Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1919-10-30
HOW TO MAKE YOUR ADvER-
TISING PAY REAL DIVIDENDS.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR ADvER-
TISING PAY REAL DIVIDENDS.
(By Frank E. Fehlman, before the
Associated Advertising Clubs of the
World, at New Orleans.)
There are four simple things which
will guide any retailer in improving
his merchandise:
1. Know the merchandise.
2. Know the customer.
8. Know every medium in the town
which can be used for advertising.
a. Understand the Importance of
short. terse. but very specific adver-
tising copy. OF course this is the hard
est thing in this quartette of funda-
mentals.
The way to study merchandise is to
start with a wholesaler or his sales
man, who sells you your goods. Be
fore he leaves town he should be made
to dictate complete description of
the merchandise you are buying,
which can in turn be given to your
salespeople on the arrival of the mer-
chandise and discussed by them in de-
tail.
More than one store with which 1
have been connected has used this
method and our competitors always
wondered why our statesmen. while
paid no higher money, could give
such splendid descriptions of the mer-
chandisa they were selling.
1t was because we made the manu-
facturer tell us the whole story of the
merchandise, the raw product, how it
was assembled, where the costs were
reduced, how the shipping facilities
were better. and how the final arrival
of the merchandise in our store was
really an event because the merchan-
disc could give our customers better
style, more comfort, better wearing
service, lower price, etc.
You will do we'll if you find five
good local advertisements written by
local dealers, even in the metropolitan
papers.
Millions of dollars have been en-
ployed in advertising retail stores,
which might we'll have been saved and
put into better store fronts, larger
salaries or higher rents, and would
thus have returned twice as much in
net t,revenue.
! The newspapers of the United
States. are helping retailers more to-
day than they ever did before by hay-
ing service men who can write good
advertisements, and who know how
to pick out the real story of store,
but the best advertising in the world
is that which is done by the store
own la'aase!f CT an employee whom
he trains to express the personality
of the store itself.
The second essential is to know
your customer If you are advertis-
ing to millmen, railroad men, or
farmers, talk service, wearing quail
ties and the adaptability of your mer-
chandise to the lives of these c:...s-
toners.
In choosing advertising mediums,
dealers in some towns use moving
pictures, ard do great deal of di-
rect-by mail, but the best is conceded
to be the newspaper if the newspaper
is in any way representative.
Some merchants have used bill
boards, and spent over half their ap-
p.'opriation. The thing to do is tc
study your own local market-knoM
your merchandise, know your Gus
toners, and then plan to use medi-
ulns that will get you the quickest re-
suits at the lowest possible cost.
Sometimes you have to experiment
for two or three years before you car
finally pick cut one thing which de
livers the greatest net returns for tho
least amount Of money invested.
In general, we find that the news
papers are the backbone of any ad
vertisirg campaign.
There ere certain positions in
newspaper which are better for yo,
and it is up to you to find out wher
these positions are. In small tow
(under 5G00 or even up to 25,00O
your advertising pulls better il it i
on the page which carries local news
know one dealer who pays prem
ium of fifty per cent for a certai
position on the local page for a perio
of eight years. He has proved con
clusively the value of this space. AT
ter you have picked out the variou
mediums you expect to use, appor
ton certain amount for one ycal
J If it is $500. stick to your $500. |
you expect to have special PROPOSE
tions, lay aside $1OO for that purpose
but never exceed that amount. TIL
mere fact that you have an arbitrar
figure set the first of the year, make
you q better buyer of space, and NOR
exacting in checking up your returns
After you have studied your med
um, you are ready to prepare you
copy. The psychologist has given u
a great many things well worth cor
sidering in preparing copy. One Q
the first things is that an averag
parSon oap rood limo of throo +