Thank again for the insight. Lee (transpromo-live.com)

On the first point, I agree completely. Technically, “Have a purpose for your personalized URLs” should read, “Have a purpose for your personalized URL campaign.” It’s sloppy language from a technical perspective, but I think most people will understand what I mean.

Yes, personalized URLs aren’t the only approach for which response rate isn’t the best measure of success, but I do think it’s a particular problem for personalized URLs. In a 1:1 non-personalized URL campaign, the way of gauging response might be the purchase of a product. In this case, the response rate and the conversion rate are the same. But in most personalized URL campaigns — at least the way they are implemented — direct sale is often not the primary motivation. Thus, there are layers between the hit to the personalized URL and the ultimate goal of the marketer, making the “response rate” method of gauging success even more problematic than it is for other types of 1:1 marketing.

This said, I agree that response rate — unless it’s also the conversion rate — should not be the primary measure of success in any 1:1 campaign, whether it’s a personalized URL campaign or not. This is also one of the best practices listed in “1:1 (Personalized) Printing: Boosting Profits Through Relevance,” which is the companion Marketer’s Primer on 1:1 printing. I think it’s just something marketers have to be doubly careful of with personalized URLs, especially since “response rate” is so easy to track.

You say: 1. Have a purpose for your personalized URLs.
I think what you describe in the paragraph that follows this is really to have a purpose for your campaign. As you state the PURL is merely a mechanism to interact with the prospect. It’s the content – that draws them in – that counts. Once they are compelled to act (i.e. go to the PURL), it adds value by facilitating the interaction in a personalized way. Like the message, the call to action needs to also be targeted and personalized based on what you already know about each respondent and their inputs via the PURL interface.

You say: 2. Remember that the personalized URL is not the end goal. It is simply the beginning of the conversation.
I agree, and the conversation can occur – and indeed is most successful – when it occurs via multiple media. Today the PURL. Tomorrow direct mail, next week email, text message, etc. Also, lets not forget that a lot of people out there (over 30) still prefer to actually talk to someone on the phone from time to time – assuming they initiate the call to the company and they are not calling us during dinner. If they call and don’t use the PURL, the campaing is still a success!

You say: 3. Response rate is a poor measurement of success.
Agreed 100%. However this is no different for PURLs than for any other communication media used. Yes, Direct Mailers and 1:1 software companies will tell you that increased RESPONSE rates are great (and there is some truth to that), BUT good Sales people and savvy execs know that the bottom line is king (always). We marketers have always known this of course, but it is easier to talk about response rates because truthfully it can be very difficult to actually and factually track where sales come from. This is an issue of needing to justify every cent spent as if every program is stand alone. Of course if that was the case, we’d never need to spend a dime on branding, customer service or product quality. But, that’s something for another article!.