Tom Kubinski
Printing Consultant
TKubinski@shapco.com
Direct: 612-278-1568
Fax: 612-334-5879
Cell: 612-760-3700


www.shapco.com
1109 Zane Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN. 55422
Phone: 612-375-1150
Fax: 612-334-5879
Toll Free: 1-800-230-2828


Branding - 22 Laws Of
Brand Warfare
Clear Dry Ink
Creative Coatings Techniques
Desktop Techniques
Digital Printing - Variable Data or Business Development
Direct Mail Raise Response, Lower Costs
Duotones-Tritones-Quadtones
FSC Certification
In House Mailing Capabilities
Ink Tour—Everything you wanted to know
Marketing More Effectively
Microsites
Paper Mill Tour - Coated
Paper Mill Tour - Uncoated
Picking the Right Paper and Substrate
PDF Formats
PDF Info & Quark vs. InDesign
PODi - Digital Print Success Story
Postal Changes, Mailing Requirements & Rates
Press Check Tips
PURLs
PURL - Avoid Dog House Campaign
QR Codes
Save Disk Space
Social Media -- The Basics
Social Media vs. Print
Top File Issues
UV Burn
Ways to Save Money
What Sets Shapco Apart?
Why Print in a Down Market?
Why Work With TK?

February 2011 TK's Korner
Emerging Media Solutions - PURL's

What the heck is a PURL (pronounced Pearl)?

PURL's (Persistent Uniform Resource Locators) are Web addresses that act as permanent identifiers in the face of a dynamic and changing Web infrastructure. Instead of resolving directly to Web resources, PURL's provide a level of indirection that allows the underlying Web addresses of resources to change over time without negatively affecting systems that depend on them. This capability provides continuity of references to network resources that may migrate from machine to machine for business, social or technical reasons. PURL's with surveys fall within Response Mechanisms.

Say what?
Here's the TK scoop - No, it's not a Blackberry Mobile Phone and it's also not a component of a beautiful piece of jewelry. What it is - is the ability to create customized web landing pages for each visitor. Why should I care, you say? Because it gives you, the marketer, the ability to get the right message out to the right person and measure your marketing ROI.

Good stuff, eh?
PURL's are a great way for you to data mine, clean up your database, gain a voice of customer, find out what products or services they are interested in, how the customer would like to be marketed to, which vehicles they prefer so your marketing dollars may be spent wisely, and a whole lot more.

The content may be:

  1. A domain name pertinent to your company, campaign, product line, etc. followed by the person's name.
  2. Static
  3. Have a personal greeting
  4. Contain pre-populated contact information for them to confirm, change or add to, etc.

You can have:

  1. A Sign Up page
  2. Surveys
  3. Calculators
  4. Registration for a seminar or other events
  5. Redirect them to other micro sites
  6. Drip Campaign ie. IF THIS ANSWER=come back with the next question or, IF THIS NEED= send out this product or literature, etc.
  7. Thank You page
  8. Email Notifications
  9. Auto Reply's
  10. Streaming Video
  11. Animation or Flipbook
  12. Video Conversation
  13. Tracking

PURL's may be included in:
A direct mail / printed piece as well as in an email format. Many have found that a combination of both Direct Mail and an Email campaign gives them substantial results vs. just one or the other. Also, having a multi-touch campaign has shown that they yield significant results.

Other Response Mechanisms are:

  • GURL (General URL) Landing Page (Micro site) with Surveys
  • PURL (Personal URL) Variable Landing Pages with Surveys fall within Response Mechanisms
  • 1-800 Tracking
  • SMS (Texting) with Opt-in Keywords and Leased Short Codes

In this issue, we have covered one element within the Response Mechanism. Future issues of TK's Korner will cover the other Emerging Media Solutions as they pertain to:

Database-

  • Acquisition
  • Processing
  • Analytics
  • Consulting

Delivery Mechanisms-

  • Variable Direct Print (VDP)
  • Email
  • SMS (Texting)

Response Mechanisms-

  • GURL (General URL)
  • PURL (Personal URL)
  • 1-800 Tracking
  • SMS (Texting)

Tracking and Linking Mechanisms-

  • Redirect Pages-Web Media
  • QR Code
  • Short URL Creation

Dynamic HTML and Publishing-

  • Micro sites
  • Blogs
  • Forums
  • Documents
  • Photo Galleries
  • Web Apps

Social Media-

  • Consulting
  • Tracking
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Dashboard-

  • Tracking
  • Reporting
  • Data Access

Services-

  • Domain Name Registration
  • Short Code
  • Keyword Registration
  • QR Code Creation, Quick Response Codes, aka QR Codes
    (These can be general or personalized and are a great way to break into mobile marketing)
  • Return Mailbox
  • Media Hosting (For file downloading or streaming)

Why don't you contact me for more information on how we may assist you with your marketing efforts?

If you would like more information for your next printed project, to see some of the really cool samples I have or regarding this article, please give me a call at 612-278-1568.

Stay tuned for the next issue of TK's Korner. You just might be surprised!

Please refer back and visit often the entire library of TK's Korners where you will find information on subjects that may be of interest to you like:

BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT!

If you have a production issue not discussed above that you would like me to address, or a project that needs to be looked at, please give me a call or send me an email. I will do whatever it takes to ensure you get the best value for every marketing dollar invested.

You can also check out my profile, join my network and view more client comments on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomkubinski

Referrals are greatly appreciated, if you know someone I could help, or who might like to receive TK's Korner, please let me know.

Take care and have a great day!

Successfully,
Tom Kubinski, Printing Consultant
YOUR Eighth Wonder of the World

Printing Consultant Who Helps You Make Good Impressions

TKubinski@shapco.com
Direct: (651) 255-1225
Cell: 612-760-3700


Selected portions reprinted in Print & Media Buyer, a national magazine for the print industry. (Search for Tom Kubinski)

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