Writing Persuasive Messages

1. Using the 3 step writing process for persuasive messages
--- persuasion: an attempt to change an audience’s attitudes, beliefs, or actions
- Step 1: Planning a Persuasive Messages
--- failing to clarify your purpose is a common mistake
- Analyzing the Situation
--- knowing the audiences demographics (age, gender, occupation, income, and education) and psychographics (personality, attitudes, and lifestyles)
--- must be aligned with the audience’s motivations
--- can influence he need, action, and outcome
- Gathering information
--- gather info necessary to create a compelling message
- Selecting the right medium
--- may use multi medias to reach entire audience
- Organizing your information
--- include only the information needed to help your audience take the next step toward a favorable decision
--- if ready to hear your proposal, use direct approach
--- direct or indirect: influenced by your authority, enterprise, and power in the organization
- Step 2: Writing a Persuasive Message
--- use the “you” attitude to try and change the negative message
---encourage by using (1) positive and polite language (2) understanding cultural differences (3) be sensitive to organizational culture (4) take steps to establish credibility
- Step 3: Completing a persuasive message
--- judge your arguments when evaluation and do not overestimate credibility
--- meticulous proofreading

For business communications, this is a site for concentrating on the important points:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5043/effective_persuasive_messages_for_business.html

2. Developing Persuasive Business Messages
--- your success will always depend on your ability to craft persuasive messages
- Structuring for persuasive business messages
--- persuading is more effective that forcing as people think they made a decision themselves
- Structuring Persuasive Business Messages
--- Use the AIDA model: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
--- AIDA model is ideal for indirect approach, however it has limitations and needs to be motified for social media
- Balancing Emotional and Logical Appeals
--- to find balance, factors (1) the actions you hope to motivate (2) your reader’s expectations (3) the degree of resistance (4) how far empowered you feel to sell your point of view
--- emotional appeals: attempt to connect with the reader’s feelings or sympathies
--- logical appeals: are based on the reader’s notions of reason; and can include analogy, induction, and deduction
---logical flaws: include hasty generalizations, circular reasoning, attacks on opponents, oversimplification, false assumptions of cause and effect, and faulty illogical support
- Reinforcing your Position
--- choose words carefully and use abstractions to enhance emotional content
--- highlight direct and indirect benefits of complying with your request
- Anticipating Objections
--- Present both sides of an issue when you expect to encounter strong resistance
--- Powerful persuasive messages can encounter strong resistance
- Common examples of persuasive business messages
--- many opportunities to write persuasive messages including business reports and memos, websites, and letters requesting adjustments
- Persuasive requests for Action
--- explain why the request is reasonable
--- sometimes just to encourage people to try a new idea
- Persuasive Presentations of Ideas
--- asking your audience to reexamine their options or assumptions or to adapt to a new way of thinking
- Persuasive claims and requests for adjustments
--- if a routine claim or request is unsuccessful, may need to craft a more persuasive message to explain why you deserve a more satisfactory response

3. Developing Marketing and Sales Messages
--- marketing and sales messages can use the same techniques as persuasive messages
--- marketing messages: urge potential buyers through purchasing process w/o asking for an immediate decision
---sales messages: makes a specific request for people to purchase a specific product or service
- Assessing Audience Needs
--- purchasing decisions often involve more than the basic product or service
--- begin by assessing audience needs, interests, and emotional concerns as for any other business
- Analyzing your competition
--- most marketing and sales messages have to compete for the audience’s attention
--- avoid themes, writing styles, and creative approaches that are similar
- Determining key selling points and benefits
--- selling points=> focus on the product
--- benefits=> focus on the user
--- prioritize the items you plan to discuss
- Anticipating Purchasing Objectives
--- crucial to effective marketing and sales messages
--- price can be a tricky issue- be from a position of prominence
- Applying AIDA of a similar model
--- getting attention: use a variety of messages in marketing and sales messages including: your product’s strongest feature, a piece of genuine news, an appeal to the reader’s emotions, a promise of savings, or a solution to a problem
---building interest: expand on and support the promises in your attention- getting opening
---increasing desire: add details and benefits to increase desire for the product or service. Avoid being so enthusiastic that you lose credibility. Provide support for your claims
--- Motivation Action: after generation interest and desire=>time to persuade readers to the preferred action
- Writing persuasive Messages for social media
--- conversation marketing: companies initiate and facilitate conversations in a networked community of customers, journalists, and bloggers.
--- social commerce: involves the use of social media in buying and selling and customer support
--- requires a more conversational approach: facilitate community building to initiate and respond to conversations in the community, identify and support you champions, don’t rely on news media, and use the AIDA model at the right time and right place
- Maintaining high standards of ethics, legal compliance, and etiquette
--- stealth marketing: customers do not know they are being catered to
--- marketing and sales messages are covered by a variety of regulations. Including:
------ must be truthful and non-deceptive
------ must back up claims with evidence
------ considered binding contracts in many states
------ do not use a person’s name, picture, or identification without permission
--- high ethical standards is a key aspect a good communication
--- Communication technology can help you be sensitive to audience needs