PURLS? GURLS? CURLS?

By now, we all understand the value delivered by personalizing and targeting your message to make it most relevant to your customers and prospects. The technical jargon, however, is still confusing. Let’s clear up what precisely is referred to by “Purls” “Gurls” and “Curls.”

PURL –

A PURL is a “Persistent Uniform Resource Locator”, although most people think of it as simply a “Personalized URL”. The PURL offers the ability to present a “private viewing” of your products or services, or ask for specific information for future action. This level of personalization, in message, name, offer and imagery, allows for the most relevant interaction, based on the individual’s data, history, etc. PURLs, as part of an overall direct marketing campaign, offer the highest response rate.

CURL –

A CURL can be thought of as either a “Customized URL” or a “Campaign URL”. Rather than individual landing pages, a number of “versions” of a landing page can be presented. Market segments such as industry, geographic region, business size, etc., can drive responders to one of several versions. Mail and email can still be personalized, and the landing page will present a more relevant message than a standard website. In instances where you may not have history or data to make a truly relevant PURL campaign, a CURL component can be used to drive interest, and to capture data which can help build a stronger, more personalized relationship into the future.

GURL –

A GURL represents a “Generic URL”. We recommend including this tool in any direct marketing campaign. A specific landing page, developed for each campaign, will allow you to track responses and gather data for future marketing. This is great as a response to generic ads, and as a useful tool to direct people who may not have been included in the campaign at the time of the build.

While highly relevant PURLs are still the most powerful tool in generating response and sales, all of the PURL-CURL-GURL tools can play a part in developing long-term partnerships with your customers.