Radio broadcast .. (1922-30)

RADIO BROADCAST. year. The advertising appropriation should be from three to five per cent, of the expected gross sales, the average appro- priation being about four per cent, of gross sales. If, for ex- ample, gross sales are estimated as $25,000 then the advertis- ing appropriation would be about $1000. If these figures applied to a dealer operating in a small city then the charts would indicate that thirty-two per cent, or S320 should be spent in newspapers, twelve and one half per cent, or $125 in supplementary advertising, twenty-three per cent, or -8230 in direct mail, twenty-two per cent, or $220 in window dis- plays, 10.3 per cent, or $103 in billboards. From such a distri- bution of his advertising appropriation the average dealer may expect the best results. Effective advertising by a radio dealer can be expected to do five things. 1. Interest prospects in radio who have no set at present. 2. Sell new equipment to prospects whose radio is out-of-date. DISP U Direct-mall advertising is popular irith dealers op- erating In outlying sections of large cities. .'5. Bring prospects to your store. 4. Keep your name continually before your market. 5. Build good will and prestige for you as a radio dealer. There are certain mental reactions through which a prospect must be led before a sale can be consummated. First, the salesman must get the prospect's attention; second, that at- tention must be changed to interest; third, the interest must be developed into an appreciation of the value of the mer- chandise; fourth, appreciation must be carried to the point where desire is created; and fifth, that desire must be gener- ated into the action that completes the sale. Sometimes these five steps are accomplished in an instant, but more often days and even weeks of intensive salesmanship are required. The most economical form of salesmanship, the form that no modern business ever attempts to do without, is printed salesmanship—or as it is commonly called—advertis- ing. Advertising and What It Does Newspaper advertising places the dealer's selling message for a large audience at low cost per reader. It is one of the most effective means for telling a story to all types of people. Newspaper advertising can be used most economically by dealers who draw business from the entire territory in which Dealers in rural territories find newspaper advertis- ing the least effective of the five types. the newspapers circulate. When dealers draw business from only a small portion of the territory covered by a newspaper there is considerable expensive waste circulation and some other form of advertising will usually prove more economical and effective. Newspaper advertising will yield particularly large returns when the copy is of the announcement or special inducement type. Mention of special terms, service, demonstrations, etc., are necessary to bring prospects to a store in profitable num- bers. Window display advertising has a characteristic posses- sed by no other type in that it is advertising at the point of sale. A prospect sees something in the window that attracts his attention — interests him, and without undue effort he walks into the store. It has been estimated that the entire population of a town or shopping section pass the store window of a dealer located on a main street within one week. Large stores whose windows dominate the street find the merchandising display card of great value while dealers with smaller windows find the attention-getting colorful cards more effective. Billboard posters serve well as reminder advertising to those who read as they run. The poster's particular advantage lies in the portrayal of merchandise in brilliant color and in a most impressive manner. They display your message before people who do not read newspapers, and get your story across the second time to those who do. The effectiveness of poster advertising depends upon loca- tion. Two factors govern good location: its value as measured by pedestrians and vehicular traffic and its position in relation to clear visibility and readability by this traffic. Unless both factors are satisfactory to a dealer a particular location should not be accepted. Direct-mail advertising as a means of increasing business is of exceptional value in that it is the only form in which the advertising messages can be directed to specific prospects. With this form of advertising you can select definitely the prospects you want to reach with a direct-mail campaign consisting of a number of units. You are assured of getting the full cumulative value of advertising because each advertise- ment reaches the same prospect. (Concluded on page 368) • OCTOBER 1929 • 333