The following is an excerpt from the recent DirectMarketingIQ report "PURLs for Profit: Your everything-you-need-to-know guide to personalized URLs, including: Best Practices on why they work, campaign strategy, multichannel creative, analytics, and 10 Case Studies."
The Project:
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Zions Bank had a healthy list of new customers to which it wanted to upgrade. In particular, after a customer would sign up for an account, she would go through a boarding program in which the bank would analyze all the metrics around the customer to determine what her next product most likely would be.
How did the personalized URL fit into the project? Zions Bank sent these customers a personalized URL on a mailing in order to begin the upsell process, not knowing how popular these personalized landing pages would become. And it was the first comprehensive personalized product that Zions had done.
Objectives of the PURL:
The main goal was to try and expand the number of products per household. "With existing clients, that funnel can run dry unless you have some acquisition program and involve them in a multitouch program," explains Matthew Wilcox, eBusiness Director for Zions Bancorporation.
Also, Zions sought to maintain a relevant and updated personalized landing page for the customers.
Meanwhile, Wilcox had to find a way to make several channels—direct mail, email, paid search and phone—all work together on this PURL project.
Eventually, he also hoped to build a similar program for the bank's business clients.
Target Audience:
The audience consists of Zions Bank customers who've signed up for an account. If the customer supplied an email address, the bank first sent an email. If there was no email on file, then a direct mail piece was sent. Based on the response to the piece, customers either received a follow-up email or direct mail piece. Overall, the list was split roughly 50/50 between direct mail and email.
Creative for the PURL:
A standard, white #10 envelope was used, without any teasers. Inside, a relatively tame letter greeted the customer, with engagement services listed on the side. What stood out, however, was the personalized URL, as well as variable images.




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