Marketing and persuasion go hand in hand—you can’t have one without the other. Marketing is all about getting people to act on your suggestion, whether it’s buying your product or signing up for your newsletter, and persuasion involves any action that gets someone to do something he or she might not otherwise do.
Successful marketers use every tool in their arsenal to increase the chance that their customers will be persuaded into taking the actions they want them to take—and that includes understanding and harnessing the power of persuasion.
What is Persuasion Marketing?
To put it simply, persuasion marketing is when you try to get your audience to take a certain action.
This could be clicking on a link, visiting your store, or buying something from you.
It’s when they are influenced by some kind of persuasive message and encouraged into taking an action through that persuasive message.
When persuading people you should always be working towards getting them on board with you, whether that is asking for their input or for them to actively do something for you.
The ultimate goal of persuasion marketing is to get your audience to act on what you want them to do.
The best way to achieve success in any type of marketing campaign, whether it’s online or offline, is through using persuasive techniques.
Here are five ways you can use these techniques effectively in your own campaigns.
- Make sure your target market is receptive to being persuaded
Whether you are promoting products, services, or ideas, you have to know who will respond well to your messaging before you start sending out messages.
If someone doesn’t think like you do then there isn’t much point in trying to persuade them otherwise.
- Be Clear About What You Want Them To Do
You need to make it as easy as possible for your audience to understand exactly what you are asking of them.
This means making sure that your call-to-action (CTA) is clear and concise so that they know exactly how to respond.
- Appeal To Emotion
People don’t buy things because they are told why they should buy them, but because they feel compelled to buy them.
Emotion drives all human behavior and if you can tap into those emotions then you will be able to persuade anyone of anything.
- Use Visual Aids
Humans process images faster than text and tend to remember images more than words alone, which makes visual aids perfect for persuasion marketing purposes.
- Tell Stories
Human beings love stories and we are hardwired to listen to them.
Telling a story allows you to connect with your audience on an emotional level, which is key for effective persuasion marketing.
Using all of these tactics together will help you create an overall cohesive strategy that enables you to create persuasive content across every channel and medium.
These are just a few of many different strategies available to you, so pick one or two at most and focus on creating really great content around them.
Using multiple strategies at once won’t help your campaign reach its full potential; instead, focus on just one or two different approaches in order to hone your skills while still achieving great results.
Why Is Persuasion Important
Without a doubt, how you persuade your target audience is one of your biggest skills as a marketer.
Some would even argue that persuasion is more important than any technical knowledge or experience you might have. So what’s all that fuss about?
Well, persuasion is at the heart of marketing. If you can’t persuade people to buy from you, then you aren’t going to make much money.
The good news is that persuasion isn’t some mystical skill that only a few people possess; it can be learned and developed by anyone who puts their mind to it.
Different Types of Persuasion That Work With The Audience You Want
People react differently to different types of persuasion.
The better you know your audience, and how they are likely to respond, you can tailor your approach accordingly.
Here are some ways you can appeal more directly to your target audience’s motivations:
- Incentives – if people will get something out of it (money, a prize, etc.) then there’s a good chance they’ll be persuaded by it.
- Authority – People will often follow authority figures without question because they trust them and think that what they say is right. • Social proof – If lots of other people are doing something, it must be worth doing too.
- Scarcity – If there’s only a limited amount available or time left to do something, then we feel like we need to act quickly or miss out on an opportunity.
- Reciprocity – If someone does us a favor or gives us something for free, we feel obliged to return their gesture with gratitude.
- Liking – We are more likely to buy from people we like and who seem trustworthy.
- Consistency – Once someone has made a public commitment to something, they will find it hard not to honor that commitment.
- Authority/Scarcity/Social Proof/Reciprocity/Liking/Consistency: These techniques work well together as they all play off each other to persuade someone else. For example, if you have a product that is endorsed by a celebrity, but also comes with a guarantee that allows customers to get their money back within 30 days, then you have used
Tips on How To Use Persuasion When Marketing Your Business
Research shows that three factors influence a consumer’s purchasing decision – positive, social, and negative experiences.
These recall cues determine whether or not you have persuaded consumers to choose your product over a competitor’s.
To convince consumers, you have to play on their needs and emotions. In today’s consumer market, people buy products based on facts but also emotion.
When you’re marketing your business, getting people on board means understanding how they think and more importantly, how they react.
Not everyone is easy to persuade but there are a few steps you can take to ensure that your efforts are as effective as possible. Here are some tips for using persuasion when marketing your business.
- Think about what makes your product different from others available in the marketplace. If you can’t explain why someone should choose your product over another one, then they won’t! So try to understand what makes yours unique and focus on those differences when selling it. What makes it better? Is it made locally? Does it last longer? Can it be personalized? Is it organic? Whatever advantage you have will help make up customers’ minds; don’t underestimate its power!
- Speak directly to your audience’s wants and needs. You know what you’re selling, so use that knowledge to speak directly to your audience’s wants and needs by talking about them in terms of solutions instead of features.
- Use testimonials from previous clients/customers whenever possible. Testimonials are an excellent way to persuade potential buyers because they provide real proof (as opposed to claims) that you deliver results for others just like them!
- Be honest with yourself and your customers. Honesty is always best when persuading someone to purchase something from you. Don’t lie about your products – if you do, word will get out quickly and no one will want to do business with you anymore.
- Try appealing to values rather than self-interests whenever possible.
Conclusion
While marketing is definitely a game, it’s not meant to be played like one.
Every interaction with a customer counts, and anything that can make those interactions better for your audience will serve you well over time.
When in doubt about how best to approach a sale or communication, consider what your customers would want—or what they’re expecting—and work hard to give it to them.
Always be respectful and treat your customers as you would expect them to treat you.