PURL strategies tend to have a higher conversion rate per response, since the message is more relevant and personalized.

Another significant advantage to PURLs is the data they produce. While e-mails or direct mail pieces lack a true tracking device, PURLs lead customers to a Web site that allows you to view the responses. That makes it much easier to not only calculate your ROI for the campaign, but also to gauge your return on marketing objectives.

HOW PURLS WORK

Thanks to modern technology, PURLs are fairly cost effective. Using variable data printing technology, direct mail pieces are automatically created with an individual URL aimed at one specific recipient (for example, MikeNorbut.associationabc.org). The direct mail piece invites the recipient to visit his or her personal Web site, which again offers a greeting that coincides with the direct mail piece.

The landing page then can ask the target to supply whatever personal information you seek — contact information, demographic data, etc. — as part of a questionnaire, survey or some other response form. The information collected allows you to send another personalized follow-up message, usually through e-mail, to drive home your promotion.

THE ACERS EXAMPLE

So what happens when you don’t want to keep sending materials to the same list? A PURL strategy will help you build a new one, as the American Ceramic Society (ACerS) hopes to find with its current campaign.

In the last 20 years, the field of ceramics has changed from a distinct engineering discipline to a sub-discipline of material science. That change has had a profound impact on ACerS, as the society’s traditional members — including engineers, scientists, researchers, manufacturers, and others — can now find value in broader organizations that don’t specialize in ceramics exclusively.

However, there are emerging opportunities in other sectors. These changes, and other market pressures, made it increasingly important for ACerS to implement a recruitment plan that would reach a broader audience and communicate the unique value of joining the organization.

The challenge was identifying out of this larger pool those individuals with a high likelihood of joining the organization or with an interest in membership. To meet this challenge, ACerS worked with McKinley Marketing to develop a marketing strategy that employed PURLs.

First, ACerS purchased some direct mail lists consisting of general scientific community professionals. Then, a postcard was developed with a PURL and personalized message inviting prospects to answer a few questions about their interest in ceramics. Those who participated were entered into a drawing to win a $500 American Express gift card.

The idea was not only to collect names and contact information of respondents but also to narrow the demographic data of professionals most interested in ceramics, which would help the association identify future lists for member recruitment.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

The campaign was still under way at press time, so find out the results at The FORUM Effect blog, www.theforumeffect.org. But one lesson already is clear: Thanks to one PURL campaign, ACerS will have a new list of membership targets and complete information at its disposal, enhancing its growth prospects and its long-term viability.