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The probability is that the ad has resulted from many traced comparisons. It is therefore the best advertising, not theoretical. It will not deceive you. The lessons it teaches are principles which wise men apply to all advertising.
Mail order advertising is always set in small type. It is usually set
in smaller type than ordinary print. That economy of space is
universal. So it proves conclusively that larger type does not pay.
Remember that when you double your space by doubling the size of your type. The ad may still be profitable. But traced returns have
proved that you paying a double price for sales. In mail order
advertising there is no waste space. Every line is utilized. Borders are rarely used. Remember that when you are tempted to leave valuable space unoccupied.
In mail order advertising there is no palaver. There is no boasting,
save of super-service. There is no useless talk. There is no attempt at entertainment. There is nothing to amuse. Mail order advertising
usually contains a coupon. That is there to cut out as a reminder of
something the reader has decided to do.
Mail order advertisers know that readers forget. They are reading
a magazine of interest. They may be absorbed in a story. A large
percentage of people who read an ad and decide to act will forget that decision in five minutes. The mail order advertisers that waste by tests, and he does not propose to accept it. So he inserts that
reminder to be cut out, and it turns when the reader is ready to act.
In mail order advertising the pictures are always to the point.
They are salesmen in themselves. They earn space they occupy. The size is gauged by their importance. The picture of a dress one is trying to sell may occupy much space. Less important things get
smaller spaces. Pictures in ordinary advertising may teach little. They probably result in whims.
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