Help for Haiti and other local organizations

It has been two weeks since a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, and staggering numbers have mounted. The numbers tell stories of death and destruction… But there has been a global outpouring of aid.

Below is a link to a list of charities (via Chicago Public Radio) where you can donate to help with the Haiti earthquake relief efforts.
Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort

Feel like giving closer to home? Give the below charities that ZGraphics supports a look.
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
Dystonia Medical Research Foundation
Elgin Community Crisis Center
Evan’s Life Foundation
Girl Scouts of America
Immanuel Lutheran Church and School
k9 Connection
March of Dimes Chicago Division
The Marrow Foundation/Be The Match Foundation
McHenry County PADS
National Fire Safety Council, Inc.
One Small Voice Foundation
St. Baldrick’s Foundation
Shop With a Cop/East Dundee Police Dept.
Special Olympics – Illinois
Susan G. Komen Chicagoland Race for the Cure
Westminster Christian School

Happy Giving! And Thanks!

pURL talk

pURLs are an easy way for the customer to start a conversation. The value comes from continuing the conversation. Many look at the pURLs as the end of the process, instead of the beginning of the process.

Once understanding that a pURL is the beginning, that means the marketer has to plan for steps 2, 3, 4, 5 to continue the conversation and thus build a relationship, that could turn into a long term customer. Given the cost of customer acquisition and retention, it only is reasonable to get a fix on long term customer value, instead of the quick hit.

A successful direct marketing campaign isn’t about pURLs.

It starts with the direct mail piece (or e-mail) featuring the pURL. If you have a weak campaign creative, a poor offer, bad data, a bad call-to-action, the wrong audience, the wrong timing, or a combination of any of these factors, it’s ultimately going to determine who responds to the campaign.

A pURL is a tactic of a campaign and should not be the bases for a campaign.

A solid marketing strategy is the foundation for a successful marketing campaign. Let the strategy dictate the tactics. There’s no better feeling than an off the chart response rate on a pURL campaign and there’s no worse feeling than a horrible response rate, the difference is strategy…marketing is not a commodity.

One secret sauce of the pURL is described as ”self-qualifying.” Given the time and expense that it usually takes to qualify a lead, doing that with a technology, instead of salesperson’s time makes sense.

ROI, when taken as a conversion rate, isn’t the best metric. If a marketer has a cost for a qualified lead, that might turn out to make the case in a much more effective way. If in addition, you are getting a picture of the right “pain point” so that you have a way to craft the right message to the right person at the right time, then the pURL can be seen as intelligence gathering.