Advertisement
 
 

3 Best Practices for Personalized URLs

March 17, 2011 by Ethan Boldt
1
Get the Flash Player to see this rotator.
 
Several hot topics in the direct marketing community were covered at the first-ever Direct Marketing Day @ Your Desk 2011, a virtual event put on by Target Marketing magazine and DirectMarketingIQ. One such topic was Personalized URLs, and a lively 45-minute session featuring Jason Ellis, vice president of business development at Accu-Print and Steve Duffy, director of online marketing at Anderson Direct Marketing.

Both demonstrated how PURLs are key to both direct mail's and email's future because of their inherent smarter targeting, data-driven communications and integrated marketing. While Duffy went over a case study about how to engage C-level executives with a PURL campaign (for a major health care provider), Ellis went over some key PURL best practices.

The landing page, of course, is the page the user sees after clicking (email), typing (from direct mail piece) or scanning (QR Code, with mobile phone) the Personalized URL.
 
Ellis stated that more than 80 percent of people leave the page after a quick glance, and it only takes 0 to 8 seconds to decide if they will go further or leave. In other words, after 8 seconds they will see if there is a compelling offer to get them to stay or move on.

Most common reason people leave? LACK OF RELEVANCY!!

Here are a few best practices that he discussed:

1. Use Simple and Easy URLs
Make sure that you display them appropriately on your marketing piece in several places that prospects will notice.

DO NOT USE:
http://www.theefgroup.com/march2011mailing/jason.ellis

Instead, the shorter the link the better chance people will get to it. Such as:
http://jason.ellis.1to1now.com

Using the name before the URL significantly increases your hit on the landing page.

2. Maximize Relevance
Pre-populate the fields on the landing page to make it more likely for the prospect to take action. Copy should change based on person hitting landing page, so make sure it's versioned properly. Similarly, images should be relevant to user hitting landing page.

The whole idea of a PURL is the beginning of a conversation, so use the data to make sure potential client feels you are talking to him/her.

3) Design Pages For Conversion
First, make the offer clear. Put the offer in bold and make it easy to take advantage of. Never force a user to  scroll down, or make the offer specific to a person clicking on the page. Also, do not create a "Submit" button. Instead, tell them what happens when they click.
 
1

MORE ON DIRECT MAIL >>

FROM THE BOOKSTORE

Available as a PDF<BR><BR>A guide to the science of direct response testing today, including best practices, power tests, small vs. large test, analyzing results, testing mistakes, new tricks and more.<BR> <BR>Direct marketing — regardless of the channel — is that unique combination of art and science. Direct marketing strategists are constantly striving for better response rates, open rates, conversions, cost-per-order, and life-time value. <BR><BR>And what is the tool that these strategists turn to again and again? That’s right! It’s testing. <BR><BR>In direct marketing, there are plenty of elements to test — from subject lines, premiums, envelope sizes, list selects, pricing, the placement of the shopping cart on the web page ... the choices seem endless. <BR><I><BR>Secrets of Direct Marketing Testing </I>is your personal BRAIN TRUST of testing strategies that you can start to put to use today. <BR><BR>In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to learn — the why, what, when and how-to of testing. From testing structure to basic principles, and from test ideas to mistakes to avoid, you’ll get a crash course in coding, tracking, reading and applying test results. <BR><BR>You’ll learn about: <BR>• Simple copy tests that drive response <BR>• Fine-tuning your offer <BR>• Web and Email testing <BR>• Offer tests <BR>• How to make sure you’re getting reliable results <BR>• Retesting and rolling out your findings <BR>• Plus the Rules that you should test now — or ignore at your own peril! <BR><BR>Are you are searching for ways to raise response, save on your promotion costs, drive down your cost-per-order and extend the lifetime value of your customers? The DirectMarketingIQ and Target Marketing editorial teams have been researching, writing and collecting expert advice from industry leaders about the how-tos of testing for years. <BR><BR>We’ve compiled this information and made it easy for you to find all in one place with our easy-to-read report – <EM>Secrets of Direct Marketing Testing</EM>. Secrets of Direct Marketing Testing

Available as a PDF

A guide to the science of direct response testing today, including best practices, power tests, small vs. large test, analyzing results, testing mistakes, new tricks and more.

Direct marketing — regardless of the channel — is that unique combination of art and science. Direct marketing strategists are constantly striving



...

ORDER NOW

Available as a PDF<BR><BR>Your everything-you-need-to-know guide to personalized URLs, including: <B>Best Practices </B>on why they work, campaign strategy, multichannel creative, analytics, and <B>10 Case Studies.<BR></B><BR>A New Best Practices and Case Studies report from DirectMarketingIQ.<BR> <BR>Do you want a higher response rate? Do you want to make a bigger profit? Do you want to engage your customers and continue the conversation? Then ... you need to know about PURLs and how they can achieve all the above and more! <BR><BR>With <EM>PURLs for Profit </EM>you'll have your personal roadmap that will show you how to successfully implement and profit from PURLs. This definitive special report takes you step-by-step on how to integrate PURLs into your marketing mix — email, direct mail, landing pages and social media — for an enhanced user experience so that prospects can make more informed purchasing decisions faster. <BR><BR>Here are just a few of the important takeaways you'll learn:<BR> <UL> <LI>Why PURLs work <LI>How PURLs connect the dots between direct mail, email, social media and the web <LI>What you should test and why <LI>What campaigns benefit most from PURLs <LI>How to create a relevant campaign <LI>Privacy and PURLs <LI>What steps should you take <LI>How to measure your ROI <LI>Maintain the magic by maximizing the message, the creative and the list! <LI>The importance of tracking and continuing the conversation <LI>Where social media fits into the mix </LI></UL> <P>In addition, you'll see actual case studies where PURLs have made a big difference in a variety of marketing efforts. <BR><BR>Here's a list of the types of companies and organizations that are featured in this informative special report: </P> <UL> <LI>Financial Services <LI>Higher Education <LI>Publishing <LI>Nonprofit <LI>Retail <LI>Technology <LI>Seminar/Conference <LI>Quick-Service Restaurant</LI></UL> <P>Download your copy of <EM>PURLs for Profit</EM> today!</P> PURLs for Profit

Available as a PDF

Your everything-you-need-to-know guide to personalized URLs, including: Best Practices on why they work, campaign strategy, multichannel creative, analytics, and 10 Case Studies.

A New Best Practices and Case Studies report from DirectMarketingIQ.

Do you want a higher response rate? Do you want to make a bigger profit? Do you





...

ORDER NOW

 

MORE ON EMAIL >>

FROM THE BOOKSTORE

Available as a PDF.<BR> <BR>A guide to prospecting, lead generation, building an Opt-in database, tracking, social media integration, deliverability, mining content and balanced creative. While email marketing has reached maturity, there’s still plenty of life in this channel — if used wisely. <BR><BR>That’s the focus of this new guide to email marketing, with articles devoted to best practices for prospecting; continuing to build and refresh your opt-in file; how social and email work together; generating relevant content; keeping your messages safe from spam filters and junk-mail folders; and more. <BR><BR>Are you searching for ways to create stronger email marketing campaigns? <BR><BR>The DirectMarketingIQ and Target Marketing editorial teams have been researching, writing and collecting expert advice from industry leaders about how to create top-notch email marketing campaigns for years. <BR><BR>We’ve compiled this information and made it easy for you to find all in one place, with our easy-to-read report – <EM>Email Marketing That Works (2nd Edition)</EM>. Email Marketing that Works (2nd Edition)

Available as a PDF.

A guide to prospecting, lead generation, building an Opt-in database, tracking, social media integration, deliverability, mining content and balanced creative. While email marketing has reached maturity, there’s still plenty of life in this channel — if used wisely.

That’s the focus of this new guide to email



...

ORDER NOW

Available as a PDF<BR><BR>A guide to the science of direct response testing today, including best practices, power tests, small vs. large test, analyzing results, testing mistakes, new tricks and more.<BR> <BR>Direct marketing — regardless of the channel — is that unique combination of art and science. Direct marketing strategists are constantly striving for better response rates, open rates, conversions, cost-per-order, and life-time value. <BR><BR>And what is the tool that these strategists turn to again and again? That’s right! It’s testing. <BR><BR>In direct marketing, there are plenty of elements to test — from subject lines, premiums, envelope sizes, list selects, pricing, the placement of the shopping cart on the web page ... the choices seem endless. <BR><I><BR>Secrets of Direct Marketing Testing </I>is your personal BRAIN TRUST of testing strategies that you can start to put to use today. <BR><BR>In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to learn — the why, what, when and how-to of testing. From testing structure to basic principles, and from test ideas to mistakes to avoid, you’ll get a crash course in coding, tracking, reading and applying test results. <BR><BR>You’ll learn about: <BR>• Simple copy tests that drive response <BR>• Fine-tuning your offer <BR>• Web and Email testing <BR>• Offer tests <BR>• How to make sure you’re getting reliable results <BR>• Retesting and rolling out your findings <BR>• Plus the Rules that you should test now — or ignore at your own peril! <BR><BR>Are you are searching for ways to raise response, save on your promotion costs, drive down your cost-per-order and extend the lifetime value of your customers? The DirectMarketingIQ and Target Marketing editorial teams have been researching, writing and collecting expert advice from industry leaders about the how-tos of testing for years. <BR><BR>We’ve compiled this information and made it easy for you to find all in one place with our easy-to-read report – <EM>Secrets of Direct Marketing Testing</EM>. Secrets of Direct Marketing Testing

Available as a PDF

A guide to the science of direct response testing today, including best practices, power tests, small vs. large test, analyzing results, testing mistakes, new tricks and more.

Direct marketing — regardless of the channel — is that unique combination of art and science. Direct marketing strategists are constantly striving



...

ORDER NOW

 

COMMENTS

Click here to leave a comment...
Comment *
Most Recent Comments:
brian - Posted on March 22, 2011
Interesting tip about making sure the form is on the right, I hadn't heard that before. I will say it's crucial to think through the landing page, especially if your visitors are coming from a mobile devise.
Click here to view archived comments...
Archived Comments:
brian - Posted on March 22, 2011
Interesting tip about making sure the form is on the right, I hadn't heard that before. I will say it's crucial to think through the landing page, especially if your visitors are coming from a mobile devise.