Tell me your first name and I will use it to get your attention whenever I
want to. What would you do if you heard someone scream out your name in a crowded shopping mall? Of course – you would turn around and look to see if it was someone you knew.
The truth is… there are psychological factors at play in this situation.
The same thing happens whenever you see your own name in print.
“A person’s first name is arguably the most attention getting word that you can use on any web page or printed material.”
– Skylr
That’s why Personalized URL Marketing came to be such a powerful tool in both online and offline marketing.
Think about the concept of personalization for a moment. Imagine you are receiving an email or even a card in the mail from a friend of yours. They don’t write, “Dear Friend”.
They personalize the note directly to you. They write something like “Hi Joe” or “Dear Mary”. That’s because they are familiar with you and that closeness is felt in part because they know your name and who you are.
How Does This Relate to Internet Marketing?
Have you ever heard the quote that “People buy from other people that they know, like and trust.” ? Well, it’s true and it is your job as a marketer to build relationships with the people that are on your list and let them know that you are someone to “know, like and trust”.
Using personalization is just one way to accomplish this. How else can you do it? Well, you can send thank you cards, birthday cards, hold special customer appreciation events, pick up the phone and reach out to them and so much more.
But since this article is about personalization, let me show you two ways that you can use personalized URLs in your marketing.
Use it with your Email Marketing
Imagine being able to send your entire email list to a Personalized URL? You can, by using the personalization tools inside your autoresponder program and giving your entire list their very own personalized url.
Let’s say you have a guy on your email list and his name is John Smith.
John will receive an email from you with a highly targeted message that lets John know that he can get more information by going to:
www.yourdomaingoeshere.com/John-Smith
Do you think John will be curious about why you created a web page on your website that has his name on it?
You bet he will.
Once John clicks the link, he will be taken to any page you want (landing page, video sales letter, etc.) and John will see a headline and offer that seems to be designed specifically for him and only him.
Your page is literally speaking DIRECTLY to John!
Use a Personalized URL to Increase Your Direct Mail Response
Personalized URL Marketing also works wonders with direct mail campaigns.
Imagine that you specialized in helping independent Jewelry Store Owners to get more customers. You could take a list of prospects and send them a postcard with a personalized headline and url.
Attention: John Smith – Would You Like To Know The Secret To Getting a Flood of New Customers Coming Into Your Jewelry Store?
Go to this special page I created just for you:
www.yourdomaingoeshere.com.com/John-Smith
Whatever your niche is, by adding your prospect’s name to your marketing, you are increasing the likelihood that your prospect will pay attention to your offer and take action by clicking on your links or visiting your website to get more information.
Everything we do as marketers revolves around engaging our customers, providing tremendous value and of course – making more sales because of it.
Isnʼt that what we all strive for?
* If you want to see a demo of what a Personalized URL looks like, check out: http://PurlPlugin.com
5 Comments
Ted
September 17, 2013Hi John,
Excellent article and great points made here. A personalized email in my inbox definitely has priority over a “Hey” or “Hello Friend”. It automatically makes the communication more engaging.
The examples you provided give me plenty of good ideas.
This plugin seems like a very valuable tool – Thanks for alerting us!
Ted
Geoff Todd
September 17, 2013Hi John,
That is a really good idea to incorporate personalization to webpages. Most autoresponders make it rally easy to personalize the email, but carrying that over to your own website is really cool
George Nieves
September 17, 2013Hi John, I’ve seen personal Urls before, but confess I have never thought about creating my own before like you suggest. This is definitely something I am going to look into. Thanks for sharing!
Laura Raisanen
September 25, 2013Hi John,
This is actually a brilliant idea and one I hadn’t even thought about yet! It’s like one (pretty big) step forward from using the person’s first name in an email.
Great stuff, thanks so much for sharing!
Laura
Cheryl
October 2, 2013Hi John!
Personalizing messages is definitely a must-do strategy for e-mail marketing!
Personally, whenever I see something along the lines of “Hello Friend”, I get a little defensive. I think, “You don’t know me. How am I suddenly your friend?”, and at that point, if the message hasn’t already been deleted, I skim what they sent with no enthusiasm to read it, and eventually trash it anyway. Because of this, I think that the “Hello Friend” approach may be worse than not addressing your audience at all!
That being said, I had never thought to personalize the actual webpage that you’re sending them to. That’s pure genius! 😀
Thank you so much for the helpful tips and information! ^_^
Best,
Cheryl
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