Direct Mail Resources ↓

We specialize in direct mail, not Internet Marketing, but every once and awhile we’ll come across an online service that we think is a great fit with direct mail…and so we’ll mention it here.

The service we’re mentioning today is called ClickTale.

We’re not affiliated with them in any way, but we think it’s a great tool to combine with direct mail.

The majority of direct mail sent out includes a website call-to-action…and some marketers create a landing page dedicated to that particular promotion.

Well, ClickTale is a tool that can track and record how each visitor interacts with your landing page. You can see where they clicked, where they didn’t and how far down they scroll.

It’s an inexpensive way to conduct usability tests on your website call-to-action.

If you’re going to spend the money on the printing, mailing and postage of a direct mail campaign, you might as well gather as much data as you can…and this should always include any landing pages you use.

At the time of this writing, ClickTale offers a free plan, but we don’t know how long that will last. Another website tracking tool, CrazyEgg, used to offer the same type of free plan…but then they moved to all paid.

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From time to time we’ll post about a direct mail printing related blog or website that we think you should check out.

Today’s post will be a quick blurb about a printing blog called The Print CEO Blog:

http://www.PrintCEOBlog.com

While our blog focuses more on a mix of direct mail tips and news, The Print CEO Blog is focused more on printing news.

For example, here’s a post they published recently regarding a postal update:

http://printceoblog.com/2008/07/postal-update

So we think you should check them out and subscribe to their RSS feed to keep up-to-date on industry news.

Below are some direct mail related books and websites that we feel are worth reviewing. This isn’t a comprehensive list — it’s just based on what we’ve come across. 

Also — in a future post we’ll list recommended direct mail related blogs.

Recommended Books

Pocket Guide to Digital Printing by Frank Cost

Pocket Pal: A Graphic Arts Production Handbook by International Paper

Direct Mail Pal by T.J Tedesco, Ken Boone, Terry Woods and John Leonard

Graphic Arts Encyclopedia by George A. Stevenson

Direct Marketing Rules of Thumb by Nat G. Bodian

Recommended Websites

The United State Postal Service:
http://www.usps.com

The Direct Marketing Association:
http://www.the-dma.org

DIRECT Magazine:
http://www.directmag.com

Target Marketing Magazine:
http://www.targetonline.com

DM News:
http://www.dmnews.com