SEPTEMBER
8, 1923
THE
l\1USIC
TRADE
5
REVIEW
Making Direct Advertising Profitable
The First of a Series of Seven Articles Covering Every Side of the Music Merchants' Direct Publicity by
Robert E. Ramsey-The Necessity of Continuity and Persistency in Planning Campaigns- -Testing
Its Effectiveness- --The Amount of Expenditure to Expend in Such Campaigns
Three-thousand-dollar increase in g ross sa le s
for May over Maya year ago . June s howin g
a 65 per ce nt in cr eas e over Jun e a year ago .
In the se two sente nces you have th e res ul ts of
a s ucc ess ful d irec t advert is in g campa ig n by a
Middl e Wes t music d ealer. These wer e ac hieved
by a total of onl y four mailin gs in Nl,;ty-for
in sta nce, three cards and one fo lder-and a t a n
ave ra ge cost p er mailing of a bout $35.
" But ho w did h e do it? \Vhat is the ' sec ret
of suc h phehom enal re s ult s?" yo u inquire.
There is nothing startlin g a bout it and noth
in g s trange, except its per s~s ten ce and cont inu
ity, is the frank co nfe ssion of th e man who
plann ed and produced th e campaign.
The different piec es u se d were of the sim
p les t poss ible form-Go ve rn ment postal cards.
Th ey w e re printed in one co lor, with a very
small amou nt of good "copy" (as the profes
s ional adve rti si ng man ter ms th e words in an
adver t isement) and a simple series of pertinent
pictures. In the se two wo rds, "pe rsist ence"
and "contin uit y," you ha ve th e secre t of a ll s uc
cess ful retail direct advertising. B ut t he two
words presuppose a plan. And a pla n call s for
proper exec ution .
"How do I plan my dir ect advertising?" is
th e inquiry of the music dea ler.
Ask Yourself These Questions
B us inesses differ, of course ; localities are not
identical as to inhabita nts, e n viron me nt or com
petiti o n, but, from my lifetime in a nd with the
ret ailin g of merch a ndi se, products and service ,
I have found ask in g one's self a few sea rchin g
questions is the fir st step in p la nnin g.
As for example: Ho w many pro spec ts have
I? How often (pe r y ear, or pe r seas on, or per
week, month or qu ar ter) s ho uld I reac h them
to giv e an effec t of pers is ten ce and continuity'
H ow much can I a fford to in vest in direct ad"
vert is ing p er prospect per yea r, season, week,
month or quarter, as the case may b e? These
que s ti ons a nsw er ed we can ask so me more
speci fi c ones as set fo r th in t hi s table:
Aim?
What is to be th e aim of m y d irec t adv er
tising? Sal es? I nquiries? Good-wi ll ? Supple
mentary to other adverti s in g- s uch as n ews pa
pe.rs, or posters? Supplem ent ary, in some li nes,
to calls of deliverymen' who tak e orders? Pre
ceding the call of a ny salesman?
Appeal?
How will the sales story be put up so as to
make th e s tronges t app ea l to my prospects?
Will it b e throu g h words (copy) ? Or ill us tra- '
tions? Or heavy type di spla y? Or unu s ual pa
per used for the m ai lin g ? Or a combina ti o n of
one o r mor e of these factors?
Time of Advertising?
Will my dir ect ad ve rtisin g be mail ed a t some
specific time? Such as hour? (That is, to ar
rive on afternoon deliverymen, or th e morning
one?) Or certain day in week? Or month?
Season? Or some such event as bir t hday, an
niversary, or the like?
How Will It Be Made Individual in Its Appeal?
How to mak e an a ppeal wh ich is ne cessarily
dupli ca ted in so m e manner appea r as perso nal
as possible? Will · it be done throu gh use of
a fi lled-in lett er ? Or throu g h appeals to ce rt ain
sex? Or other personal ch aracteristics, s uch as
weight, height, corpulency and th e like?
This Letter Brought 662-3 Per Cent Results
Now, let's apply a few of ou r prin cip les of
planning. An establishment wanted to brin g
cu stomers to th eir pla ce of bu s in ess -" goo d
will," but it wanted to mak e " sa les" at th e sa me
time.
Its custom ers were most ly me n, and
largely men of the executiv e typ e. It had b ee'n
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R abat V Ramsey, author of this serirs of :=
arli c l ~.·, is "I'idety kno "'n as 011e of the 111ust
(lulh 01'itative 7.I::l' itcrs on this sub/ed. He
has lectured on thi.· in the ttnivl!'nif iN of
NeLv Yor/I, Chicago, Missouri and Toledo ,
he i~' the autho'r of t'i.~O of the best books
dealing w·ith the subject, he is edilO1' of
" Poslag e," Ihe d·irecl advertising magazine,
and he is past president of the Direc t Ma·il
Adve1'lising Associa!ion.- EDIToR.
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usi n g n ewspape r s for publicit y a nd it want"ed
'i ts dir ect adve rti sing to mak e a s tr ikin g ap
peaL The first two paragraphs of a three or
four-para g raph le tt e r show h ow it was done by
this lllu s ic dea le r:
"The enclosed certificate was engraved for
us in the 1..' nit ed S tat es D epartillent of Pr intin g
and Engravi ng.
"'VVe want yo u to test Ollr store service. 'v" l:
want yo u to 'test it out' at o ur expense. For
thi s pur pose we are enclo s in g, without obl iga
tion to YO ll, th e rea l doll a r bill. "
Did it pay? Though on ly 1,500 of the se let
ters were m ai led mor e than 1,000-·-retUl· ;' s ex
ceed in g 662-3 per cen t-came to the store an d
spe nt th e do ll a r sent th cm an d many tho usa nd s
of do llars more ! The le tter was fill ed in w ith
the name and ad dr ess ot Lh e pros pe ct a nd,
though nlult ig raphcd, iL appeared as if a t ype
writt en on e.
How Much to Spend on Direct Advertis ing
Had this ad ve rtis er ~ topp ed th ere, ha d he not
contin ued to use newspapers and dir ect a d ve r
ti sin g, t hi s lett e r would 110t have been e ntire ly
su ccessful. Th ere per sis ten ce and co ntinuit y of
appea l s pell ed success .
Thi s brin gs us to th e s um to be inves ted In
dir ect adve rti sin g. Quite natura ll y thi s per ce nt
age va ri es throughout the cou ntr y, an d no gen
e ra l ru le can be laid down, but it is a fac t that
succe ssf ul retailers in sta ple lines who in ves t
3 per cent of th ei r tota l gross sa les in a ll forms
of direct a dvert is in g in turn inves t 25 per cent
of this 3 p er cent in direct advertising. In
ot h er fields we know of appropriations for di
re ct advertisin g w hi ch call for a s hi g h as 1 per
ce nt of th e gross sa les .
Your problem is to sell a product o r service
or eq ui pmen t that la s ts a long ti me and is,
th erefo r e, boug ht comparati ve ly se ld om. One
estab li sh ment fac in g this problem fo un d it cou ld
build its complete direct a dvertising campaig n
around a com para tiv ely in expensive souve nir.
It th en prepared a se rie s of lett e rs, offerin g
th is souven ir to th ose who would call for it. It
want ed "inquiries" an d so made the offe r to all
possible prosp ec ts and then followed up tho se
prospects who app li ed for the souvenir. Ba nk
ers, w ealt hy rea l esta te men, promine nt hom e
owners we nt ou t of th ei r way to get this so uve
nir offered for th e ask ing, p rovided th ey went
for it, who would pro babl y have paid lit t le or
no attention to it had it been se nt to them with
out a r eq uest.
Mailing Li·s t Produced 26 Per Cent Inqui ries
The p ers iste ncy an d con tinu it y are modi fie d
by the bu s in("ss, of course.•\ seaso na ble pro du ct
might b e mor e in demand a certain part o f the
yea r and th e campa ign would need to be more
continuous at th at tim e. If y ou wish to pus ll a
produ ct with a' year -round demand, for examp le,
plan yo ur dir ect advertis in g campaign for Cl:r
ta in t im es of th e yea r, when th ere will be less
chance of con fli ct with som e co mp et ing art icle
')r se rvice .
Yo u wou ld hard ly ca ll a life in s lIra nce sales
man a retailer, but h e is a retaile r in effec t, a nd
o ne with a service in demand the year round .
Moreover, every a di.dt is a prospec t! A spec ifi c
exa mpl e along thi s line wi ll be indi ca tive of
what a ny dealer can do. TI e lives in a Mic hi gan
town . Did h e sit and wa it for customers Lo
com e to him? H e did not. Did he try to see
everyo n e? H e di d not. He made u p a li s t of
all his pros pe cts a nd to th ese he sen t a seri es
of thr ee le tt ers, get tin g app rox imately 10 pe r
cent r eturn s from the fir s t letter, n ot quit e 8
pe r cen t from the second a nd s lightl y in excess
of 8 per ee nt from t he third, or a total of 26
oer cent inquiries from th e complete li s t.
Follow Them Until They Try, Buy or Die
Those who face t he problem of too big a pros
pec t list take a bit of this Michigan m a n's ex
perienc e and app ly it. L et direc t adve rtis in g
cull out th e most int erested first and th en con
centrate upo n that comparative ly small li s t.
In conclusion, planning of dir ec t a dvert is in g
may be s ummed up in a se nten ce : K eep before
yo ur mind's eye th a t you want someo n e to do
some on e th ing. Th e n, taki ng th e advice of
th e esta blish me nt sellin g a p rodu ct with an a l
1l10st univer sa l appea l- fo llow them until th ey
try, buy or die.
Clip th e tab le of questions quoted h er ein.
C he ck up a ny new dire ct advertising with th em,
p lan future campaig n$ by them. If yo u hav en't
time to follow all th e detail s yo ur self you, un
doubted ly, have some local producer, at leas t
a pri nter, who can h elp yo u follow the p la n
laid o ut.
Spas modi c ma ilin gs a r e us ually s pasmodic in
their res ult s and not to be r elied upon; p lan
fo r pers is ten cy a nd cont inuit y -that is the se
cret of sllccess ful r eta il direct advert isin g.
Deal ers a re prone to make fa ces at the mail
order houses of Ch icago a nd e lse \\·here. The
se cr et of th eir success is their pe rsiste ncy a nd
c.ont inu it y. Fred P. Mann, of Devi l's Lake,
N. D.; Ga rv er Bros., of St ra ssbu r g, 0., an d a
,.. hol e host o f large a nd smail r etailers in cities,
towns a nd vi llages have turn ed the lau gh of th e
m ammot h mail order houses-by direct a d ver
ti s in g-- plan ned for 'pe rsistency an d contin uit y
of appeal !
POETIC PRAISE FOR HARDMAN
Ten-year-old Girl Praises the Instrument in
Rh yme
'J.'he poem be low is an origi na l rh yme, com
posed by ten -yea r- o ld ~~ ut h Myer-, of Bay V il
l;1ge, 0., a nd was SC llt unso li cit ed to th e )Jew
York office of I-Jardl11an, Peck & Co. t hi s w ee k
hy th e child' s au nt. )Vliss H uld a Sch nur man. The
la tt er is a music teac he r w ho has u sed a H ard
man up ri ght in her s tudio for eig htel:n years.
T he b i: of verse is in te res tin g in th at it is a
,; ponta ne o us tr ibu te of a child to th e Hardmctn
piano.
The Hardman
I like to hea r th e Hardman p la y;
It plays in s lI ch a soot hin g way;
It s tone is ri ch a nd soft a nd pure,
.\ nd for the blu es it's one s ur e cure.
Y ou must not on the lJ ard man po und,
For it will make a terrible so und.
nut if you p lay it soft a nd low
To b eat th e t o ne yo u' ve far to go.
RUTH CLAJ R" MYERS.
The R Ull dberg iVfu sic Sto re, O?;den, Iowa, has
lilo ve d 10 ,WI\ qu ar ters in th e Clark Il uildi ng in
th is cit y.