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34 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Dbcbmbkb 15, 1910. 



AOVEBTISING. 



[A paper by Charles O. Youngstrand, of 

 Sprlnsrneld, O., read at a meeting of the Spring- 

 field Florists' Club, November 14, 1910.] 



Advertising, in its various forms 

 and phases, is too vast a subject to 

 discuss in the short space of an eve- 

 ning's discourse. Its ramifications are 

 80 far-reaching, when followed out, 

 that there seems to be no beginning 

 and no end to' advertising. 



When the average man thinks of 

 advertising, he thinks of newspapers 

 and magazines. These, of course, are 

 the acknowledged mediums, and in 

 most advertising campaigns, large or 

 small, they are entitled to a large per 

 cent of the appropriation. In the case 

 of newspaper or magazine advertising 

 the medium used, of course, should be 

 consistent with the goods offered — as 

 a rule, "high class goods, high class 

 papers,'" "cheap goods, cheaper pa- 

 pers." The daily press caters to all 

 classes. Some, however, have large 

 rural circulation, while others excel in 

 city circulation. All these points must 

 be taken into consideration. Then, of 

 course, there are the various trade pa- 

 pers, every subscriber of which is 

 usually, in some way or other, inter- 

 ested. The circulation of each particu- 

 lar paper has to be considered, 

 although large circulation is not always 

 a criterion. 



Advertising rates also come in for a 

 share of thought. However, the cheap- 

 est mediums are sometimes the most 

 expensive. The medium used depends, 

 of course, on whether a wholesale or 

 retail business is solicited. From 

 these sources come the inquiries — first 

 orders, trial orders, etc. 



Turning Inquiries Into Orders. 



It is rarely the case that the "di- 

 rect returns" will pay the advertising 

 bill, and right here is where some peo- 

 ple stop and say, ' ' Advertising doesn 't 

 pay." Of course it hasn't paid, for 

 at this stage we are just in the pre- 

 liminaries of the campaign. The news- 

 paper or magazine has performed its 

 function. From now on it is up to the 

 advertiser to make the most out of the 

 results of his primary expenditure. It 

 is here that further methods of pro- 

 cedure differ according to the business 

 engaged in and the class of people the 

 concern is catering to. The mail order 

 house sends out its catalogue. Busi- 

 ness houses selling merchandise of val- 

 ues involving a considerable sum, or 

 firms seeking large contracts, will prob- 

 ably send a special representative. 

 Other firms will enter into corre- 

 spondence with the prospect. To all of 

 them, however, each inquiry has cost 

 a certain sum of money and it is of 

 vital importance that the advertiser 

 bear this in mind and handle the in- 

 quiries as an asset. 



Turning inquiries into orders is one 

 of the most important points in any 

 advertising campaign. Sometimes a 

 catalogue will turn the trick, but every 

 year thousands of catalogues are laid 

 aside, only to be forgotten. Here is 

 where the clever "follow-up" is 

 brought into play and various devices 

 are used with great success. 



The Follow-up. 



All of you have, no doubt, sub- 

 scribed to leading periodicals and 

 when your subscription expired, if you 



The Araucaria is Again in High Holiday Favor. 



failed to renew, you soon found your- 

 self besieged with an avalanche of mail 

 matter. They appear to be vitally in- 

 terested in your welfare. They bring 

 before you the brilliant array of 

 writers they have engaged for the en- 

 suing year and a thousand other offers. 

 If you are so hardened that all this 

 has no effect upon you, you finally re- 

 ceive a "personal letter" from the 

 president of the company, perhaps en- 

 closing a "bond" worth $1, if you 

 subscribe; or offering you almost any- 

 thing from a cook stove to a trip to 

 Europe. They are hot after you; they 

 realize the value of every prospect and 

 want your business, because they need 

 it. This is the "follow-up." 



These same magazines sell advertis- 

 ing space. They also buy it in other 

 magazines, and they all believe in it 

 and nearly all practice what they 

 preach, as you who have had dealings 

 with them have probably learned. 

 The methods of "follow-up" are nu- 

 merous — postal cards, from the ordi- 

 nary size of which Uncle Sam is the 

 vender, to those large as a wall map — 

 when not folded up — calendars, blot- 

 ters, novelties, personal and form let- 

 ters, and sometimes samples. Every 

 device calculated to make you "sit up 

 and take notice" is brought into play. 



Personal Letters and Form Letters. 



K you use letters, by all means don't 

 forget that there are two kinds — per- 

 sonal and form. Each has its place. 

 If you really think, a personal letter is 

 necessary in any particular case, by all 

 means make it personal. What is more 

 dipgusting than to receive a so-called 

 * ' personal letter ' ' with the body of the 

 letter three shades lighter than the 

 name and address f Such are in- 

 variably destined to find a lodging 

 place in the waste basket, and your 

 stamps, prospect, time and money are 

 all lost, with no return. How much bet- 

 ter it would be in this case to simply 

 send legitimate printed matter than to 

 try to palm off a fake personal letter, 

 with all the earmarks of deception 

 staring the prospect in the face! 



Every advertiser using printed mat- 

 ter in any considerable quantity 

 should get posted on type, paper, ink, 

 the various processes of making illus- 

 trations, etc. It will bring you large 

 returns for the time expended. Good 

 paper is essential. It need not neces- 

 sarily be expensive, but should show up 

 the printed matter and illustrations to 

 the best advantage. Of course, the 

 weight is an all-important item on any 

 matter that goes through the mail, but 

 it is sometimes profitable to use a 

 better paper rather than spoil the ef- 

 fect in a vain effort to save a little 

 postage. 



The Type and Illastrations. 



Illustration plays a tremendous part 

 in modern and up-to-date advertising. 

 The day of the woodcut is past and it 

 has been almost entirely superseded by 

 the half-tone and etching. In illus- 

 trating the products of our green- 

 houses and nurseries the half-tone is 

 by far the better. It prevents exag- 

 geration, portraying the subject as it 

 actually is. We all know there is no 

 need of exaggerating the beauty of na- 

 ture, so why not use the half-tone t 



Type of various sizes is, of course, 

 used in all printed matter, but for some 

 purposes some type is more appro- 

 priate than others. An easy way to 



