Writing Persuasive Messages

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1 Apply the three-step writing process to persuasive messages.

2 Describe an effective strategy for developing persuasive
business messages.
3 Identify the three most common categories of persuasive
business messages.
4 Describe an effective strategy for developing marketing and
sales messages, explain how to modify this approach for social
media, and identify steps you can take to avoid ethical lapses in
marketing and sales messages.
 The three-step writing process to persuasive
messages.
Whether you’re convincing your boss to open a new office in Europe or
encouraging potential customers to try your products, you’ll use many of the
same techniques of persuasion— the attempt to change an audience’s
attitudes, beliefs, or actions.
• Step 1: Planning Persuasive Messages
In today’s information-saturated business environment, having a great idea or a
great product is no longer enough. Every day, untold numbers of good ideas go
unnoticed and good products go unsold simply because the messages meant to
promote them aren’t compelling enough to be heard above the competitive
noise.
Analyzing the Situation
In defining your purpose, make sure you’re clear about what you really hope to
achieve. The best persuasive messages are closely connected to your audience’s
desires and interests . To understand and categorize audience needs, you can
refer to specific information, such as demographics and other quantifiable
characteristics of the people you’re trying to persuade) and psychographics.
 • Gathering Information

Once your situation analysis is complete, you need to gather the information
necessary to create a compelling persuasive message.

• Selecting the Right Medium

Media choices are always important, of course, but these decisions are
particularly sensitive with persuasive messages because such messages are
often unexpected or even unwelcome. For instance, some people don’t mind
promotional email messages for products they’re interested in; others resent
every piece of commercial email they receive.
 Organizing Your Information

• The nature of persuasion is to convince people to change their attitudes,

beliefs, or actions, so most persuasive messages use the indirect
approach.
• That means you’ll want to explain your reasons and build interest before
asking for a decision or for action or perhaps even before revealing your
purpose.
• However, in some instances, such as when you have a close relationship
with your audience and the message is welcome or at least neutral, the
direct approach can be effective.
 • Step 2: Writing Persuasive Messages
Encourage a positive response to your persuasive messages by (1) using
positive and polite language, (2) understanding and respecting cultural
differences, (3) being sensitive to organizational cultures, and (4) taking steps
to establish your credibility.
• Step 3: Completing Persuasive Messages
The pros know from experience that details can make or break a persuasive
message, so they’re careful not to skimp on this part of the writing process.
For instance, advertisers may have a dozen or more people review a message
before it’s released to the public.
 Developing Persuasive Business Messages

Your success as a businessperson is closely tied to your ability to

encourage others to accept new ideas, change old habits, or act on your
recommendations. Unless your career takes you into marketing and
sales, most of your persuasive messages will consist of persuasive
business messages, which are those designed to elicit a preferred
response in a nonsales situation.
Within the context of the three-step process, effective persuasion
involves four essential strategies: framing your arguments, balancing
emotional and logical appeals, reinforcing your position, and anticipating
objections.
Common Examples of
Persuasive Business Messages
• Persuasive Requests for Action : Most persuasive
business messages involve a request for action.
• Persuasive Presentation of Ideas : Sometimes the
objective of persuasive messages is simply to
encourage people to consider a new idea
• Persuasive Claims and Requests for Adjustments :
• Framing Your Arguments
Many persuasive messages follow some variation of the indirect approach. One
of the most commonly used variations is called the AIDA model, which organizes
your message into four phases: ■ Attention. ■ Interest. ■ Desire. ■ Action.
• Balancing Emotional and Logical Appeals
Few persuasive appeals are purely logical or purely emotional, and a key skill is
finding the right balance for each message. An emotional appeal calls on feelings
or audience sympathies. For instance, you can make use of the emotion inspired
by words such as freedom, success, prestige, compassion, free, and comfort.

A logical appeal uses one of three types of reasoning: Analogy, Induction,

Deduction.
• Reinforcing Your Position
After you’ve worked out the basic elements of your argument, step
back and look for ways to bolster the strength of your position.
Next, examine your language. In addition to examining individual word
choices, consider using metaphors and other figures of speech. Beyond
specific words and phrases, look for other factors that can reinforce
your position.
When you’re asking for something, your audience members will find it
easier to grant your request if they stand to benefit from it as well.
 Anticipating Objections
 Even compelling ideas and exciting projects can encounter objections, if
only as a consequence of people’s natural tendency to resist chance.
Anticipate likely objections and address them before your audience can
bring them up.
 If you expect a hostile audience that is biased against your plan, be sure to
present all sides of the situation. As you cover each option, explain the
pros and cons.
 You’ll gain additional credibility if you mention these options before
presenting your recommendation or decision.
 If you can, involve your audience in the design of the solution; people are
more likely to support ideas they help create.
 Avoiding Common Mistakes in Persuasive Communication

When you believe in a concept or project you are promoting, it’s easy to
get caught up in your own confidence and enthusiasm and thereby fail
to see things from the audience’s perspective. When putting together
persuasive arguments, avoid these common mistakes
• Using a hard sell.
• Relying solely on great arguments.
• Resisting compromise.
• Assuming that persuasion is a one-shot effort.
 The three most common categories of persuasive business messages.
Throughout your career, you’ll have numerous opportunities to write persuasive
messages within your organization for example, when suggesting more efficient
operating procedures, asking for cooperation from other departments, pitching
investors on a new business idea, or requesting adjustments that go beyond a
supplier’s contractual obligations.
• Persuasive Requests for Action
The bulk of your persuasive business messages will involve requests for action. In
some cases, your request will be anticipated, so the direct approach is fine. In
others, you’ll need to introduce your intention indirectly, and the AIDA model or
a similar approach is ideal for this purpose
 • Persuasive Presentation of Ideas
You may encounter situations in which you simply want to change attitudes or
beliefs about a particular topic, without asking the audience to decide or do
anything at least not yet. The goal of your first message might be nothing
more than convincing your audience to re-examine long-held opinions or to
admit the possibility of new ways of thinking.
• Persuasive Claims and Requests for Adjustments
The key ingredients of a good persuasive claim are a complete and specific
review of the facts and a confident and positive tone based on your right to
be satisfied with every trans- action. Begin persuasive claims by outlining the
problem and continue by reviewing what has been done about it so far, if
anything.
Let’s Practice :
 Persuasive Requests for Action
 Persuasive Presentation of Ideas
 Persuasive Claims and Requests for
Adjustments
 Believe they haven’t received a fair deal by following normal
procedures. These situations require a more persuasive message.
 The key ingredients of a good persuasive claim are a complete and
specific review of the facts and a confident and positive tone based
on your right to be satisfied with every transaction. The recipient
might be juggling numerous claims and other demands on his or her
attention, so be clear, calm, and complete when presenting
 Use these tips to make every persuasive message more effective. If
you are using your case. Be specific about how you would like to see
the situation resolved.
 Next, give your reader a good reason for granting your claim. Show
how the individual or organization is responsible for the problem,
and appeal to your reader’s sense of fair play, goodwill, or moral
responsibility.
 Developing Marketing and Sales Messages

Although the terms marketing message and sales message are

often used interchangeably, there is an important difference:
Marketing messages usher potential buyers through the purchasing
process without asking them to make an immediate decision.
Sales messages take over at that point, encouraging potential buyers to
make a purchase decision then and there. Marketing messages focus on
such tasks as introducing new brands to the public and encouraging
customers to visit websites for more information, whereas sales messages
make an explicit request for people to buy a specific product or service.
 Planning Marketing and Sales Messages
Everything you’ve learned about planning messages applies in general to marketing and sales messages, but
the planning steps for these messages have some particular aspects to consider as well:
Assessing audience needs.
Analyzing your competition.
Determining key selling points and benefits.
Anticipating purchase objections.
Writing Conventional Marketing and Sales Messages
Conventional marketing and sales messages are often prepared using the AIDA model or some variation of it.
Here are the key points of using the AIDA model for these messages:
Getting the reader’s attention.
Building interest.
Increasing desire.
Motivating action.
 Writing Promotional Messages for Social Media
The AIDA model and similar approaches have been successful with
marketing and sales messages for decades, but in the social media
landscape. Consequently, your emphasis should shift to encouraging and
participating in online conversations. Follow these guidelines:
1. Facilitate community building.
2. Listen at least as much as you talk.
3. Initiate and respond to conversations within the community.
4. Provide information people want.
5. Identify and support your champions.
6. Be real.
7. Integrate conventional marketing and sales strategies at the right time and in the right
places.
 Maintaining High Ethical and Legal Standards
The word persuasion has negative connotations for some people, especially in a marketing
or sales context. However, effective businesspeople view persuasion as a positive force, a
way to align their own interests with what is best for their audiences.
All marketers need to understand these basic legal aspects of promotional
communication:

• Marketing and sales messages must be truthful and nondeceptive.

• You must back up your claims with evidence.
• “Bait and switch” advertising is illegal.
• Marketing messages and websites aimed at children are subject to special rules.
• Marketing and sales messages are considered binding contracts in many states.
• In most cases, you can’t use a person’s name, photograph, or other identity without per-
mission.
1. Apply the three-step writing process to persuasive messages.
2. Identify the three most common categories of persuasive business
messages.