Marketing with PURLs (part 3 of 3)

By Mike Capuzzi | February 7, 2013

In part 1 of this article (https://mikecapuzzi.com/marketing-with-purls-1) I gave you some background on why marketing with PURLs is a smart technique for all businesses. In part 2 (https://mikecapuzzi.com/marketing-with-purls-2), I showed several types of marketing campaigns that can effectively use PURLs to increase response.

In this last article, I’m going to share a few additional types of marketing campaigns that can easily be converted into PURL marketing campaigns.

#6: Event Marketing

If you’re holding an event of any type, you can use PURLs to make your marketing and registration process more effective and streamlined.

For this example, we’ll go with the info-marketing world. Info-marketers hold events and seminars all the time, and registration is often a multi-step process. During this process, registrants can drop off in the middle, leaving info-marketers to try and streamline the process as much as possible. Using PURLs can allow info-marketers to cut out an entire part of the process (the one where we ask our registrants to enter their name and e-mail address) and it will also allow us to keep a list of our customers that have clicked through but left during the first step in registration.

Even if we haven’t captured an e-mail address and name from them (the first step in the registration process) we still know who started the registration process by clicking the link to learn more. We can develop a follow-up campaign to those people that then references the incomplete registration and let them know we’re still holding their spot.

PURL marketing allows you to customize your website to allow visitors to experience the event even before they register. A few years back, I helped James Malinchak, who does huge events, create a PURL marketing campaign to help fill one of his events. His PURL landing page did a lot of smart things and really helped the visitor “see themselves” at his event.

#7: Getting Offline Prospects Online

I’ve mentioned a few times already that having as much information about your customer or prospect is valuable. This also includes having as much of their contact information as possible. Anytime you drive your offline prospect online and capture their e-mail address, you’re giving yourself another media that you can use to market to them. This allows for the creation of multi-media campaigns (direct mail and e-mail combined) and helps you stretch your marketing budget further (because e-mail costs less than direct mail.) If you have a successful e-mail campaign that converts well, you definitely want to get your offline prospects’ e-mail information as quickly as possible.

The other benefit to driving your offline prospects online is that you have more space and more options available to deliver your marketing message. You can use video, audio and as much website space as you want to deliver your message, increasing your conversion rate.

PURLs are a great tool to use when sending out prospecting and lead generation campaigns. The fact that you’re using your recipients’ name in a URL engages their curiosity – it makes them wonder what you’ve got for them that you made a website just for them! In fact, PURLs are so good at engaging curiosity that you can often just send out a simple postcard with compelling copy and use the PURL page to sell your product or service or opt-in more thoroughly.

Let’s say you’re an insurance agent specializing in homeowner’s insurance. You can buy a list of the homeowners in your area, inviting them to download your free Home Inventory Checklist at their PURL and to watch the video that will take them step-by-step to creating their own home inventory. You’ll capture their e-mail address and have a list of pre-qualified prospects along with their e-mail and physical mailing addresses that you can use in future marketing efforts.

#8: Selling Products & Services

I’ve sold a bunch of products using PURLs. One particular campaign that sticks out was a Halloween campaign I did a few years back to sell CopyDoodles.

I created an email and direct mail campaign to drive people, via a PURL, to a special PURL page where I offered a special PURL-only discount. What’s neat about the way I did it was the PURL system I used, allowed me to create a personalized “savings certificate” made out to the person receiving it.

The Simple PURLs Pro Edition allows you to do the same thing. Hardly anybody can resist not using a savings certificate made out just for them. Want to see one in action right now? Enter your first name in the form below and press the Go Now button.

The bottom line is marketing with PURLs is a smart strategy for all business owners. PURLs should be a go-to tool in your marketing tool kit and there’s no easier or more flexible PURL system than Simple PURLs. I know, because I built it for myself and my needs as a marketer.

It may not have all the bells and whistles of other PURL systems, but that’s the beauty of Simple PURLs. It does one thing, really well and refreshingly simple. It was designed to be used by time-crunched business owners and entrepreneurs who want to tap into the power of personalized marketing. Visit www.SimplePurls.com for more information.