Chapter Eight. How to Prepare a Mail

The function of all commercial advertising is to sell. Mail order copy, unlike in­stitutional, leaves little doubt in the mind of the reader as to when it wants the sale made.

Order Now!
Send Coupon Today!
Act Now!

These are the familiar calls to action of every mail order ad.

To get this instant response, mail order people in­corporate in their copy certain basic appeals, such as van­ity, sex (love, romance), self-improvement, health, profit. There are, of course, many other appeals—as religion, se­curity, fear, or convenience—but an examination of most of the specialty mail order ads discloses that all use at least one or more of the basic appeals.

The Health Appeal

Feel Better, Stop Aching Back, Relieve Rheumatism, Don't Let Rupture Cripple You, No Need To Get Up Nights, Why Be Deaf?—these are headlines using the health appeal. Obviously the specific caption is determined by the product.

In recent years, advertisers using the health appeal have found direct mail not as profitable as publication ad­vertising. Although no studies to explain this change have been made, the opinion hazarded here is that the public has become wary of such products. In publication ads, the confidence and good will established by the publication neutralizes skepticism to some extent. Occasionally, the inclusion of reprints from publication advertising will put over a health product by direct mail; the reason, appar­ently, is faith in the reputation of the publication.

The Self-Improvement Appeal

Correspondence schools, specialized courses, publish­ers of "How To —" books, use this appeal with the familiar slogans: Become a Detective, Become a Hotel Executive, Become a Fingerprint Expert, Become a Writer, Get Into Television, Become a Linguist, Get a High School Diploma in Two Years. These slogans have been staring back at mag­azine readers for a long time. Their popularity through the years demonstrates the intense desire of people to better themselves. Observe that the appeal is not necessarily to improved earning capacity, but rather to the satisfaction of raising oneself to a higher level of work. The government clerk, turned writer as a result of taking a course, may never attain the financial security of civil service, but the gratifi­cation of being a writer may mean more to him.

The Vanity Appeal

A survey of mail order copy would probably place this appeal near the top of the list in frequency of use. Exists the short man who has not, at one time or another, been moved by temptation to be "taller than she"? Exists the woman who does not want to "look younger" or have a "slimmer figure"? Our sympathy goes to the adolescent who sends for a medication that will help him "stop be­ing ashamed of pimply skin." No one likes to be called "Baldy," or else how account for the popularity of hair-saving remedies?

The Profit Appeal

Win $50,000 Solving Easy Picture Puzzle! Extra Cash for Showing Greeting Cards to Friends, Buy Direct From Manufacturer and Save 50%. These headings incorporate the profit appeal.

Sex, Love, Romance

Now Win His Love, Romance Can Be Yours, Don't Be a Wallflower, Be More Attractive to Men. For more examples of this appeal, look at the ads of hand lotions, face soaps, cosmetics, perfumes, Hollywood movies, charm courses, marriage manuals.

Many firms vary their appeals, according to the me­dium used. A hair dye may stress vanity and romance in a women's publication, and in a men's, security (pulling the wool over the eyes of the boss who always gets rid of the workhorse at the first gray hair).

The manufacturer of a household gadget may stress profit (saving in cheaper price) and self-improvement (of­fering an agency to the buyer of the product). Height increasers, skin and hair preparations, etc. may and often do stress vanity and romance in the same advertisement. An insurance company will incorporate security (retirement), profit (savings in lower premium), and convenience (shop by mail—no fuss, no examination).

Qualities of a Good Mail Order Ad

Despite this heading, there is really no such thing as a good ad, judged merely by appearance, layout or art work. The merits are decided by pull. Unfortunately the most attractive, best prepared ad is frequently out-pulled by a so-called "inferior" one. The writer is personally familiar with several such instances.

A small but well established specialty mail order com­pany had been using the same layout and copy for about five years with good results. Finally the head of the firm grew tired of seeing the ad and the agency agreed it was time to change. A new ad was prepared. The finished prod­uct was beautiful; everyone was proud of it. The agency framed the first print and displayed it on the wall of its reception room; there were no adverse critical opinions— only congratulations. Confidence extended to scheduling substantial space without first testing. The only element of uncertainty was the size of the "greater" pull. Came Judg­ment Day and the verdict—FLOP. Imagine the chagrin of the agency at the sudden drop of the firm's bank balance! (or are agencies ever embarrassed?)

That did not end the matter—failure makes people stubborn. Countless reasons for the debacle were found— timing, slump in buying, etc. etc. To put an end to these speculations, a split-run test, using the old unit against the new, was made in a publication offering such testing facili­ties. The result was again failure for the new ad.

Even "Crude" Copy May Pull

Recently, a firm introduced a new product with a strong vanity appeal. Whether out of whimsy, sheer cussed-ness, intuition or shrewd business sense, the manager of the firm directed that layout, copy, and art be "crude."

"I want it to look as if an amateur had prepared it," he insisted. "Skip the professional touches. The reader should be 'stopped in his tracks' if only for a laugh."

"That's exactly what we'll get—laughs—not orders," cried his associates.

As usual in such cases, the one who signs the checks gets his way; the ad was prepared as directed. Results of the tests vindicated the manager, a substantial schedule was pre­pared, insertion orders went out and then—complications! A number of magazines and weekly supplements refused to take the ad.

"Undignified," they said, "bad for the publication. Give us copy in keeping with the character of the publica­tion and we'll be glad to run it. Mind you, we think the product is swell and the claims unusually mild for mail order, but the contrast between the rest of the matter in our books and this ad is too severe. Sorry."

It seemed a shame to give up so easily. After a few at­tempts, a compromise was worked out; new, high-priced, professional-looking art and copy were submitted and ac­cepted. Results? Marginal; in any case, poor enough to leave no regrets over having to omit the "choosy" media.

Pull Determines Quality

The point has been made, we think. Pull will deter­mine the quality of your ad and nothing else—experts to the contrary. Is there then no way to know in advance? Not with certainty. There are, however, some tried and tested formulae that every mail order ad should incorpo­rate. These we will discuss in theory and practice.

But first it should be stated that there are few original ideas in advertising; in fact, it is a highly imitative profes­sion. Lacking the gift of originality, are you to be blamed if your ad is modelled after a successful one, assuming the products are related? You can recognize the successful ad by repetition—generally it is the one repeated most often. Don't think this is cynicism. Look at the automobiles, at the fashions! Somebody sets the vogue and the others soon follow. In the final analysis, business is not art, literature, or music. Also, "to model after" does not mean to duplicate exactly; remember, copyright laws protect against pla­giarism.

Before undertaking the analysis of a specific ad, a point made in an earlier chapter deserves repetition. No product or service can long endure if it lacks the all-important in­gredient—mass appeal; that is, the capacity to satisfy the needs, desires or ambitions of large numbers of people. Make sure, in your own mind at least, that what you con­template selling has this quality.

An Advertisement Dissected

And now to the dissection room! The reader must re­sign himself to a running account as if outside the room, because the "corpus delicti" (the actual ad) cannot be re­produced here.

Ladies and gentlemen, we see here a beautiful adver­tisement, handsome enough to grace the pages of our swankiest fashion magazines, the kind the reader glances at and then turns to the next page, the thought never oc­curring that such an ad could conceivably lower itself to making a sales pitch. But this is a dissection room; so we will proceed to examine the parts.

First, the headline. Now where is it? Oh yes, here it is —very dignified type style, size about 14 point. Nothing wrong, except that this is a mail order ad which should cry for attention. The headline copy is all right except that the claim is considerably toned down by the size and character of the type—a sort of whispered call to action—hesitant, unsure, and by its meekness, transferring that feeling to the reader.

Now we come to the sub-caption, paragraph heads, and body copy. Very neat, clean specimens—but where is the urgency? the punch lines? Not here! Let us get down to where the free trial offer and coupon are supposed to be. Yes, we see them, but not set off—no reverses, no arrows, no special spots. The free examination offer is in small 10 point type and the coupon more suitable for a half-column than a full page. Obviously the person responsible had an inferiority complex about mail order ads. Our verdict: a defective specimen.

Essentials of a Mail Order Ad

1. The Headline. Tell what your product will do in as few words as possible. Use words such as Now, Amazing, At Last, New, Quick, Instantly, At Once, Really, Free, Why, Don't, You, Save, Price (when low) etc. Here are likely headlines for different products:

Scalp medicine:

New Formula Stops Head Itch Instantly!

or

Amazing (name of product) Stops Head Itch Instantly!

Tie-Rack:

Amazing Rack Holds up to 75 Ties!

or

98¢ Rack Holds up to 75 Ties!

Book on Home Carpentry:

It's Easy To Build a Playroom!

or

Now Anyone Can Build a Playroom!

or

Save 80% on New Bookshelves!

Home-Made Preserves:

Now Taste Mother Boles' Jellies Free!

or

My Home-Made Jams Sent Free!

Blemish Covering:

Blemishes Disappear From View Instantly!

or

Now Skin Sores Vanish Instantly!

or

Why Be Ashamed of Ugly Blemishes?

2. Sub-Caption. The function of the sub-caption, when it is used, is to expand the headline and introduce new selling points. The very small ad generally omits the sub-caption and gets right into the body copy. A sub-cap­tion for the tie-rack might read: Easy to attach, folds away, made of stainless steel. For the home-made preserves: Sent directly from the kitchen.

3. Body Copy. There are several ways of getting your sales message across in body copy. Probably the simplest is to give, in descending order, the most important sales points of the service or product. Another method is to stress certain subsidiary selling points of the item—to be set off in a box, by a bullet or some special design in the layout.

4. Testimonials. Naturally, bona fide testimonials can­ not be included until they are received. The large companies can afford to pay for them in advance and have them ready for the first ads. There is no reason why a beginner cannot give out free samples to friends and neighbors, requesting honest opinions, and when favorable, a written note. These can then be incorporated into the advertising matter.

5. Special Inducements—Free Offers. If another prod­uct is given away with the purchase of the main offering, it should appear prominently. It is worth either a decent display or none at all. Mail order ads usually conclude with such captions as:

Try (5-10-20) Days Free!
Send No Money!
Order on Approval!
Risk Nothing!
Send Coupon Today!
Purchase Price Refunded If Not Satisfied!

(Note that only the purchase price is refunded and not C.O.D. and postage charges. This is very important. FULL Refund If Not Satisfied generally includes other charges.)

6. Coupon, Coupons are usually omitted in space less than 56 lines, but there is no hard-and-fast rule. Examination of magazines will show that even units as small as 21 lines (an inch and a half) sometimes attach a coupon. On the other hand, there are successful mail order operators using large space who omit coupons. This is usually done in reading copy ads (made to simulate editorial matter); however, many magazines do not accept this type of adver­tisement.

The coupon should be in proportion to the size of the ad. A large space unit should have a good sized order coupon, leaving plenty of room for the customer to write all the information requested by the advertiser. One regu­lar mail order buyer put it this way: "When the coupon is so small that I can't squeeze in my name and address, I just don't bother, but figure there will be a similar ad further along in the magazine."

7. C.O.D. vs. Cash. Most mail order people give the customer the option of buying either C.O.D. or cash. In the former case, the customer usually pays the C.O.D. fee and postal charges upon delivery. As an inducement to send cash with the order, the customer is promised that the mer­chandise will be sent postage prepaid. There are several successful operators who sell for cash only; but it has been the experience of this writer that omitting the C.O.D. offer substantially reduces the number of orders. It is worth the extra work that C.O.D. shipping entails, and even the ex­pense of the normal percentage of C.O.D. refusals, to get the full quota of responses on a product offering the cash and C.O.D. option. Split-run tally sheets in the possession of the writer show that the difference in pull between a C.O.D. and a strictly cash offering is at least 30%. Actually the ads with the C.O.D. option produced a 15% greater net profit than the others.

The Role of the Advertising Agency

Frequently throughout the book, it has been recom­mended that the beginner who seriously intends to break into mail order should obtain the services of an advertising agency. A brief discussion of the role of the agency is now in order.

An advertising agency, sometimes referred to as the "voice of business," is an organization of men who either by experience or professional training, have the necessary "know-how" to present the client's sales message effectively to the public. Their services include writing copy or ra­dio script, preparing layout, purchasing art, selecting the media, and ordering the paraphernalia (plates, repros, mats, etc.) required to reproduce the advertising. They issue the actual insertion orders and are held accountable for pay­ment by the publishers. Unless the advertiser supplies necessary credit references or submits a certified financial state­ment, cash with order will probably be requested.

The agency charges the client only for the actual cost of the materials or services purchased from the tradesmen (typesetters, engravers, etc.) but usually adds a 15% service fee to the invoices. The bulk of the agency income comes from the 15% allowed by the various media as a commis­sion for placing the advertising. This 15% does not increase the cost of the ad, because the advertiser, placing his ad directly, would still pay the same amount that the agency bills him. Some of the large agencies require that certain minimum monthly expenditures for advertising be made, or in lieu of this, a monthly retainer fee. The beginner should have no trouble finding a good agency that will be willing to work without these stipulations, especially if the product has large sales potentialities with corresponding advertising expenditures.

How to Select a Good Agency

It is not easy, especially for a beginner, to select a good agency. The practice of giving agencies by-lines in the ads seems to have died out. Here are some suggestions:

Select a mail order ad or mailing piece that strikes you as very effective. Write to the publication or to the adver­tiser for the name of the agency. Be sure to enclose a self-addressed envelope. Even if this particular agency is not ready to serve you, it probably will suggest one more appro­priate for your needs. A trip to a local newspaper will also bring recommendations. The Standard Advertising Regis­ter (available at any newspaper office) lists most of the agencies and their accounts; however, our feeling is that if your product has merit, the right agency will eventually find you. The agencies are always looking for new business and the odds are at least fifty to one in your favor that having placed your first ad (either directly or through another agency) several solicitations for your business will reach you from other mail order agencies. Usually they send along a list of their clients and samples of advertising they prepared. You have only to compare and choose.

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