In the era of modern advertising media surround us constantly. This leads into a phenomenon called stimulus habituation. The consumer “becomes desensitized” to advertising messages and stops to react intensively to them. Meanwhile, the battle for consumer attention is becoming an increasingly difficult challenge. The skillful use of persuasion tools and NLP techniques comes to the rescue. They make our communication more effective and make it easier for the consumer to make a (proper) choice.
What is persuasion and NLP?
Persuasion is nothing more than exerting influence. It often happens in a discreet and indirect way. NLP, on the other hand, refers to the techniques and methods of neurolinguistic programming. Today they are eagerly used, for example among others in negotiations, political discourse and personal development. As well as in the world of advertising and marketing. They are based on universal knowledge of language (linguistics), neurological processes and behavioral diagrams. More or less veiled persuasion is here to intensively influence the feelings of consumers, shape their attitude towards a given product or service, and finally – motivate them to make defined purchasing decisions.
It’s worth mentioning that persuasion has nothing to do with manipulation. It is not intended to harm anyone, but only to positively strengthen the power of persuasion in effective product marketing communication. Persuasion is for advertising what salt and pepper are for a dish. Above all, It does not replace the taste, but only sharpens it and make complete.
How does it look in practice?
It must be said that a certain knowledge of the rules governing human nature make some useful advantage here. Suggestive advertising should deliberately refer to specific emotions and associations of the recipient. Firstly, we can use a respect for an authority, that is an expert in a given field as a “lever” factor. Secondly, admiration for a well-known person, nostalgia, aspirations, love, dreams etc. It can also gently “target” some lack or a deficit within the recipient, while offering him an effective solution to the problem. Contrary to appearances, messages of this type have a huge “impact” and it is impossible to deny its great sales effectiveness.
Examples of persuasive communication in marketing
- Supporting the message with numbers, e.g. “98% of consumers recommend …”
- Employing popular celebrities in advertisements, making them brand ambassadors. This process gives people a substitute for prestige by choosing a specific product.
- Creating a challenge and presenting a ready-made solution. “Freckles and discoloration on your face? Try our cream, get beautiful and smooth skin! “
- Addressing the widespread female perfectionism of a beauty.
- Using a sense of being ‘someone like me’ as a sales lever factor. In practice, the representation of natural faces and silhouettes in advertising.
Hypnotic power of persuasion
To have a real impact on the consumer’s motivation, we need his attention and commitment. Nowadays, a record number of stimuli is fighting for the consumer’s attention in the real and virtual world. How to make them interested in our offer from among hundreds of others? You need to start with a definition of detailed specification the target group of the potential client. On this basis, we build a persona and adapt the message to it, skillfully using, among others:
- visual-aural (and even … aromatic) “bubble”
- attention-anchoring phrases and keywords
- specific metaphors
- storytelling
- image management methods (e.g. the figure of a professional)
- perception management techniques
- social evidence (e.g. “bestseller”)
- logical arguments and the language of benefits
- call to action – see, buy, click!
Persuasion is the key to effective content and actions
It happens sometimes, that persuasive communication in advertising is met with a certain degree of distrust. It is caused by references to universal, deep-seated tendencies, preferences, mechanisms and… stereotypes. However, the truth is that each of us tries to somehow gently influence others by getting them to act in certain ways. It comes naturally and instinctively. Remember that consumer awareness is constantly growing and the creators of advertising messages must constantly take care of the quality and matching of content to diverse target groups. This requires having your finger on the pulse of dynamically changing trends all the time.
