Effective Business Advertising Lessons

"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. Trouble is, I don't know which half."

effective business advertising
George Clay
Do you know which of your ads are pulling the most business?
John Wanamaker--- an advertising and merchandising genius --- struggled with this same problem.
Effective Business Advertising:  America's First Superstoreeffective business advertising
In 1876 --- a full century before Wal-Mart or internet advertising --- he created the first Superstore in America.
Calling it "the largest space in the world devoted to retail selling on a single floor", he focused on high volume and low costs.
Indeed, before Wanamaker invented the "price tag", most buying was done by haggling!
Realizing the power of effective business advertising on consumers, Wanamaker wrote many of the ads himself...filling them with conversational language that discussed the bargains of the day.

effective business advertising

Honest Advertising (but effective business advertising!)

He was a man of integrity and insisted his ads be honest, with absolutely no stretching of the truth.
He used money back guarantees...fixed pricing (no haggling----ever!)...and in January 1878 launched the first ever White Sale.
Although he was the first retailer to place a full page newspaper ad (1879), he advertised outdoors on billboards and on specialty items such as pencils and balloons.
His message got through.
By 1881 his flagship store in Philadelphia had almost three acres of selling space on one floor, 46 departments and more than 2000 employees!

Newspaper Advertising

But newspaper advertising was where Wanamaker poured on his business advertising.effective business advertising
He used bold, consecutive full-page ads which were like news items themselves.

So dominant and unprecedented was this method of advertising that it became known as the "Wanamaker Style" of advertising.

The style was copied by other retailers...and played a major role in the rapid rise of independent city daily newspapers.
Whether your advertising is online or print, there's lots to learn from Old John.
But his quip "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. I just don't know which half" is perhaps the most valuable lesson.
Heed his words.
Then read Scientific Advertising.
After only a few chapters, you'll have a leg up testing which ads are working...and which ones are wasting your money.
direct marketing made simple
David Oglivy

Effective Business Advertising Made Simple In This Classic Direct Response Marketing Book

reader comments...

  • "Nobody, at any level, should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times." - David Ogilvy
  • "If Claude Hopkins was alive today, he would absolutely dominate internet marketing."                                           - Lance Jepsen, Author of: Internet Marketing:Profits That Lie Hidden In Your Website

 Beneficial For Anyone In Marketing Or Sales

  • "This will be a beneficial read for anyone in marketing or sales. Even though this book was written 90+ years ago, most of the principles discussed are still relevant today." ...The Book Reviewer
  • "Considered the father of modern advertising techniques, Hopkins believed advertising should be measurable and justify the results it produced. In SCIENTIFIC ADVERTISING he explains precisely how to do that, and the principles he discovered and documented are as true today as when they were first written." Travis McAshan, web designer & search marketing consultant.
  • "If you're serious about learning about marketing that really works, get this book."...MarkAtwood.com
      • "This book is a must read if you're serious about advertising...These methods work. They always have. They always will."  Ian Lurie, in Internet Marketing.