Business Communication

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Quick Learning Guide

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1 Apply the three-step writing process to persuasive messages. [page 292]

2 Describe an effective strategy for developing persuasive business messages, and identify the three most common categories of persuasive business messages. [page 297]

3 Describe an effective strategy for developing marketing and sales messages. [page 303]

4 Explain how to modify your approach when writing promotional messages for social media. [page 309]

5 Identify steps you can take to avoid ethical lapses in marketing and sales messages. [page 310] CHAPTER OUTLINE

Using the Three-Step Writing Process

for Persuasive Messages

Step 1: Planning a Persuasive Message

Step 2: Writing a Persuasive Message

Step 3: Completing a Persuasive Message

Developing Persuasive Business

Messages

Strategies for Persuasive Business Messages

Common Examples of Persuasive Business

Messages

Developing Marketing and Sales

Messages

Assessing Audience Needs

Analyzing Your Competition

Determining Key Selling Points and BeneO ts

Anticipating Purchase Objections

Applying AIDA or a Similar Model

Writing Promotional Messages

for Social Media

Maintaining High Standards of Ethics,

Legal Compliance, and Etiquette

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KEY TERMS

AIDA model Message sequence that

involves attention, interest, desire, and

action

bene! ts � e particular advantages that

readers will realize from a product’s selling

points

conversation marketing Approach in

which companies initiate and facilitate

conversations in a networked community

of customers, journalists, bloggers, and

other interested parties

demographics Quantifiable

characteristics of a population,

including age, gender, occupation,

income, and education

emotional appeal Persuasive approach that

calls on audience feelings and sympathies

rather than facts, � gures, and rational

arguments

logical appeal Persuasive approach that

calls on reasoning and evidence

marketing messages Promotional messages

that usher potential buyers through the

purchasing process without asking them

to make an immediate decision

motivation � e combination of forces that

drive people to satisfy their needs

persuasion � e attempt to change an

audience’s attitudes, beliefs, or actions

psychographics Psychological

characteristics of an audience, including

personality, attitudes, and lifestyle

sales messages In contrast to marketing

messages, sales messages encourage

potential buyers to make a purchase

decision then and there

selling points � e most attractive features

of a product or service

social commerce Encompasses any aspect of

buying and selling products and services

or supporting customers through the use

of social media

✓Checklist Developing Persuasive Messages

A. Get your reader’s attention. ● Open with an audience bene� t, a

stimulating question, a problem, or an

unexpected statement.

● Establish common ground by

mentioning a point on which you and

your audience agree.

● Show that you understand the

audience’s concerns.

B. Build your reader’s interest. ● Expand and support your opening

claim or promise.

● Emphasize the relevance of your

message to your audience.

C. Increase your reader’s desire. ● Make audience members want to

change by explaining how the change

will bene� t them.

● Back up your claims with relevant

evidence.

D. Motivate your reader to take action. ● Suggest the action you want readers

to take.

● Stress the positive results of the action.

● Make the desired action clear and easy.

E. Balance emotional and logical appeals. ● Use emotional appeals to help the

audience accept your message.

● Use logical appeals when presenting

facts and evidence for complex ideas

or recommendations.

● Avoid faulty logic.

F. Reinforce your position. ● Provide additional evidence of the

bene� ts of your proposal and your

own credibility in o� ering it.

● Use abstractions, metaphors, and

other � gures of speech to bring facts

and � gures to life.

G. Anticipate objections. ● Anticipate and answer potential

objections.

● Present the pros and cons of all

options if you anticipate a hostile

reaction.