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Secrets And Top-Tips Of Mail Order Advertising
Author: DeAnna Spencer
Good Advertising creates more production, thus greater
consumption, faster turnover and lower sales price per
unit. To a great extent it determines the success or
failure of the mail order operator! When working up an advertising program remember that what
is genuinely desirable to you may or may not appeal to the
majority of your prospects! Different types of merchandise or services demand
completely different advertising media. Your ad must be
built around the ADVANTAGES of the product and designed to
APPEAL to the specific customers who will BENEFIT from
your offer! Since you MUST spend advertising dollars in order to make
money in the mailorder business be sure you spend WISELY
and with CONFIDENCE. RETAIN all advertising information, brochures, sales
letter, catalog, etc., you receive. USE THE IDEAS from
this information as a guide in formulating your various
advertising programs! There are thousands of top mail order products to choose
from, more than you can every use so choose the right ones
for your programs! If the product or service can't stand the Truth do not
advertise it...Don't handle it! Truth in advertising is a
must!
Your FIRM NAME, preferable, should be SHORT, DESCRIPTIVE
AND EASY TO REMEMBER! When you find the item that is a mail order "HIT", repeat
your ads on the product in a number of magazines and other
productive advertising media in order to PYRAMID YOUR
PROFITS TO THE MAXIMUM! Advertising cost divided by inquiries = Ad cost per
inquiry!
Advertising cost divided by orders = Ad cost per order!
Orders received divided by readership = percent of
response!
Number of pieces mailed + by orders received = Percent of
return! Continuously use the simple formulas (above) so you will
know who your advertising dollars are paying off! Ad to find new Products:
"Calling all manufacturers, importers and suppliers ... We
will feature and sell your new products in our catalog ...
Send your information, sample products and programs
to.....!" Test the position of your ads in the various Media! Test one ad against another on the same offer! Make your sales letters friendly, clear, simple and to the
point! Your potential customers are more interested in themselves
than in your product, consequently your ads and sales
letter must be directed toward their point of view and
their self-interests! Make them want your product because
it will benefit them or will do the job better for them! Powerful attention getting words include: Free, Amazing,
Weird, Odd, Strong, Rare, Big, Secret, Latest, Easy,
Fortune, Now, New, How-to! You must put yourself in the place of your prospects and
know how they feel, think and react to your ads! If "you"
were the customer would your ads persuade "you" to buy? Your Ad must have a strong headline! It must tell the
prospect what to do, such as: Order Now! Rush $5.00! Use
order form and reply envelope! Act Now! Action words
that urge the prospect to order. Explain with simple
words JUST WHAT THEY WILL RECEIVE FOR THEIR MONEY! What
the product will do for them. Use believable
testimonials. Appeal to their reason and get their
confidence, then use a powerful close. You can get the
order! Repetition is one of the secrets of making a lasting
impression on the memory. Use coupons in some of your ads! Since Suspense is a strong force in advertising, consider
entering the name of your product toward the end of your
ad! Most everyone wants prestige, confidence, money, security,
advancement, leisure time, good health, popularity, less
worry, happiness, success, more time, recognition,
improvement, business ownership, independence, more
knowledge, satisfaction, savings ... Appeal to your
prospects... use such appeals in your ads! Quality, usefulness, reasonable price, up-to-date, and
appealing to the sight are points to stress! Make no misleading claims about your products. Review the many ads presented in leading mail order sales
magazines advertisers. Make note of the many attention
getting words and phrases that catch your eye and cause
you to read the rest of the ad! Use these same words in
your own headlines! With certain type products, consider turning the picture
in your display ad upside down in order to attract
attention from the ordinary ... If handled properly,
curiosity will sell! Study the operation of other firms to get New Ideas for
sales letters, methods of handling promotion, nature of
offers and any other details which may be helpful! Some programs require a good deal of literature in order
to present all the facts necessary to sell a product!
With this type of product you should first advertise for
inquiries then send the full ammunition by direct mail.
Write up a list of important reasons why a person should
inquire about your offer. Use the strongest of these
reasons in your ad! If you usually pay cash for your ads, why not set up your
own advertising agency as a secondary part of your
business? Your registered business name as an advertising
agency may qualify your business for the 15% discount when
advertising in many publications! Direct Mail, mailing lists, not ads, are used to obtain
business. You determine what type of person would best
buy your product; then compile, rent or buy name lists and
proceed from there. Lists compiled from business listings in the Yellow Pages
are good for many kinds of mailorder products; however the
names and addresses contained in the white pages seldom
get any reasonable response. Ads in the daily paper are
also generally poor for mail order products. Stay with
the successful operators and advertise in the various
media they use ... stick with quality name lists in the
right category for your products! Unless your ad is read you will come out in the red! Make
it clean, clear, concise, simple, professional and focused
to the "right market" for the type of product being
offered! Always test! test! test! before spending large sums to
promote or advertise your product ... Be sure it is a hit
then go all out! Your ad must name the product, describe it, tell what it
will do for the reader, how he can obtain it, and where to
get it! The best part of your advertisement is the words that can
be read "between the lines"! The direct mail packet consists of the sales letter,
catalog, or brochure, order blank and the business reply
envelope. The ad must attract attention and create interest and
desire before the customer will act! Know your product well so that you can be specific,
sincere and positive in writing your ads!
Enthusiastic ads properly laid out will generally get
enthusiastic results! It is simple to record test results for your ads and
programs in the various media. DO IT! If your product has distinctive features or trademarks,
use them over and over again in all your ads ... Take
advantage of the repeat psychology of keeping the name of
your product constantly out in front of the Public Eye!
If your product is familiar to the user, prove that it has
better quality or price over competing items. Educate the
consumer when presenting brand new items. Prospects are usually more impressed by what others have
to say about the product than by what the dealer tells
them. Write to your customers, asking for their opinion
on what your program or product has done for them and
request permission to use their endorsement in some of
your ads. Retain their letters as your authority for
using their testimony. Classified ads must have a great deal of thought and
preparation! Use as few words as you can, but don't leave
out image building words that tell stories, paint pictures
and compel action! One way to increase the readership of your ad is by
inviting persons to send in money saving ideas. Print the
best idea each week, or month, and award the winner $$$
... They will read the ad in each issue in order to find
out if they won and if not to see if the winners ideas are
better than the ones they submitted! Many products can be readily adapted to radio & TV
selling. This can be arranged whereby you pay the station
a percentage of only what is sold. There are publications
available which explain how to present such offers to the
stations and lists of stations that supposedly operate on
this basis. You can locate such firms by a search at your
local library or through salesmen and opportunity
magazines....However; this method for selling mail order
products is not readily available on a flexible basis,
unless you have something really special. You must be in a position to change your advertising
approach with changing times and conditions.
The First Paragraph of a sales letter must create
attention and interest or the entire message will go to
file 13! The Second part, or body, of the letter must arouse desire
by pointing out the advantages and describing the product,
preferably in use, or in action and should state the
price...or the entire message will wind up in file 13! The Final Portion of your letter should strongly urge the
prospect to act and tell him how to order or the entire
message will go to file "13"! You don't have near the space for your message with
classified and small display ads, as you do with the sales
letter so unless they are well presented they may make a
faster trip down the tube to file 13! Always use TOP QUALITY letterheads, mailing materials and
supplies...This is your BUSINESS IMAGE in mailorder! It could be good policy to place your ads through a
legitimate advertising agency...It costs no more than if
you place your own. Before doing business, get full
information about the agency, its services and rates. Since you must get your message across in top form, in
order to pull inquiries and get orders, the ideal ad made
just for the particular item being for sale is another
great secret for mail order profits....Many times just one
little word will change a dead ad to one that pulls
thousands of orders! Since you do not have a "window display" to use for
mailorder advertising you must either draw pictures or use
picture words to describe your product. Prepare
advertising copy so that your prospects can "visualize the
product" in their mind and "see" themselves using it to
good advantage. The headline of your ad must be powerful enough to catch
immediate attention. Use words that emphasize your product or service at the
beginning or end of sentences!
Another gimmick for obtaining name lists for nothing...An
ad such as..."?BIG MAIL? Send 200 of your address labels
and 50 cents. We will send to mailorder dealers,
wholesalers, distributors, etc....!"
"Before and After" type ads get great response on certain
products. Test and compare with different worded ads on the same
type of merchandise in the same media. When advertising make your most important points first! When you find a new product that has possibilities for
mailorder, test it! Prepare an ad for a quick test in a
magazine or in a paper with a fast closing date (time from
date ad is received to date it is published). As your
test prove out "HIT" that particular item hard and heavy
in other publications! Test various price levels for the same product. Qualify your prospects with proper classified ads. Get the prospects confidence by offering free samples, by
allowing a full money-back guarantee, by building your
business image without exaggeration, and by showing proof
of satisfied users. Use the P.S. in sales letters to gain added attention! When using an illustration or picture of your product in
an ad, have one that shows the product in use! Picture
the merchandise in use giving the owner profit or pleasure
thus generating a positive, confident "YES" attitude.
Remember that a picture will often sell better than 10,000
words. Command attention to your ads or mailing pieces by
marginal sketches, cartoons, different size and type
styles of various words and/or paragraphs...Take the
monotony out of the ad! Consider greater pulling power of colored ads on many
kinds of products. Test for added response and sales, as
balanced against the much higher printing costs for color!
The use of borders, lines, etc., can enhance your ads but
be certain they are not placed in such a way that they
detract from your message. Type is expressed by "points". For example, one point
equals 1/72 of an inch. A pica is 1/6 of an inch. Learn
the various type styles and sizes. Use the right print in
your ads to emphasize the best features of your product. Don't bore the reader; Keep the sakes letter to one page
whenever possible. Offer something extra or something free in order to get
immediate action! Test only one factor at a time in order to determine which
"change" made the difference in the number of responses
received from your ad! By the end of the first month after receipt of the first
response from your ad you should receive 60% of the return
you are going to get from monthly magazines, 75% from
weekly newspapers, 75% from direct mail, 80% from Sunday
newspapers, 90% from daily papers and 100% from Radio or
TV! Within 2 weeks...From magazines 20%; Weekly magazines
40%; Direct mail and Sunday papers 60%; Daily papers 75%
and Radio and TV 90%. DON'T DEPEND ON SUCH
STATISTICS!!!!! Response can vary drastically depending
on many factors, including products offered, media used,
season, price, economy, etc.!!!! Your ad should be
repeated again and again, as long as it is bringing back a
profit....After the saturation point is reached, pull the
ad. Test it again in a few months. The classified ad is
the best to use for testing. For fast results, newspapers
can be tested periodically. Magazines with the greatest
number of responses for the least cost per inquiry should
have priority for your ads. Only tests can prove which
are the best ads and media for ...
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