PURLs, QRURLs, and the GURLs
November 21, 2014   Dave Lewis

PURLs, QRURLs, and the GURLs What they’re talking about at the multi-channel beauty parlor

Ah... technical jargon. With the possible exception of getting a new pocket protector, there’s nothing we enjoy more on the SnailWorks campus. We think nothing of appending a PURL to your digital assets and hosting them on your web and mobile landing pages – Heck, we do it everyday! But, we do it everyday so you don’t have to, so we thought we’d share a little glossary of terms so we can all speak the same language when we’re talking about multi-channel marketing. URL - Uniform Resource Locator. This is the address of pages on the World Wide Web. Our favorite URL: www.SnailWorks.com PURL – Personal URL. This is a specialized URL directing a prospect to a web page personalized for them. This allows for prepopulating the web page and tracking which prospects have visited the page. These are often constructed of the prospect’s name, and a domain name specific to the offer. A typical PURL would be DaveLewis.HailTheSnail.com. QRURL – QR Code URL. We pronounce this “curl” around the SnailWorks campus. This is closely related to a PURL, but is a personalized URL set up specifically for encoding of a QR code unique to the recipient. A long URL can make for a big QR code, so we like to keep them as short as possible. A QRURL may also direct a responder specifically to a mobile version of a landing page, so it generally looks a little different than the PURL, and a little less easy-to-type since the prospect doesn’t need to type it – it’s embedded in the QR code. GURL – General URL. Pretty much every PURL has a GURL. A GURL is a URL specific to an offer, but not personalized to an individual. A good GURL is easy to remember, and is relevant to a campaign. For the PURL example above – DaveLewis.HailTheSnail.com , the GURL is www.HailTheSnail.com . QR Code – Quick Response Code. A QR Code is a 2-dimensional barcode designed to be scanned and decoded by smart phones equipped with a camera and the right app. While many things can be coded in the QR Code, such as contact information and phone numbers, the most popular use in direct marketing is to contain a URL – personal or general. The size or density of a QR Code varies with the amount of data in it, so we generally try to keep it as data-light as possible. The general appearance of a QR Code is: Some marketers try to pretty QR Codes up by integrating them into a logo or other graphic. We consider this “lipstick on a pig” at SnailWorks. A QR Code is designed to be recognized and scanned by a prospect, so we tend not to want to hide it. Landing Page. Landing pages are web sites that are specific to an offer. When someone responds to an offer it can be confusing to send them to your home page to hunt down the one thing you are trying to offer, so a landing page is designed to showcase that offer. It may be designed to emulate the look of your home page, or it may be designed to match the branding and creative of the direct marketing mail or email piece that got them there. Generally, the URL of the landing page will be different than the URL of your home page. For SnailWorks our home page is www.SnailWorks.com. Two landing pages being offered for different campaigns SnailWorks currently has running are: www.HailTheSnail.com and www.MailMeetsPURL.com (Of course these are the GURLs – the original campaigns had PURLs.) Mobile and Web Landing Pages. To expand on the landing page concept a little, a landing page may be optimized for web or for mobile. A landing page that is optimized for the web can hold a lot of information and graphics, as well as some effects such as Flash elements. Mobile landing pages are not so flexible – they also need to be optimized to fit in a smart phone screen without having to scroll side to side. Generally the print on a mobile page will be bigger to, to be readable on a mobile device. HTML – Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML is the computer language behind how things appear in most emails and landing pages. Artists create art; HTML turns it into web pages and emails. Background colors, links, radio buttons, check boxes, information boxes to fill in – they’re all in the HTML. Typically an HTML programmer will take a client’s art images and data gathering requirements and assemble them into an email or a web page. Many HTML programmers also have some graphic arts skills. Some clients give art to SnailWorks already in an HTML format. This allows them to control exactly what it looks like. Others send images, and SnailWorks HTML programmers assemble the pages. Digital Assets. This is our wonky way of saying digital art images. Digital assets are generally referring to art files such as PDF files, Adobe Illustrator files, EPS files, JPEGs and other similar formats. These are the assets that an HTML programmer will hammer together into a web page, landing page, or email. SaaS – Software as a Service. This is a concept where complicated software is maintained on a central server that you can access via the web. The great thing about SaaS is that you don’t need to install software locally, and it can be kept updated at the central source. Most Email service providers (ESPs), and PURL providers use this approach – you go to their sites and put together your project without any human intervention. The bad thing is that lack of human intervention. These programs are generally difficult to learn, or are made easy enough for a non-tech person to use but are limited in scope. Generally, the greater the flexibility and capability of the service, the harder it is to learn and operate. SW-SaaS – SnailWorks Service as a Service. THIS is the SnailWorks business model. WE learn our software, and make it work for our customers. We take your digital assets and turn them into coordinated marketing campaigns that make direct marketing work. No training required on your part! We believe Service as a Service is the business model for the next century. So, there you go... some definitions to help navigate the world of multi-channel jargon. Of course we speak simple English at SnailWorks, too. Let us wear the pocket-protectors – you just worry about building your response.

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