How Do I Measure Direct Mail ROI – Try Using pURLs

Most businesses are using direct mail as a part of their multi-channel marketing efforts.

If you’re not one of them then it’s time to get started, but the fact that you’re here reading about measuring direct mail ROI leads us to believe that you’re currently sending it out. What most businesses and organizations struggle with is assessing how effective their direct mail is at producing response or additional sales. While they aren’t new, pURLs have been the easiest way for marketers to measure direct mail performance.

Here we’ll describe a number of ways you can capitalize on the measurement capabilities that pURLs provide.

Using pURLs in Direct Mail

According to the most recent ANA/DMA Response Report 53% of marketers said that pURLs were the most effective tracking method for engagement when using direct mail. So, you’ll find yourself in good company when starting your journey into tracking this performance.

The easiest way to start using pURLs in your direct mail is to create a unique URL that allows for tracking, but takes people to a generic/non-personalized landing page. Some may state this isn’t very personalized but it’s unique to the degree that you will be able to track responses and measure the effectiveness of the direct mail effort. Generic URLs are also sometimes referred to as vanity URLs. To take it a step further a pURL can be individually unique on every single direct mail piece that goes out. The way this is typically done is by using a company’s main URL (domain name) or a Vanity URL and then adding to the end of that domain a string of unique characters and numbers or using a person’s name.

Here are a couple examples of what those look like:

www.domain.com/x85t

www.domain.com/janesmith

By using a customer’s name, you can easily draw more attention to the piece itself and will see a greater response rate because of the fact it is personalized.

Using pURLs with QR codes

We’ve all seen them and you’ve likely worked with them yourself, but QR codes accomplish the same goal as a pURL. For those that have never worked with QR codes you still need to have a URL that will be used to direct the visitor after scanning the code on their phone. So, in a sense you’re still kind of using a pURL it just looks different.

Additionally, a QR code is a much more efficient way to get the recipient of your direct mail to navigate to the destination. A quick snap of the phone will take them away to the content or offer you want them to engage with online. With QR codes you get the same level of tracking and measurement as you do with pURLs, so looking at how many people visited your site or app and how many from there converted to a sale or registration is visible and easy to report on.

So, there’s your answer. If you are looking to measure the effectiveness of your direct mail efforts and track that ROI then it’s critical that you use either pURLs or QR codes on your pieces.

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