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Stay In Control With Easypurl.com Marketing Automation Tools

Published on September 2, 2010.

Question: What’s better than a flawless marketing campaign?

Answer: A flawless marketing campaign that runs itself automatically while you sleep.

We’re talking about setting up email and SMS triggers at key points in your campaigns, to various segments of your list, to remind, respond and follow-up with your audience throughout the entire campaign life-cycle. We’re talking about Marketing Automation tools.

With Marketing Automation tools like Easypurl.com, you can set-up triggered communications so an email or SMS (text message) is delivered to your audience each time they respond, or fail to respond, to your message. This way, you never lose control of your campaign, and squeeze out the best possible results from your data.

Here are the various kinds of Marketing Automation Triggers available within Easypurl.com’s Cross-Media Suite:

  • USPS Delivery Trigger: Sends out a personalized emails based on delivery confirmation of a direct mail piece to your audience. This trigger leverages Postal Tracking technology with Intelligent Mail Barcodes, which gives you incredibly accurate data on when each mail piece is actually being delivered in-home. Use this trigger to deliver a powerful one-two marketing punch across two channels – direct mail and email – in a coordinated manner. Or, send our email alerts to your phone bank to coordinate your cold-call efforts.
  • Visit Trigger: Schedules a personalized email or SMS delivery when recipients visit a landing page or website. This trigger can be set up to broadcast immediately after the visit, or minutes or hours later to mimic a salesperson’s follow-up. Triggers can also be sent to a sales team for immediate follow-up activity.
  • Non-Visit Trigger: Triggers a personalized email or SMS if recipients fail to visit a Landing Page or website. This trigger is a great way to generate extra PURL visitors. Don’t forget, many consumers respond the second time they see a promotion.
  • Response Trigger: Sends out a personalized email or SMS when recipients respond to a message by filling out a form or survey. This trigger can also be used to deliver the sales team the lead information on a silver platter, and in real time. Remember, the hotter the lead the quicker it needs to be followed up on.
  • Non-Response Trigger: Sends out a personalized email or SMS to recipients who did not respond to a message. In direct marketing, just because they didn’t respond the first time doesn’t mean they weren’t interested… so try, try again!

Marketing Automation tools help increase response rates by delivering the right message, at the right time, to the right recipient. Try them!

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The Tremendous Triumvirate of Mobile Marketing

Published on September 1, 2010.

Over the past couple years, the Mobile channel has finally emerged as a powerful direct marketing medium. But, it’s still new and somewhat mysterious to a lot of direct marketers.

So, how can marketers who are new to Mobile Marketing take advantage of the exciting channel with minimal time, effort and money spent, while at the same time avoiding a gimmicky approach that makes it seem like they are peddling a commodity?

QR Codes are a great place to start Mobile Marketing. Here at Easypurl Insider, we’ve spoken a lot about QR Codes in recent weeks, but we haven’t discussed the fact that QR Codes are a part of the larger mobile marketing universe. In fact, due to the gimmicky nature of QR Codes their incredible value as Mobile Marketing solution has often been overlooked. Keep in mind, the goal of any marketing is to provide a solution to a problem – and solutions, don’t forget, provide tangible value beyond mere hype. Solutions drive results.

So, to take your Mobile Marketing to the next level and provide real, concrete solutions you can sink your teeth into, look no further than the Tremendous Triumvirate of Mobile Marketing: QR Codes + Mobile Optimized Landing Pages + SMS (text) messaging.

Think of these three complimentary technologies as the holy trinity of the Mobile Marketing universe.  Any one of them used in isolation can be cool and interesting, and certainly can provide value. It’s when they’re used in combination, however, that their usefulness is amplified dramatically and can bring your marketing initiatives to the next level.

Think about it: What good is a QR Code without a Landing Page to capture the responses, or a Reporting Dashboard to present the data? It’s like a fancy sports car equipped with a lawnmower engine… or no engine at all. All sizzle and no steak.  And speaking of Landing Pages, what good is a Landing Page on a Mobile campaign if it doesn’t present correctly – or even functions at all – when a user visits it on their mobile device? How effective is a Mobile campaign that cannot send out text (SMS) messages or alerts based on consumers’ preferences?

When it comes to Mobile, think holistically. Remember, when used together these tools are the easiest and most effective way for marketers to integrate Mobile Marketing into their marketing mix or service offering. So, instead of trying to offer one of these new technologies in a vacuum – as a gimmick – tackle Mobile Marketing the same way you would, say, set up a Cross-Media direct mail campaign. Think about it, when you send out a direct mail piece, you plan out an actual direct mail campaign. You don’t just send out a PURL, cross your fingers and hope for the best, do you?

You come up with a plan – a solution – that is based on rigorous analysis of quantifiable data and has a fighting chance of driving real, achievable results. You think of the bigger picture, which includes a killer call-to-action that will resonate with your target audience, and slick-looking creative that will pull. The physical direct mail piece   includes Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) for postal tracking, and a PURL/Landing Page designed not only to capture Web responses, but meet the campaign’s data collection, user experience and brand requirements. Moreover, when leads come in, you send out email (or SMS) triggers and alerts to the sales team, so they can follow up right away… and all of the campaign data is aggregated, captured and made available on an Interactive Reporting Dashboard. So why would  a Mobile Marketing campaign be any different?

Read more about QR Codes here.

Read more about SMS here.

img: wikicommons

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Definitions: Cross-Media Marketing And Multi-Channel Marketing

Published on August 30, 2010.

Over the past few months here at the Easypurl Insider we’ve been exploring the world of cross-media, mostly discussing specific technologies and how they can be applied to make your marketing initiatives more effective… things like QR codes, Postal Tracking with IMBs, PixelPURL, etc. All of these cool and interesting technologies fall under the general umbrella of Cross-Media Marketing tools.

This begs the question, however, “What is Cross-Media?” For many marketers, Cross-Media has become synonymous with the collection of technologies and tools found in the Easypurl.com Platform, such as Personalized URLs, Landing Pages, QR Codes, Email, and so on.  This is correct. But you’ve probably also heard the  term Cross-Channel, and Multi-Channel. So what’s the difference? Is there one?

Here are some answers:

CROSS-MEDIA (OR CROSS-CHANNEL) MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

A cross-media campaign (or a cross-channel campaign – they mean the same thing) is one that connects one medium to another. For example, slap a Personalized URL on a direct mail piece to connect the print medium to the online medium, namely the Internet – and voilà, you’ve got a Cross-Media campaign.

Here are some basic attributes shared by all Cross-Media Campaigns:

  • Recipients are communicated to using one channel (usually a traditional channel, such as direct mail, a space ad, a billboard, etc.), and are given a response option that uses another channel (the Internet).
  • Various Cross-Media technologies – such as PURLs, GURLs, QR Codes and IMBs – are integrated into the marketing message to enable personalization, sophisticated tracking and data capture.
  • Response data are c0llected in real-time and displayed 24/7 using a Web-based Reporting Dashboard, providing measurability and quantifiable ROI.

MULTI-CHANNEL CAMPAIGNS
A multi-channel campaign is quite literally the act of marketing simultaneously across different channels.  That is, a marketing campaign launched across two or more of the media – print, Web, television, radio – at the same time.

  • In such a campaign, the concurrent communications reinforce each other, as consumers are bombarded by messages across various channels.
  • For a multi-channel campaign to succeed in today’s multi-channel environment, it must however include a Cross-Media solution. Cross-Media tools are what allow audiences to respond to a marketing message, bridging the chasm between two distinct channels. Without them, a multi-channel campaign is dead in the water,  because there is no way for audiences to interact and act in response to the campaign, and campaign data and reporting are severely hampered.

img:Willy L

voilà

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Rising Postal Costs – Stop Worrying And Start Profiting

Published on July 9, 2010.

USPS’s proposed price increase might shoot-up costs by 5% for direct mailers, and more than 23.3% for companies that mail Standard Mail Parcels, reports DM News. Ouch.

Regardless of how you feel about it, postal charges will invariably increase over time. There are many reasons behind this trend. Instead of complaining or worrying, the pragmatic thing to do is  embrace cross-media services. Why? Because cross-media can help insure your business against adverse effects of any price increases – now and forever. Here’s how.

A postal price increase will cause one or all of the following reactions among marketers:

  1. They will expect more results from their marketing dollars. In other words, they’ll seek to make their marketing more effective, and basically do more with less. Adding cross-media services – such as PURLs and Landing Pages – will lift response rates and greatly improve the effectiveness and impact of each and every dollar they spend.
  2. Marketers will demand better measurability and analytics for all their campaigns. Remember, you can’t evaluate what you can’t measure or track – and cross-media services connect print and traditional media to DATA. Say hello to “Quantifiable ROI.”
  3. Marketers will reduce the amount of direct mail they send out and spend more money on new media (Internet marketing). Direct mail is here to stay, but any way you slice it marketers will invariably seek to add more new media to their mix, including email marketing, text (SMS) marketing, QR Codes, etc. This is an inescapable trend. So instead of swimming against the current, seize the initiative and be the one to offer your customers these services.

Not only will cross-media services insure you against losing business due to rising postal costs, they also enable you to profit in all three scenarios. Not just profit, but also become a high-value marketing solutions partner to your customers, which will help you sell more and more effectively. (And you get all those benefits for a surprisingly small price!)

If you don’t offer these services, your customers will go with someone who does.

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What Lies Between A Printer And His First Cross-Media Project? The Self-Promo Campaign

Published on June 11, 2010.

If you’re new to the cross-media space, simply reviewing the software and attending a few cross-media training sessions does in no way fully equip your business to sell cross-media services. In fact, a central aspect of successfully integrating cross-media services into your product offering comes before the actual sales process begins…

This important step is called the self-promo campaign – the most crucial part of a printer’s cross-media initiative, integral to its success or failure.

This most crucial step is also, ironically, the most frequently overlooked one. Believe it or not, here at Easypurl.com we’ve heard tons of stories of printers who tried to pitch cross media to disinterested customers, only to see a year later, that the same customers sign-on with other print service providers for cross-media projects. They thought they did a good job presenting it to their customers… So what happened? What happened here was that these printers’ pitches were missing were a clear value proposition and credibility. They were missing self-promo campaigns.

You’ve got to drink your own Kool Aid. Think about it. How can you effectively sell something you don’t even use yourself? Would you buy a new car from someone who drives a bike to work? And, don’t forget you’re selling the most effective marketing tool available in the marketplace today. So when you think about it like that, you must realize it makes sense to use cross-media tools and techniques to promote your new-found cross-media capabilities. (Use PURLs to sell PURLs. Get it?)

Here are six reasons why a self-promo campaign should be the first step in your sales process:

  • A self-promo campaign alerts your customers and prospects about your cross-media offerings – a sure-fire way to get the word out to your customers
  • It presents your pitch in a credible way, as opposed to subjecting your prospects to another gimmick or sales pitch – leave salespeople to their own devices, and they’re sure to present PURLs as a nothing but a new gimmick – which they are most certainly not! PURLs and cross -media are a marketing service, so treat them as such by using marketing to communicate their value proposition.
  • It will generate leads from people who are trying to find out more information by responding to the campaign. Suppose your self-promo campaign works – this will mean lots of red-hot leads for your eager salespeople to follow up on.
  • It also makes your sales management more effective. A self-promo campaign will allow you to see which of your prospects are interested. This means you can follow up on each salesperson’s approach for analysis and measurement, instead of as opposed to letting your sales people loose to “wing-it” in an uncontrolled, immeasurable manner.
  • Sending out a self promo gives your production team experience setting-up a cross media project. This way, when you have a customer project, you’re well prepared and your first customer will not be your guinea pig. Also, cross media is a new concept and requires a brand new sales approach. When you have experience with the entire cross-media campaign life-cycle – setting up a cross-media campaign, reviewing the results, following up with the leads, and closing deals – you’ll be far better prepared to answer customer and prospect queries when they come in down the road.

Think about it, you are selling the most effective marketing tool, and it only makes sense that you use cross-media to promote your cross-media capabilities.

Additionally, when you partner with Easypurl.com you get access to self-promo templates that have been tried and tested, and promise to be highly effective. And our Agency Services team will work closely with you to help you craft a successful self-promo campaign. As always, with Easypurl.com success is just steps away.

Makes you wonder why you haven’t launched a self-promo campaign yet.

No, seriously. Why?

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What Is PixelPURL?

Published on June 9, 2010.

Never lose track

PixelPURL is a special proprietary Easypurl.com tracking technology that enables companies to use PURLs and monitor visitor behavior on third-party websites.

Earlier, we spoke about how a PURL Redirect lets PURL visitors be redirected back to a marketer’s website, rather than to an Easypurl.com hosted Landing Page. That was cool, right? The PixelPURL makes the PURLRedirect even cooler.

Normally, after each visitor is redirected to any place other than an Easypurl.com hosted Landing Page, we know we sent the visitor there, but we don’t know what happens afterwards. This leaves the question – how can we track visitor behavior on sites that are not hosted by us? Answer – PixelPURL.

PixelPURL especially useful in situations where the customer requires a campaign to use its (the company’s) own Landing Pages and not an Easypurl.com hosted Landing Page to capture their Web responses.

For example, many catalogers have their own e-commerce websites that are tightly integrated with order processing and fulfillment systems. As such, all their orders must take place on those sites.

Customers like these may still want to use PURLs to improve their marketing campaigns, but cannot not use externally hosted Landing Pages. Nevertheless, they want the ability to track beyond just PURL visits. They want to track how many of those PURL-visitors actually go on to make sales. This creates an problem, right? Wrong.

Usually, this requires a time-consuming, expensive and imprecise process called “matching back,” where the list of PURL-visitors is compared against a list of orders that takes place elsewhere. In general, most direct marketers have in fact created some kind of match back system to properly re-classify Web orders to their channel of origin, though this process is not very popular because it is both complicated and inexact.

Well, those days are finally over… So say good-bye to the dreaded match back, and hello to PixelPURL. With PixelPURL, Easypurl.com creates a special proprietary tracking pixel for the campaign that the customer places on the “thank-you” page (the final page that appears after an order is processed) of their e-commerce website. When this page loads, the pixel fires and alerts Easypurl.com not only that an order has taken place, but also by whom. As such, using the PixelPURL Easypurl.com tracks visitor behavior from the initial PURL-click, through to order completion. This information is reported back to Easypurl.com in real time, and displayed in the Reporting Dashboard along with PURL visitor data. Problem solved.

For something that accomplishes so much, it’s sinfully easy to implement.

img:Hank Ashby

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Security Pages – Boon Or Bane?

Published on June 9, 2010.

A security page is an extra security measure that can be incorporated into a marketing campaign. It is added between a PURL and a landing page.

Do you need it?  The answer is long-winded, and there is no right or wrong here. Read on.

Normally when a user types in a PURL, he/she is sent to what we call a Landing Page, which usually contains both personalized and offer-specific content. Depending on what information can be gleaned from the mailing list (data file), elements on the page can be personalied to a high degree.

Landing Pages for PURL campaigns containing response forms (Web Forms), for example, usually feature some or most of the forms fields pre-filled with information.

A Security Page adds a step to this process. Instead of being directed straight to the Landing Page, visitors arrive at a page where they are requested to input a special code or password. The Security Code is usually some information that is usually either printed on the mailing piece (or in the email, text, etc), or else references something that the person should know (such as an email address, date of birth, etc). Once entered correctly, the visitor is then redirected to the Landing Page.

So should you or shouldn’t you add a security page between a PURL and a landing page? That’s like choosing between an apple and an orange, right?… ignore that analogy. What we’re saying is that, it depends.

Uses for security pages:

  • Adds an extra layer of security – Despite the fact that Easypurl.com’s Landing Pages are all 100% secure (https) and encrypted with 128-bit encryption, for certain campaigns that involve sensitive customer data such as social security numbers or personal financial information, many consumers feel safer if access to their Landing Page is protected by a password. Adding a Security Page helps keep that information locked down. Better safe than sorry.
  • Duplicate management – There are two ways to deal with multiple instances of people in your list with the same name, or “soft dupes.” The first way (and Easypurl.com’s default mechanism) involves appending the PURLs with a random integer at the end (eg, JohnSmith.Easypurl.com, JohnSmith71.Easypurl.com, etc). It may be inelegant, but it’s easy and effective. The other way involves using Security Pages combined with a unique security codes. Using this method, duplicate PURLs are all generated the same. Upon clicking on a PURL, users are first redirected to the Security Page, where they are prompted to enter in their Security Code. Upon entering in the correct Security Code, the visitor is properly identified and then directed to the appropriate version of the Landing Page. Assigning a unique code to each duplicate in your list allows each user to have an authentic and clean-looking PURL with their real names, without any risk of the same landing page being assigned to two people (or worse yet, the wrong person!).

Pros and Cons of Security Pages:

  • Extra security – Pro: Security pages beef up security to already secure landing pages, and this is a huge advantage for particular campaigns. Con: Any way you slice it, a security page is an added step to the process and might increase visitor drop-off rates and result in less than 100 percent pass-through rates for the campaign.
  • Duplicates Management – Pro: Security pages allow all duplicates in the list to have a PURL with their real names, instead of random integers being appended to their names. This way, the personalization aspect of the campaign is not diluted.  Con: Adds a step to the process.

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PURL Redirect – Lets Marketers Use Purls Without Landing Pages

Published on June 8, 2010.

Despite popular belief, it is not always necessary to use a hosted Landing Page with a PURL campaign. Easypurl Redirect lets marketers redirect PURL visitors to their (marketers’) websites, and still reap the powerful benefits of improved tracking and increased Web visitors inherent in this technology.

Yes, PURLs are typically used in conjunction with personalized Landing Pages. Not only is this the most effective way to use PURLs, but a huge part of their value proposition in the first place, as it leverages the ability to give the Web visitors a 1:1 (personalized) experience when they arrive online. But, not all companies who use PURLs want to take advantage of this feature. These companies want to use PURLs to direct more people online, and successfully track Web visitors; they just don’t necessarily need the Landing Pages to be hosted elsewhere.

There are many reasons why companies might want to use a PURL Redirect:

  • The company is looking for a quick and easy first step – a simple way to test out PURLs without having to create a new Landing Page
  • The company wants to take advantage of improved tracking /measurability and increased Web visitors – tangible benefits that are attainable by simply adding a PURL to a direct mail piece
  • In rare situations, a customer may need to use a pre-existing Landing Page they are hosting
  • The company has a complex system in place for capturing and routing leads (and orders) through its own system, and the process cannot take place elsewhere.

Whatever the underlying rationale, Easypurl.com has pioneered a new technology for marketers who want to use PURLs without hosted landing pages – called Easypurl Redirect.

This is how it works:

PURLS are generated the way they regularly are, through Easypurl.com. Using Easypurl Redirect, PURL visitors pass through the Easypurl.com system, where they are tracked, and then redirected back to the customer’s website.

Because they pass through the Easypurl system,

  • Visitors can be tracked
  • Marketers can enable email triggers to go out to the sales team or to customers
  • Important information can be passed along with that PURL visitor using an Easypurl query string.  As visitors go through the system, information is gleaned from the lists and is included with them. This means companies can often have pre-filled forms on their Web pages.

With Easypurl Redirect, which takes just minutes to set up, marketers can skip using hosted landing pages and still benefit from the tracking and personalization that PURLs offer.

Have your cake and eat it too.

img:hoyasmeg

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Email Marketing Tip #2: Saving Your Email From The SPAM, JUNK And TRASH Folders

Published on June 4, 2010.

Getting email delivered is actually more of an art than a science. There are many different Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and each one has its own set of rules interpreting what is legitimate versus SPAM. Up to 95% of all emails sent are blocked by various ISPs and are not delivered at all.

GET PAST THE ISPs:

Use a legitimate email marketing deployment solution – this guarantees that the ISPs have been notified that your messages are legitimate and that the IP addresses you are broadcasting from are not included in any blacklists. Using a legitimate service (like Easypurl.com) guarantees, at the very least, that the emails should make it through.

MAKE IT TO THE IN-BOX:

Steer clear of SPAM-words – Making it through the ISP’s checks is only part of the battle, however, because making it into the in-box (as opposed to the “bulk mail” or “SPAM” folders) and being opened drive the actual results of your campaign. The subject and content of your message determine whether your message not only makes it into the in-box, but gets opened. Using SPAM-words like “Hello,” “Free,” “Lose weight,” and “As seen on Oprah,” in your subject line increases your SPAM score. The complete list of SPAM words is available for free online. Try to ensure they are not included in the email body either.

Run your email through SPAM scoring software – Before sending out any email communication, run your message through SPAM-scoring software. There are many free and paid solutions available.

GET THEM TO READ YOUR EMAIL:

A killer subject line – A subject line can literally make or break an email campaign. Effective subject lines are usually short, relevant and catchy.

Easy to read = good results – Who has time to read long, wordy or boring emails? When composing your message, try to arrange it in such a way that it can be easily read and understood in a few seconds tops. Use multiple paragraphs, and be sure to include bullet-points and links.

Don’t forget the email “preview” pane – Most people now scan their emails in the email preview pane. To get them to open the message, you must grab their attention quickly, and with just the top part of the message visible.  For optimal results, make sure that all key aspects of your message – including the call-to-action – are visible in the preview pane.

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Email Marketing Tip #1: What Is Whitelisting, And Do I Need It?

Published on June 3, 2010.

There are many factors that ascertain whether your emails actually get delivered into your audience’s in-box or get tagged as SPAM and end up being banished to cyberspace forever. Whitelisting is one of them. So what is whitelisting, and what other terms should you be familiar with if you want to begin offering commercial email marketing services?

  • Whitelisting. Some Internet service providers have whitelists that they use to filter e-mail to be delivered to their customers. ISPs receive requests from legitimate companies to add them to the ISP whitelist of companies. Whitelisting is essential to to running commercial email marketing programs, as it allows email messages from a specific sender to bypass spam filters. By using this service, a sender can be more confident that the messages have reached their recipients without being blocked, or having links or images stripped out of them. Without whitelisting, emails probably will not be delivered at all, especially if they are sent in bulk. Ultimately, whitelisting allow companies to reliably reach their customers by e-mail.
  • Email delivery rules. Getting the emails to deliver to the various IPSs is tricky business, as most have a unique set of rules for determining what is SPAM versus legitimate email communication. This means that your email provider must understand the various rules for delivering to the various ISPs.
  • Blacklists. Blacklists should be avoided at all costs. The main issue is, once you’ve gotten on a Blacklist it’s hard to get off. For this reason, it’s extremely important to work with an email marketing provider who will ensure your IP address stays off any/all blacklists (SBLs).
  • Throttling. No, this has nothing to do with driving a car. In email marketing, sending out email messages quickly is the name of the game. That being said, if the emails go out too quickly, ISPs will block them and prevent their delivery. In other words, commercial grade email software sends the messages out quickly, but not too quickly so as to prevent their delivery. This is called ‘throttling.’ A good broadcast service therefore ensures your emails are delivered at a high rate, but not too fast to ensure maximum deliverability.

If you want to offer commercial-grade email marketing services to your customers, you must partner with a company that includes all of the features we mention above whitelisting service. By partnering with a reputable email marketing solution like Easypurl.com, you’ve got your bases covered, as our email marketing module is robust and highly effective.

Do you need it? You decide.

img: Bruno Girin

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