Bcom ch. 10

In marketing and sales messages, what is the primary difference between selling points and benefits?

Selling points focus on the product rather than the user.

AIDA stands for

attention, interest, desire, action.

When you're writing promotional messages for social media, use ________ to initiate and facilitate discussions in your networked community.

conversation marketing

Persuasive messages often follow a specialized four-phase format called the

AIDA model.

Briefly explain the difference between selling points and benefits, and then give an example of each.

Selling points are the most attractive features of an idea or product. Benefits are the particular advantages that readers will realize from those features. The fact that a mobile phone comes with a Bluetooth headset is a selling point, but the convenience the buyer will enjoy because of the headset is a benefit.

An effective ending for a persuasive message would be:

Simply take the enclosed coupon to any of our service centers by June 15 for your free oil and filter change.

Addressing alternative positions in a persuasive message

enhances your credibility and can strengthen your argument.

The desire phase of a conventional marketing or sales message should

expand on your explanation of how the product or service will benefit them.

An ethical persuasive argument

focuses on being both truthful and nondeceptive.

With regards to persuasive messages in social media, the AIDA approach is limited because it

focuses on one-time events.

If price is one of your strong selling points, you should

give the price a place of prominence in the message.

Using simple language in persuasive messages

helps avoid suspicions of fantastic claims and emotional manipulation.

In marketing and sales messages, the best way to handle potential objections is to

identify them up front and try to address as many as you can.

When you're composing a persuasive message, all of the following except ________ are common mistakes that you need to avoid.

promoting compromise

The purpose of the interest section of a persuasive message is to

prompt the audience to imagine how the solution might benefit them.

If you're marketing a new security system to an audience of wealthy professionals, the consumer benefit you would most want to emphasize is

protection of the consumer's property.

Circular reasoning is a logical fallacy that involves

trying to support a claim by restating it in different words.

When using the AIDA approach to persuasion, the closing should

urge the audience to take the action you are requesting.

When writing a persuasive letter for claims or adjustments, you should

use a confident and positive tone.

If you can't be sure which medium will be best to convey your persuasive message to a diverse audience, you should

use two or more media at the same time.

All of the following except ________ will help to boost a company's marketing efforts on social media.

using a "we talk, you listen" approach

When you're writing a persuasive message, you can encourage a positive response by

understanding and respecting cultural differences.

Describe each of the four phases of the AIDA model for persuasive messages.

(1) Attention: Make your audience want to hear about your idea. Find some common ground on which to build your case. (2) Interest: Explain the relevance of your message to your audience. (3) Desire: Make readers want to change by explaining how the change will benefit them. Answer in advance questions that your audience might have, and back up your claims with relevant evidence. (4) Action: Ask your audience to take the specific action you suggest.

Describe at least five strategies for establishing credibility when preparing persuasive messages.

(1) Use simple language. Your audience is likely to be cautious, watching for fantastic claims, insupportable descriptions, and emotional manipulation. (2) Support your message with facts. The more specific and relevant your evidence, the better. (3) Identify your sources. Tell your audience where your information comes from and who agrees with you. (4) Be an expert. Know your subject area thoroughly. (5) Establish common ground—help your audience identify with you by appealing to shared beliefs, attitudes, and background experiences. (6) Be objective. Your ability to acknowledge all sides of an issue will help you present fair and logical arguments. (7) Display your good intentions. Your willingness to keep your audience's best interests at heart will help you create ethical persuasive messages.

Most persuasive messages combine

logical and emotional factors.

Using simple language in persuasive messages usually increases your credibility with a skeptical audience.

True

When using the AIDA approach to persuasion, which of the following would be the best opening to your message?

Are you spending way too much on prescription drugs?

Which of the following uses a deductive approach to persuasion?

Because the stock market has been falling lately, share prices of our company stock will probably also decline.

________ information includes age, gender, occupation, income, and education.

Demographic

In preparing to write persuasive messages, what two categories of information are vital to understanding the needs of your audience?

Demographics (the age, gender, occupation, income, education, and other quantifiable characteristics of your audience) are very important. Psychographics (the personality, attitudes, lifestyle, and other psychological characteristics of your audience) are also vital to consider in customizing your message for your audience.

Because promotional messages are not legally binding contracts in most states, it is usually acceptable to imply offers or promises you cannot deliver.

False

Because using a mobile device is so convenient, most mobile users aren't pressed for time; so, they enjoy receiving intricate promotional messages.

False

Most persuasive messages take the direct approach.

False

Successful professionals understand that persuasion is the attempt to get your audience to make the choices you want them to make—even if those choices are not in their best interest.

False

You usually do not need permission to use a person's name or photograph in a marketing or sales message.

False

Explain how to balance emotional appeals and logical appeals to persuade an audience.

Generally speaking, persuasive business messages rely more heavily on logical appeals than emotional appeals, since the main idea is to save money, improve quality, and so on. It is important, however, to avoid the assumption that business decisions are purely logical and therefore ignore the emotional component. For example, you might be able to build a strong logical case for acquiring another company, based on projected financial return and other objective factors. However, managers making the decision will experience a range of emotions, such as fear of making a wrong move that could be career-threatening. To find the optimum balance between emotional appeals and logical appeals, consider four factors: (1) the actions you hope to motivate, (2) your reader's expectations, (3) the degree of resistance you need to overcome, and (4) how far you feel empowered to go to sell your point of view.

If potential customers are likely to object to the price of your product or service, what can you do?

If price is a likely objection, look for ways to increase the perceived value of the purchase and decrease the perception of high cost. For example, if you're marketing exercise equipment for the home, you could say that its total cost is less than a year's worth of health club dues.

If you're called upon to create marketing or sales messages for mobile commerce, what two things should you keep in mind?

If you are involved with creating mobile marketing or sales messages, keep two essential points in mind. First, like all mobile messages, promotional messages need to be short and simple. Second, the mobile experience needs to be fast and straightforward. Mobile users are often time-constrained, and they will quickly abandon websites that don't load quickly or are confusing to navigate.

Why is it especially important in marketing and sales messages to avoid implying offers or promises you cannot fulfill?

In many states, marketing and sales messages are binding contracts. Therefore, dishonesty in a sales message can lead to unfavorable legal action. For ethical reasons, it is always vital to avoid making promises you and your organization cannot keep.

What role does conversation marketing play in promotional messages for social media?

In the social media landscape, consumers often look to other consumers for product information instead of the companies that market those products. Consequently, companies are using conversation marketing, rather than traditional promotion, to facilitate conversations in network communities of customers, journalists, bloggers, and other interested parties.

What are three methods of reasoning you can use when making a logical appeal, and how do they differ?

Logical appeals can take place through analogy, induction, or deduction. With analogy, you reason from specific evidence to specific evidence, in effect "borrowing" from something familiar to explain something unfamiliar. With inductive reasoning, you work from specific evidence to a general conclusion. With deductive reasoning, you work from a generalization to a specific conclusion.

Compare and contrast marketing messages and sales messages.

Marketing and sales messages use the same basic techniques as other persuasive messages, with the added emphasis of encouraging someone to participate in a commercial transaction. Although many people use the terms marketing message and sales message 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.

________ take(s) potential customers through the purchasing process without asking for an immediate purchase decision.

Marketing messages

________ are the most common form of content marketing in the mobile arena.

Mobile-optimized videos

List three categories of common persuasive business messages.

Most persuasive business messages fall into one of three categories: (1) persuasive requests for action, (2) persuasive presentation of ideas, and (3) persuasive claims and requests for adjustment.

When your AIDA message uses an indirect approach and is delivered by email, what are two goals to keep in mind as you write the subject line?

One challenge in this situation is to make the subject line interesting and relevant enough to capture reader attention. At the same time, however, you have to capture attention without revealing your main idea.

________ data provides information about an individual's personality, attitudes, lifestyle, and other psychological characteristics.

Psychographic

Most persuasive business messages involve requests for action.

True

One of the best ways to gain credibility for your message is to support it with objective evidence.

True

Successful marketing and sales messages match the product's selling points to the audience's primary needs or emotional concerns.

True

The AIDA model can be used with both the direct and indirect approaches for persuasive messages.

True

Briefly explain several guidelines for adapting marketing and sales messages for social media.

Use the following guidelines to adapt promotional messages for social media: (1) Facilitate community building. Make sure customers and other audiences can connect with your company and each other. (2) Listen at least as much as you talk. Listening is just as essential for online conversations as it is for face-to-face conversations. (3) Initiate and respond to conversations within the community. Provide the information customers need to evaluate your products and services. (4) Provide information that people want. Content marketing helps you build relationships by demonstrating that you understand and care about meeting potential customers' needs. (5) Identify and support your champions. They can help spread your message, defend you against detractors, and help other customers use your products. (6) Be real. Trying to fool the public is unethical and likely to backfire. (7) Integrate conventional marketing and sales strategies at the right time and in the right places. Don't abandon AIDA and other similar tools for specific tasks, such as conventional advertising.

When is it a good idea to use the direct approach for persuasive messages?

Using the direct approach for persuasive messages can be effective when your audience is ready to hear your proposal or when you've been building your case through several indirect messages, and now it's time to make your request. In some cases, your request will be anticipated, so the direct approach is fine. When you have a close relationship with your audience and the message is welcome or at least neutral, the direct approach can be effective.

One way to overcome audience resistance to your message is to

address possible concerns that your audience has.

The best way to persuade an audience to do something is to

align your message with their existing motivation.

When you're completing a persuasive message,

all of the above

Successful marketing and sales messages begin with

an understanding of audience needs.

Cause and effect

are not the same, and confusing the two in persuasive messages can lead to faulty logic.

Conventional marketing or sales messages begin with an effort to gain the audience's

attention

When writing persuasive messages, one way to avoid faulty logic is to

avoid hasty generalizations.

Promotional messages developed for mobile devices need to

be fast and straightforward.

According to the FTC, marketing and sales messages must

be free of implied claims.

Marketers use ________ to track the online behavior of website visitors and serve up ads based on what their interests appear to be.

behavioral targeting

________ are the particular advantages that readers will realize from the features of a product.

benefits

An advertisement stating that a new product offers "freedom and comfort along with $20 savings per month" is using

both logical and emotional appeals.

The benefits of a product can be

both practical and emotional.

Emotional appeals

can help audiences care enough to respond positively to your persuasive message.

Suggesting that readers have made poor choices in the past

can inadvertently insult your audience, reducing the effectiveness of your persuasive message.

Differences in organizational culture

can profoundly affect the success of a persuasive message.

In social-media marketing, ________ are enthusiastic fans of your company and its products.

champions

Using polite language in persuasive messages

enhances the effectiveness of your arguments.

The process of ________ works from a generalization to a specific conclusion.

deductive reasoning

Marketers use quantifiable characteristics known as ________ and psychological characteristics known as ________ to help them understand the needs of an audience.

demographics; psychographics

When writing a persuasive request for action, you should

demonstrate that helping you will solve a significant problem.

Unlike more traditional promotional messages, those written for social media

enable companies to engage in conversations about their products and services.

In persuasive messages, suggesting that the action you want readers to take

encourages them to do what you have asked.

Which of the following would not be an effective technique for gaining audience attention in sales messages?

encouraging people to place an order

In persuasive messages, limiting your scope

is critical if your audience is to understand and accept your position.

The direct approach for persuasion

is effective for a receptive audience.

Establishing credibility in persuasive messages

is essential when you are trying to persuade a hostile or skeptical audience.

When it comes to persuasive messages, the direct approach

is often preferable with an audience with whom you have a close relationship.

Which of the following is an example of psychographic information?

lifestyle

The key to a successful action phase in the AIDA model is

making the action you propose simple and easy.

A ________ helps a potential buyer move through the purchasing process without having to make an immediate decision; a ________ encourages a potential buyer to make a purchase decision immediately.

marketing message; sales message

In general, the best persuasive messages ________ the audience's motivations.

openly address

Business professionals know that ________ is the attempt to change an audience's attitudes, beliefs, or actions.

persuasion

Ethical businesspeople often use ________ as a positive force to align their interests with what is best for their audience.

persuasion

The attempt to change an attitude, belief, or action is known as

persuasion

In a ________, your goal may be nothing more than convincing your audience to re-examine long-help opinions or admit the possibility of new ways of thinking.

persuasive presentation of ideas

Personality, lifestyle, and attitudes are assessed through

psychographic studies.

As a human need that affects motivation, self-actualization involves the need to

reach one's full potential as a human being.

An analogy lets you

reason from one specific piece of evidence to another specific piece of evidence.

In the practice of ________, behaviorally targeted ads from one website follow an online shopper when he or she moves on to other websites.

remarketing

Using the AIDA approach with social media

requires a different, more interactive approach.

If a supervisor tells a worker who consistently arrives late, "I know you don't want to have your pay docked," the supervisor is addressing the worker's need for

safety and security.

According to your textbook, ________ are the most attractive features of a product.

selling points

Whereas ________ focus on what the product does, ________ focus on what the user experiences or gains.

selling points; benefits

When preparing a persuasive request for action, it is vital to

show you understand the audience's concerns.

The AIDA approach for persuasive messages is ideal when used with

the indirect approach.

When using persuasion to sell a product or idea, the goal is

to present your offering in the best possible light.