In my original post about QR Codes I briefly mentioned Personalized URLs (PURLs) and thought today might be a good time to expand on the concept!

So let’s start at the beginning…what is a PURL?  Although it is a type of stitch in knitting, that’s not the kind I’m referring to here today.  It’s also exactly what it sounds like; it’s a URL or website that has been personalized for the person viewing it.  Just like your direct mail piece could have the recipient’s name, so does a PURL.  Their name is even included in the website address; for example g3direct.com/bill.hirte.

Once the reader goes to the website not only can they find out more about you, but you find out more about them!  You can see when they viewed the website and how long they stayed there.  You can also track what other pages they clicked on; in other words, you continue gathering information about them.  Now that you have gathered more data on your consumers, you can create more targeted advertisement campaigns in the future.

Other benefits of PURLs are difficult to ignore too.  According to the Direct Marketing Association a PURL can increase response rates by as much as 400% and it can reduce the cost per lead by 50%.  Those are some pretty impressive numbers!

I mentioned PURLs in the QR Code posting because they work so well together.  Having a QR Code on your direct mail piece means if the consumer has a smartphone he/she doesn’t have to wait to view the website.  People aren’t always right next to their computer, but most don’t ever leave their phone behind; they don’t have to remember they wanted to check you out, but rather they can view the PURL instantly!  Also, printing a PURL can take up quite a bit of space.  Whereas a QR Code can be as large or as small as you’d like.  And they are actually kinda neat looking, so they help out in two more ways.

So now, with the use of direct mail, a QR Code, and a PURL you can create a trinity of targeted communication!