At its core, persuasive advertising is about tapping into your customers’ core motivations. What moves them emotionally, logically, or socially? And how do you craft messaging that inspires them to take action? The goal of all your persuasive efforts may likely be to get people to purchase something, but often, it’s just as much about endearing them to your brand’s cause.
Take Glossier, for example. The beauty brand’s philosophy—“Skin First. Makeup Second”—doubled as a call for more self-care and authenticity. With messaging and visuals that emphasized a minimalist, natural approach, Glossier turned everyday beauty enthusiasts into evangelists. The brand also demonstrated that persuasive advertising isn’t always about pushing a hard sell. Sometimes, it’s just as important to create a story that people want to be a part of.
Here’s how persuasive advertising works, plus persuasive strategies you can use to inspire an emotional reaction in your target audience.
What is persuasive advertising?
Persuasive advertising is the practice of creating ads that inspire an emotional response and influence customer behavior. Persuasive ads work by appealing to consumers’ preexisting fears, desires, or beliefs—a strategy also known as emotional persuasion or emotional appeal. Although they’re often intended to inspire purchases, they can effectively encourage (or discourage) any type of behavior. Case in point: You know what Smokey Bear wants YOU to do.
Many businesses use persuasive ads as part of their larger advertising and marketingstrategies. Persuasion can also come in handy for marketing teams, helping marketers build brand loyalty through emotional triggers.
Persuasive advertising vs. informative advertising
Advertising is about getting customers to do what you want them to do, so aren’t all adcampaigns persuasive? Yes and no. Although all effective advertising eventually inspires customer action, persuasive advertising describes a specific way of pursuing that goal. Here’s how it stacks up against informative advertising:
- Informative advertising. Informative advertising campaigns present factual information and let customers draw their own conclusions about a product’s value (and what they should do about it). Informative advertisements often include feature lists, statistics, case studies, price comparisons, and performance data.
- Persuasive advertising. Persuasive advertising campaigns can include hard data, but they focus on creating an emotional response and leveraging it into near-term action. Persuasive advertisements often rely on social proof, exclusive or limited-time offers, and brand storytelling. It’s often preferable for ad formats that provide limited time and space to capture a customer’s interest—like billboards, social media ads, and TV or radio commercials.
9 techniques for persuasive ads
- Carrot technique
- Stick technique
- Celebrity endorsement
- Bandwagon appeal
- Snob appeal
- Plain folks messaging
- Special offers
- Reverse psychology
- Scarcity principle
Persuasive techniques use a variety of strategies intended to influence what somebody believes or how they act. They’re also what makes persuasive marketing and advertising work. Here are some of the best examples in each category:
1. Carrot technique
The phrase “the carrot and the stick" references two separate persuasion techniques. Picture a horse or donkey with a rider who is simultaneously dangling a carrot in front of the animal and brandishing a stick behind it. In this metaphor, the consumer is the donkey, the business is the rider, and the carrot is the reward the customer will gain if it does what the business wants. The carrot technique is all about benefits, telling customers what the desired action earns or achieves.
2. Stick technique
While the carrot technique is all about reward, the stick technique threatens a brisk tap on the hindquarters, persuading people by showing what could happen if they don’t take the desired action. In other words, it shows a product’s value by highlighting what it prevents. The UK eyewear brand Specsavers’ advertising campaign “Should have gone to Specsavers” is one example. Its series of misprints and poorly installed billboards winkingly suggest that the advertisement creator or installer didn’t visit Specsavers, and therefore can’t see.
3. Celebrity endorsement
Celebrity endorsements pair a product with a celebrity who implicitly or explicitly endorses the product or brand. Explicit endorsements are testimonials that boil down to something like, “I use X product, and you should too.” Implicit endorsements, like this Roger Federer Mercedes ambassadorship, use a celebrity’s reputation to establish credibility for a brand and state or imply something about it:
The Federer partnership implies shared traits, using Federer’s reputation as one of the all-time tennis greats to position Mercedes as similarly dominant in its class.
4. Bandwagon appeal
Ads that use bandwagon appeal rely on a simple idea: If everybody else is doing something, you should too. These advertisementspromote information like a company’s brand loyalty, longevity, ubiquity, or popularity with a specific audience. Advertisers can use them to claim credibility, provide a proof point for product or servicevalue, or reduce any stigma around brand or product use.
The Spanx ad, “The most worn designer on the red carpet for 25 years,” is one example. Although it’s not an explicit celebrity endorsement, the undergarment brand’s ad has a similar effect: Its cheeky and believable claim to be the most popular designer in Hollywood associates its product with the beautiful and famous, demonstrating product value and deconstructing the idea that Spanx products are the crutch of mere mortals.
5. Snob appeal
This persuasive advertising technique appeals to a consumer’s desire for excellence, achievement, and, ultimately, superiority, equating owning a product with membership in an elite group. It’s particularly popular with luxury brands.
6. Plain folks messaging
Plain folks messaging turns snob appeal on its head, positioning a brand representative—such as employee, business owner, or customer—as “average” or “normal.” When the speaker is a businessbrand representative, the plain folks appeal claims that a brand is just like its audience—and therefore understands its needs.
When the speaker is a customer, plain folks messaging is an example of social proof, suggesting that people just like the viewer enjoy the product, so the viewer will too. Some plain folksads also rely on bandwagon appeal, such as Cheerios’ “America’s favorite cereal” advertising.
7. Special offers
Special offers give potential customers something desirable in addition to the product, whether that’s a difficult-to-pass-up deal or a free item with purchase. Buy one, get one (BOGO) deals are a popular type of special offer advertisement, as are ads that promote a new product or service by offering a free gift with purchase. Kylie Cosmetics’ free accessory with the purchase of an item from its fragrance line is one example.
8. Reverse psychology
Most persuasive advertising campaigns focus on how a specific audience and a brand are the perfect match, casting both in a positive light. The reverse psychology persuasion messaging differs, suggesting that perhaps a consumer isn’t a fit for a brand or product. The classic Rolex persuasive ad “You’re not ready” is one example. The brand’s advertising suggests that the product is for an elite group of consumers that the audience isn’t yet a part of, effectively excluding potential customers to create a desire to belong.
Marmite’s “Dividing the nation since 1902” ad is another example of this technique, appealing to consumers by highlighting the controversy over its product’s taste. It even uses confrontational visuals—the all-caps bold text and bright colors capture the viewer’s interest, effectively challenging consumers to be tough enough for Marmite.
9. Scarcity principle
Scarcity principle ads create a sense of urgency, persuading consumers to act now. Examples include ads that emphasize limited availability, ads referencing limited-time sales, and ads for limited-edition drops. Everlane uses this strategy for marketing purposes, notifying shoppers that if they want a specific product, they’d better act fast.
Persuasive advertising FAQ
What is an example of a persuasive advertisement?
Burger King’s long-running “Have it your way” campaign is an example of persuasive advertising. It answers customers’ desire for personal attention and creates the sense that other options in the fast food category might not provide the same value.
What is a persuasion technique?
A persuasion technique is a psychological strategy used in advertising and marketing to create an emotional response in consumers that motivates them to take an action. Here are common techniques that advertisers and marketers use to persuadecustomers:
1. Carrot technique
2. Stick technique
3. Celebrity endorsement
4. Bandwagon appeal
5. Snob appeal
6. Plain folks messaging
7. Special offers
8. Reverse psychology
9. Scarcity principle
What is the difference between competitive and persuasive advertising?
Competitive advertising either implicitly or explicitly compares a brand to its competitors to emphasize its superiority. Persuasive advertising uses an audience’s preexisting beliefs to create an emotional response that inspires action. Persuasive advertising is the larger category, so some persuasive ads are also an example of competitive advertising.
