Simple tool with a big impact: the personalized URL (PURL)

Personalized URLs might sound terribly complex to the uninitiated. The technology behind it is actually surprisingly simple. And those who have a large customer base are already in the best position to make optimal use of existing data.

Basically, this means nothing other than that an individual link leads to an individual website. The idea behind it has been around for a long time. What is more or less new is to direct the person addressed from a printed matter — for example via a QR code — to the landing page personalized for them, instead of just coming from another digital application.

What purpose personalized URLs serve

PURLs are primarily used in marketing — and here again in dialogue, cross- and omnichannel marketing. They help to network different channels even better and enable marketing measures to be more relevant for individuals. This in turn increases the interaction rate and ROI. In addition, the PURL allows the success of a measure or campaign to be evaluated in detail via tracking.

If a PURL is structured accordingly, it can also provide an additional moment of attention — for example if your own name or another relevant keyword appears in the PURL.

What is a PURL actually?

A PURL — a personalized URL — is a unique, personal link that is assigned to a specific person or target group. This link, which is placed on a printed product as a QR code, does not lead to a generic website, but to a personalized landing page.

Instead of “Hello visitor” it says “Hello Steven”, for example. The content can be automatically adapted to the preferences, function or industry of the person being addressed. The recipient does not receive a standard message, but is addressed directly and feels noticed.

... and how does it work?

The technology behind it is surprisingly unspectacular, because a PURL only requires two things:

1. an individual link that is incorporated into a printed product, an email, an advertisement, etc. and
2. a target page to which the respective link leads.

The system from which the landing page originates is completely irrelevant. It can be located in a CMS or in a proprietary development.

The only small technical hurdle is that both the link and the landing page must use an individual code that addresses the same ID (person or target group).

A simple example

As part of a campaign, a customer list is exported. Even if the data is only exported to XLSX, the line number used to determine the ID is already sufficient to clearly identify a person:

This list is processed automatically when creating the layout or printed product. An individual link is created for each line, ergo PURL, for example:

• www.example.org/campaign/1
• www.example.org/campaign/2

The “1” or “2” is the unique identifier (“ID”). For security and privacy reasons, it is recommended to use a character sequence (so-called “hashes”) instead of a numeric ID — which can be guessed and allows manipulation. However, the principle remains the same. On the landing page, a script reads this ID, looks for the appropriate data record and displays the corresponding content. It's that simple. No magic, no rocket science.

This is exactly where ManyPrint Solutions comes into play

What is simple in principle can become complicated in practice. There are a number of hurdles, especially when it comes to printed products. This is exactly where our application ManyPrint Solution can shine: ManyPrint Solutions is a cloud application for 100% personalization of printed matter. Layouts, images, texts, QR codes and PURLs are generated fully automatically from data and integrated into existing systems if desired. ManyPrint Solutions links various data sources and automates the entire process up to the print-ready file.

This means that each recipient receives their own printed product with its own URL or QR code and a matching personalised landing page. PURLs work wherever data and people come together: in direct mailings, in e-commerce or, as in the example above, in campaigns with QR codes. The wide range of possible applications is demonstrated not least by our running diary, which we presented in personalised form at the last Drupa. Based on the user's address, individual running routes were generated with details of the route. Personal QR codes or PURLs can be used to access videos with audio descriptions of the corresponding running scenarios.

By the way: WirbelWild has its own URL shortener: www.go2.link It is available exclusively to WirbelWild clients with and without the use of ManyPrint Solutions.

One-to-one marketing instead of a scattergun approach

Personalization is far from being an elaborate marketing magic that only corporations can afford. On the contrary: Small and medium-sized companies in particular can score points with personalized content. The data is there, it's just often not used. PULRs ensure appreciative customer loyalty and higher response rates.

Personalized URLs are not new, but they are more relevant than ever. They turn anonymous recipients into individually addressed people, turn classic printed matter into interactive experiences, and campaigns become clearly measurable successes. With ManyPrint Solutions, this is implemented as simply as possible and with maximum effect.