For the purpose of demonstration, let's assume you have a



company called JONDO COMPANY, your name is JOHN DOE, and you



market publications by PRINTCO and PUB-GUYS. You decide to run



ads for different products in three publications and teaser ads



for your catalogs in two others, one for each publisher's



catalog. Coding the latter two is easy.





For simplicity, where you put the name and address of the



company when offering Printco's catalog, mark the name as PC



JONDO, ADDRESS, ZIP CODE. When the envelope arrives and no



indication is given of what was requested, you can tell at a



glance what was requested.





Now Printco and Pub-Guys sound and look alike, so for the second



ad, mark it JONDO-PG. If you're advertising the same catalog in



three different magazines, use different codes for each to see



which one gives you the best response, for example JONDO-PG,



JOHN DOE PG AND P.G. JOHN. You can easily separate them as you



receive them.





The permutations are endless: P.G. DOE, P. DOE, G. DOE, DPG,



JPG, JDPG, and if that's not enough, code the address, perhaps



BOX 99, DEPT. PG, BOX 99-PG, BOX 99 DESK PG, BOX PG-99, and so



on.





The person ordering wants to be sure you get his request and



almost always faithfully reproduces whatever is listed as the



correct address right down to the last comma. You can never run



out of ways to code. PG is the obvious code for PUB-GUYS, but



you could use an arbitrary number code chosen by you and in



fact, number codes are invaluable codes for making dates on the



ads, to see how many trickle-in orders you get long after the ad



stops running, and what months and season are most productive



for selling your products.





Date coding involves using numbers in sequence to indicate



magazine issue number, sequence number, or date published.





This coding is virtually essential in later campaigns. Once



you've got a fair-sized mailing list, it will be far easier to



use advertising codes to indicate their interests than to keep a



complete ledger of every person and what they purchased. It



also makes computer entry a snap, especially with a good filing



program.





One thing that scares people about coding is receiving checks or



money orders coded like the ads. People become somewhat afraid



that they won't be able to deposit them because their account is



registered to JONDO, not JDPG or whatever. Have no fear. Your



company will be registered to your mailing address. By showing



the clerk a copy of the advertisement with the address, there



will be little doubt as to who should rightfully receive the



money, and your checks or money orders will clear like



clockwork. If by chance you do encounter a bank that won't



accommodate this requirement, bank somewhere else where they



understand the workings of mail marketers.

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