Cyclopedia of Commerce, Accountancy, Business Administration, v. 01 (of 10)American School of Correspondence
General
Cyclopedia of Commerce, Accountancy, Business Administration, v. 01 (of 10)
American School of Correspondence
Accounting; Business; Commerce
The advertiser who advertises for direct inquiries or orders, usually
finds it necessary to revise his schedule monthly, basing each schedule
on previous results. That he may act intelligently, he must have
an exact record of past results. A convenient form for the monthly
schedule is shown in Fig. 13, which is printed on a sheet punched for
filing in a loose-leaf binder.
Previous results from each publication on each class of goods is shown
in respect to inquires, amount of sales, and cost of the advertising.
In the three columns at the right of the space for each ad, cost of
each, and total cost are shown.
Separate sheets are used for popular magazines, trade papers, and
newspapers. When copy has been sent, the sheets are placed in a
loose-leaf binder, the full schedule for each month being in one place
where it can be readily referred to.
=Orders for Insertion.= When an agency is employed, the agency usually
sends copy and orders for insertion to the publisher; though some
advertisers prefer to send copy direct, leaving the agency to send
orders for insertion. It usually happens, too, that some orders are
sent direct instead of through the agency. One large advertiser follows
the practice of sending orders direct to those publishers who do not
allow agency commissions, all others going through the agency.
If orders are to be sent direct, a special advertising order blank
should be provided. This order should specify to the last detail the
conditions of the order. A blank, which is self-explanatory, is shown
in Fig. 14. The order is made in duplicate and the copy is filed under
the name of the publication.
=Checking Returns.= A necessity to the advertising department is an
efficient system of checking and recording returns from advertising.
Without a checking system on which he can depend, the advertising
manager is spending his employer's money blindly--he does not know what
he is getting for it.
The first requirement in devising a system is a method of _keying_ ads,
that inquiries or orders may be identified and credited to the proper
mediums. Keying systems there are without number--to describe all of
them would require a book the size of this one--but those most commonly
used are adaptations in one form or another, of the idea of changing
the address.
[Illustration: Fig. 15. Card Used for a Record of Inquiries from a
Given Publication]
One of the oldest methods is to use a department number or letter in
the address, changing the number in each publication in which the ad
appears--the address in one would be _Dept. A_; in another, _Dept.
B_. This method is used successfully by some advertisers, but it has
its objections. Most people realize that no concern is so large that
an inquiry will not reach the proper department. If, for example, an
inquiry in response to a beef extract ad, addressed to Swift & Co.,
failed to reach the beef extract department, it would indicate a very
lax system of handling correspondence.
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