Personalized URLs:

Beyond the Hype

Overview, Lessons Learned, and Best Practices for PURLs, RURLs, and Other -URLs

Most Recent Report Update: October 2009

Target Audience:

• Marketers, creatives, ad agencies
• Digital print shops and marketing services providers
• Digital press, software, and other vendors
• Research firms

There is a lot of hype surrounding Personalized URLs these days, but what is the reality behind the hype? Do these applications deliver on the promise? “Personalized URLs: Beyond the Hype” addresses this question.  The answer is one that every marketer and 1:1 print provider should take to heart.

Personalized URL applications have a wide variety of uses, including sales prospecting, customer surveying, event registrations, information dissemination, and obtaining customer and user feedback. But while they have generated a lot of success, they have generated a lot of disappointment, too-primarily because of a lack of realistic expectations.

This reports provides a no-nonsense look at the role of personalized URLs and 1:1 printing in increasing the effectiveness of companies' marketing programs. It looks at key application categories, “best in class” case studies, lessons learned over time, and best practices for optimizing their use. Printers and marketers can optimize the value of this report by purchasing an enterprise license for broader marketing and education.

The report is 68 pages, with 18 personalized URL campaign sample images, hypotheticals, and other graphics.

Points are illustrated using best-in-class case studies, hypotheticals, and graphics from actual campaigns in key personalized URL  categories, including llead generation, cross-sells and upsells, event registrations, information dissemination, and customer retention and loyalty.

Special emphasis is placed on the importance of changing the way marketers evaluate the cost-effectiveness of print marketing, including a shift to cost per lead, cost per sale, and return on investment.

Report concludes with best practices and strategies for success.

“Personalized URLs: Beyond the Hype,” part of the Marketer's Primer Series, is designed as a standalone primer or as a plug-and-play tool for training and education. Licensing enables distribution within your company and, for printers,  service providers, and vendors, to existing customers as a training and marketing tool.

Report Quick Stats:

• 63 pages
• 18 graphics, including samples from personalized URL campaigns and hypothetical ROI calculations
• $159.00 single user
• training and education licenses available for distribution within your company to train your sales force, marketing staff, and customer service reps

Report Contents:

Section 1 looks at the basic nuts and bolts behind personalized URLs. This includes the basic structure, differences between templated and custom applications, and the role played by digital (toner- and inkjet-based) printing technology.

Section 2 looks at the primary differentiating factors between personalized URL software solutions and the variety of pricing models used by 1:1 services providers.

Section 3 looks at the role of databases, including the use of personalized URLs to turn mailing lists into prospecting databases and the critical need to focus on relevance, not personalization. We also look at some marketers' concerns about personalized URLs, including how they relate to other data-gathering techniques, including website forms.

Section 4 looks at case studies from five classifications of personalized URL applications: lead generation, direct sales / cross-sells and upsells, event registrations, information dissemination, and customer retention and loyalty.

Section 5 looks at how to evaluate the success of personalized URL campaigns. It looks at the variety of types of “response rates” and key campaign metrics, including conversion, cost per sale, and return on investment.

Section 6 looks at best practices for personalized URL campaigns. This includes both those drawn from the case study archives and insights from leading practitioners in the field.

Section 7 draws final conclusions and provides references for more information.

"Personalized URLs: Beyond the Hype" can be purchased as a standalone report or in a training and education license that enables companies to distribute the report internally via print or Intranet for training of your sales force, marketing staff, and customer service reps. (See purchase link.)

Licenses come with a FREE "best practices" white paper that can be used as a giveaway or incentive for self-promotion purposes.

Contact:

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro

heidi@digitalprintingreports.com