Persuasive Advertising Techniques and Examples

What is persuasive advertising?

Persuasive advertising is a strategy that combines emotional appeal and rational arguments to influence consumer behavior. While it encompasses many techniques, all persuasive advertising relies on three fundamental principles known as the rhetorical triangle: ethos, pathos, and logos.

• Ethos: Ethos builds trust and credibility. It focuses on establishing your brand's authority and trustworthiness. It shows customers why they should believe in your product or service.
• Pathos: Pathos taps into emotions to drive action. This could mean heartwarming stories that showcase your brand's impact, advertisements that trigger nostalgia or joy, or social cause marketing that inspires hope.
• Logos: Logos appeal to logic. It uses facts, statistics, and rational arguments to convince customers.

Persuasive advertising vs. informative advertising

There are many advertising approaches you can take, from subliminal advertising to educational advertising. Persuasive ads use information and data to appeal to logic, but they're not the same as informative ads. While both informative and persuasive advertising can influence purchasing decisions, they have distinctly different approaches. Informative advertising focuses primarily on educating consumers about a product's features, benefits, and uses. It presents straightforward facts and information to help customers make informed decisions.

On the other hand, persuasive advertising does more than present information; it creates emotional connections and compelling arguments that motivate customers to take action.  

Think of informational advertising as the "what" and persuasive advertising as the "why," eliciting a more emotional response. For example, an informative advertisement might detail a smartphone's technical specifications, while a persuasive advertisement shows how that same phone helps people capture life's most precious moments.

Informative advertisement examples include:

• Product specification sheets and feature lists
• Step-by-step tutorials and user guides
• Price comparisons and product catalogs
• Technical documentation and user manuals
• Educational content about product features

Meanwhile, persuasive advertising examples include:

• Emotional storytelling campaigns
• Celebrity endorsements and testimonials
• Limited-time offers create urgency
• Lifestyle-focused brand messaging
• Social proof and customer success stories

Most successful marketing campaigns use both approaches to reach the same goal, one to persuade people and the other to educate consumers, combining clear information with compelling persuasion to create the most impact with their target audience.

Benefits of persuasive advertising

While businesses may use various techniques in their marketing strategies, successful persuasive advertising campaigns all share the same goal: connecting with customers on a deeper level to drive a desired action. When executed effectively, persuasive advertising gives your business a competitive edge while maximizing your media spend through several key benefits:

Increased consumer engagement and interest

Persuasive advertising captures and holds attention by creating emotional connections with your audience. Rather than simply presenting information, it tells compelling stories that encourage customers to interact with your brand through comments, shares, and discussions. This heightened engagement helps your message spread organically and keeps your brand top of mind.

Enhanced conversion rates

Persuasive advertising combines emotional appeal with clear calls to action, moving customers from interest to purchase more effectively. Whether you want visitors to sign up for a newsletter, buy something on your e-commerce site, or request a demo, persuasive techniques help overcome hesitation and motivate customers to take the desired action.

Stronger brand loyalty and trust

Perhaps the most valuable benefit of persuasive advertising is its ability to build lasting relationships with customers. When your advertising resonates on both emotional and rational levels, it creates a foundation of trust that extends beyond individual purchases. This deeper connection leads to repeat business, positive word-of-mouth, and a loyal customer base that chooses your brand even when presented with other options.

Techniques for persuasive ads

Effective advertising campaigns often rely on proven psychological triggers that motivate customer action, from humor in advertising to social proof. Let's explore eight powerful persuasive advertising techniques that can drive results.

Scarcity principle

The scarcity principle makes it seem like your product or service has increased value from limited availability. For example, some marketers will use a countdown clock on an online shopping bag page or send push notifications that customers only have so much time to take advantage of an exclusive offer.

Bandwagon effect

The bandwagon appeal relies mostly on social pressure or the belief that “everyone else is doing it.” When a company appeals to popular trends, customers will start to feel like they may be missing out if they don’t purchase from your brand.

An example of the bandwagon appeal could be promoting a restaurant as having healthy or organic options because of the common belief that eating healthier is better for you.

Carrot and the stick

This phrase originated as a metaphor by combining reward and punishment. The carrot and the stick technique is similar to the bandwagon appeal, but instead it implies that a customer will gain something if they use your product or service but lose something if they don’t.

For example, a company that sells cybersecurity software could persuade a customer by promising improved security and protection from hackers. Simultaneously, this ad would imply that if you don’t purchase that software, you will become vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Celebrity association

As we’ve mentioned with ethos persuasive advertising, the celebrity testimony is ideal for making your brand seem desirable or glamorous. Lots of people look up to celebrities or influencers. We tend to value their opinion and trust them simply because they’re famous.

If a celebrity says that they use your brand’s makeup, people are more likely to buy from your brand. If an influencer supports your company’s mission, people are likely to believe that you have an ethical mission. This works in politics all the time too with politicians endorsing other politicians or celebrities stating publicly who they’re voting for.

Snob appeal

Instead of making the customer feel like they can be like everyone else—as seen with the bandwagon appeal—the snob appeal makes the customer feel like they can be superior to everyone else. This type of persuasive advertising speaks to the customer’s uniqueness, implying that they could become part of an elite group of people with good taste or high status.

Many brands that use this advertising tactic legitimately sell lavish, high-end products, like luxury cars, clothes, or jewelry. However, most companies don’t need to sell luxury products to use the snob appeal tactic.

Some examples could be a baby food commercial implying that the viewer will be a great, attentive parent if they use their product, or a perfume brand implying that their product will make the customer smell better than anyone else in the room.

Plain folks

Plain folks is a persuasion technique that has been around for decades by using regular, “plain” people to promote something. This tactic reverses the snob appeal by saying “we’re just like you” instead of saying “you’ll be just like us.” Ads that use plain folks show every-day people using regular products or services, implying that the brand is reliable, common, and relatable.

Sometimes, celebrities and influencers use this tactic to demonstrate that they’re regular people just like you who need groceries, cleaning supplies, a reliable insurance company, or—in the case of our ethos example—a takeout meal.

American politicians will also use this technique to connect more with their voters since being a down-to-earth “Average Joe” is more relatable than being affluent and privileged.

Second person approach

This advertising approach can be applied to a variety of persuasive ad types. Using second person pronouns—you, your, and yours—helps you connect to your audience on a personal level. It projects your idea of their persona back onto them to help them visualize how they should engage with your brand.

How to choose the right persuasive techniques

Before launching your next advertising campaign, consider these key factors to select the most effective persuasive techniques for your business goals and advertising budget.

• Target audience: Understanding who you're speaking to shapes how you communicate. Your audience's demographics, behaviors, and preferences will determine which persuasive techniques resonate most strongly.
• Product type: Different products and services naturally align with specific techniques. Luxury items might benefit from snob appeal, while everyday products often connect better through the plain folks approach.
• Brand values: Your persuasive techniques should reflect your brand's core values and personality. A premium brand might lean toward celebrity endorsements, while a community-focused brand might emphasize social proof and customer testimonials.

You should aim to align your techniques with campaign goals to maximize their impact. For awareness campaigns, focus on techniques that boost visibility, like celebrity association, plain folks approach, and social proof messaging.

When driving conversions is your priority, leverage techniques that create urgency and motivation, such as the scarcity principle, carrot and stick approach, and limited-time offers.

For building brand loyalty, emphasize techniques that forge emotional connections through storytelling, community building, and personalized messaging.

Your priority should be maintaining consistency with your brand voice while adapting your approach to match specific campaign objectives.

The most successful campaigns often combine multiple techniques while maintaining consistency with your brand voice and values. Test different strategies and measure their impact to refine your strategy over time.

Persuasive advertising examples

Let's take a look at a few real-world examples to help you understand what persuasive advertising looks like in action. These examples show how different persuasive techniques can create memorable and effective advertising that speaks to your audience.

Uber Eats

In 2021, UberEats launched their “Tonight I’ll be Eating” campaign starring Sir Elton John and Lil Nas X—two celebrities young and old music fans are sure to recognize. Known for their elaborate outfits and stage presences, the musicians both describe what they’ll be eating from Uber Eats as they don the other person’s clothing.

In one ad, Sir Elton wears one of Lil Nas’s bedazzled, pink cowboy suits from his debut “Old Town Road” era, and Lil Nas wears Sir Elton’s brightly feathered costume from the “Rocketman” movie.

Now, Sir Elton and Lil Nas are not known for their culinary skills, so they aren't necessarily the perfect match. However, these persuasive ads are still prime examples of ethos. Just the presence of both musicians in each other’s theatrical, dazzling clothes is enough to make customers think about Uber Eats in a positive light.

Burger King

In 2022, Burger King Germany released their “Pregnancy Whopper” campaign ahead of Mother’s Day. The campaign first surveyed expecting mothers on their unorthodox pregnancy cravings. Then, for one day at one location, the fast food chain served that specific audience a variety of Pregnancy Whoppers, from pickles and whipped cream to sunny-side-up eggs and bananas to even fried fish, curry, and bratwurst.

Their ads showed expecting mothers diving into each Whopper with a sense of excitement while the women’s male partners exhibited confusion.

What makes this campaign one of the best examples of pathos is the variety of emotions it amassed from people across the globe. For some—particularly pregnant women—seeing the Pregnancy Whoppers elicited positive emotions, like joy, satisfaction, and gratification.

However, the campaign also prompted negative emotions from non-pregnant customers, like disgust, bewilderment, and shock. Ultimately, the ad’s message garnered so much social media and internet attention that Burger King soon became infamous for its ability to spark delight and disgust amongst consumers.

ShamWow

In 2006, the ShamWow infomercial was on nearly everyone’s TV screen in the United States. The television advertisement features a fast-talking, energetic salesman who dives straight into the usefulness and value of the ShamWow towel within the first five seconds of the ad.

The host describes the ShamWow as a highly absorbent, washable towel and then immediately shows live demonstrations by wiping surfaces and wringing out excess liquid. As he makes statistical declarations—such as the towel soaking “up to twenty times its weight in liquid” and that it “lasts ten years”—the host shows more footage to back up his claims.

The original ShamWow commercial is a major example of logos. The host not only tells the viewer about the product’s value and benefits, but he is quick to demonstrate them in real time too. By letting the audience see the ShamWow’s results and effectiveness, the ad makes it seem like the viewer is being given plenty of real-world, factual information to be persuaded.

Drive conversions with persuasive ads

Mastering persuasive advertising techniques can turn your marketing campaigns into powerful tools for building customer relationships and increasing conversions. Mailchimp's marketing platform can help you use these techniques across multiple channels.

From creating targeted social media campaigns and retargeting to personalizing customer journeys and analyzing campaign performance and optimizing conversion rates, Mailchimp's features enable you to craft compelling messages that connect with your audience and drive meaningful results. Sign up for Mailchimp today.

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Key Takeaways

• Persuasive advertising combines emotional appeal and logic to influence consumer behavior.
• Successful persuasive advertising campaigns drive deeper customer connections using various techniques like scarcity, social proof, and emotional storytelling to enhance engagement and conversion rates.
• The most effective campaigns align persuasive techniques with specific business goals while maintaining consistency with brand values and target audience preferences.
• Testing different persuasive approaches and measuring their impact helps refine your advertising strategy over time for maximum results.

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