The first part of any attempt at persuasion is the figure out what to say and assemble the necessary facts and evidence to support this claim. This includes the positioning, the strategic approach, and the evidence.
In the advertising/marketing world, this approach has been widely used by marketers for many years. Webinars and books have continually emphasized the importance of positioning, identifying the unique selling proposition, and other attempts to improve the content of the message.
However, the content of your message is just one of three critical components to persuading your target audience. The other two elements – the credibility of the speaker and the involvement of the audience – are just as important.
The second element of persuasion is the credibility of the speaker. What is the credibility of your message? Is your target market predisposed to believe that what you tell them is true? Or are they skeptical? With all the attention paid to finding the proper positioning and the right strategy for the message, by comparison, relatively little time and energy is spent in trying to gauge the credibility of the message among consumers.
When it comes to communicating with your target market, “what” we hear is not necessarily what they say. Much of what we “hear” is based upon our assessment about the credibility of the speaker. The same exact message delivered by two different speakers will have different levels of persuasiveness, depending on their credibility. As a result, marketers need to serious consider this when thinking about the credibility of their brand.
The third element of persuasion is the involvement of the audience. When you deliver your message, does the audience get emotionally charged and involved with what you’re saying? In order to persuade your target market, you must touch them personally.
Another way to get your target market involved is to know their motivations and desires. Does your product or service represent a want, a need, or a have-to-have? This relates directly to the purchase process and identifying at what stage the customer is at.
In summary, effective marketers always ensure that their message is relevant to the needs and wants of their target market, which are inline with their motivations.
Write a 5 Star Review»