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Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

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Jamie_Barclay
Level 5

Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

I'm wondering if a PURL is like a vanity URL?  We have a print-based camapign that we want to bring to a Marketo landing page.  So I need a (vanity) url to include in the postcard.  Would a PURL be used?

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SanfordWhiteman
Level 10 - Community Moderator

Re: Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

Yes, pURLs are lead-specific variants of a landing page.  They are expressly for situations like direct mail or print.

However, they have a few oddities that can only be fixed with custom JS code. Principally, they are designed for leads who have never visited your site before, even anonymously.  As I usually put it, the pURL is a "weak associator" to the named Marketo lead -- weaker than the association between a Munchkin session and an anonymous Marketo lead. So it can't override the latter out-of-the-box.

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SanfordWhiteman
Level 10 - Community Moderator

Re: Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

Yes, pURLs are lead-specific variants of a landing page.  They are expressly for situations like direct mail or print.

However, they have a few oddities that can only be fixed with custom JS code. Principally, they are designed for leads who have never visited your site before, even anonymously.  As I usually put it, the pURL is a "weak associator" to the named Marketo lead -- weaker than the association between a Munchkin session and an anonymous Marketo lead. So it can't override the latter out-of-the-box.

Jamie_Barclay
Level 5

Re: Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

Thank you for the clarification. 

Question: we generate our vanity URLs internally (i.e., campaign@blueshieldca.com).  I'm looking for a recommendation of creating vanity URLs for marketo landing pages.

SanfordWhiteman
Level 10 - Community Moderator

Re: Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

campaign@blueshield.ca is an email address.

I don't understand the connection to vanity URLs (http://lp.example.com/page/{user id}).

Dan_Stevens_
Level 10 - Champion Alumni

Re: Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

Vanity URLs can be created by creating a new "redirect rule" in ADMIN > LANDING PAGES > RULES

Jamie_Barclay
Level 5

Re: Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

Thanks Dan - I'll look into this - seems logical.

Dan_Stevens_
Level 10 - Champion Alumni

Re: Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

It's also worth pointing out that if the desire is to use PURLs to provide a personalized experience on the landing page, that can only be done if the user's browser has a Munchkin cookie associated to him/her.  See this thread for more info: Undesired behavior when using Personalized URLs PURLs

SanfordWhiteman
Level 10 - Community Moderator

Re: Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

... that can only be done if the user's browser has a Munchkin cookie associated to him/her...

Or if they have no cookie at all. That's the hitch. Either an already-associated session, or no session (neither anonymous nor associated) at the time they request the pURL.

Dan_Stevens_
Level 10 - Champion Alumni

Re: Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

Can you elaborate, Sandy?  In all of our tests, if the lead didn't have a cookie on their browser, none of the personalization features (e.g., tokens) were accessible.

SanfordWhiteman
Level 10 - Community Moderator

Re: Is a PURL like a vanity URL?

Open an Incognito/Private window and visit this link.