Personal microsites or personal URLs (PURLs) are a perfect choice for meeting the demands of today’s consumers. (A PURL is a web destination that incorporates a recipient’s name: yourwebsite.com/JohnSample.) They give consumers the customer experience they want – the right information at the right time.
A PURL allows a brand to provide personal messages and deliver custom content, which makes it an excellent choice for welcoming new customers and communicating relevant information across their lifecycles.
PURLs are a win-win for brands
For a brand, personal URLs provide an online channel that gives customers easy, secure access to their individual account information, convenient self-service options and targeted marketing offers based on each person’s individual circumstance. PURLs can also be provided to prospective customers based on conquest lists from third party sources, which do not require secure access.
In addition to providing the “soft” benefits of improved customer satisfaction and convenience, PURLs offers a quantifiable return on investment based on cost reduction and revenue enhancement. Further, adding mobile and tablet functionality improves customer access and potential returns.
PURLs enhance customer relationships
When content is personalized and customized to the individual consumer based on their personal data or known preference history, it is the most efficient and effective means to start the conversation and build a customer relationship. There is no comparison to other advertising or marketing tactics such as direct mail because personal URLs engage customers and prospects in ways other tactics can’t.
Today’s consumers prefer to communicate via email (48 percent). They also expect an individual experience. The market is shifting from a focus on mass personalization to a granular focus on individual consumer wants and needs. Studies reveal 82 percent of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading customized content. According to PODI.org when you provide consumers with relevant information, on average, your response rate is 300 percent better than if you simply personalized a direct mail message.
Stronger relationships equal increased revenue
PURLs also provide incremental revenue through increased cross selling. Consumers who opt-in to receive offers through email spend 138 percent more than people who don’t receive email offers.
Customers that choose to use PURLs for their online communications over traditional marketing communication have higher loyalty, which translates to incremental revenue. One of our clients, a finance company, reported 40 percent of their customers with expiring contracts utilized PURLs over the course of the repurchase process. The customers that used PURLs had a 5 percent greater likelihood of refinancing with the company than customers who received traditional direct mail communications.
PURLs are a proven way to provide a unique customer experience. They are the best way to welcome new customers, cross sell and manage ongoing relevant conversation with customers.