How to Write Persuasive Sales Messages

To grow your business you need to attract new customers. New customers who want to purchase your products and services.

Producing high-quality content and products will help get prospects who want what you offer. But you have to reach the right audience. That can be done in many ways, through ads, sales brochures, emails, social media, and websites.

The one thing necessary in all of these is a strong persuasive message. A message is persuasive when it shows that it meets the needs, wants, and desires of your potential client. To get people to buy, you must understand them and what motivates them and appeal to that desire. Motivation is not the same for all people. I will list some of the most common desires below.

But before we look at those, it is best to research the real passions of your potential clients so you can truly speak to them.

This is done by talking to them if you know who they are, surveying or interviewing them, reading their comments, searching public forums, or looking at reviews they have written for books or products that cover your topic. When you discover this information you will see there is tension between how they see themselves currently and what they want to be,  who they are now, and who they want to be. And what they feel is missing in their life.

That information will define their strongest desires and you should use it in your sales information. This is gold because they are telling you how to sell to them. They are saying this is what I want you to provide to me. This is what I need.

If your product or service solves their problem or helps them attain their goals, then use the before and after contrast in your sales content. Remember, people care about themselves. You want to write so they can imagine a better life and have a vision of attainment and achievement. Start with where they are so they can recognize their now and end by seeing their future self.

There are some common desires that most people have and want to fulfill. They were defined in the book Ca$hvertising by Drew Eric Whitman. He has outlined what he calls life forces, common to all of us and driving factors in our lives.

8 Life Forces plus two more

As explained above it is best to clearly understand what your clients are striving for, but if you don’t have a way to get that directly from them, they most likely will fall into one of these eight desires. I added two more that I believe are basic desires for many people.

See if one of these desires is a driving force for your prospect.

1. Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension.
2. Enjoyment of food and beverages.
3. Freedom from fear, pain, and danger.
4. Sexual companionship.
5. Comfortable living conditions.
6. To be superior, winning, keeping up with the Joneses.
7. Care and protection of loved ones.
8. Social approval.

In addition to these eight, I added the following desires which I believe are core motivations for many people. Sovereignty – to live life in their way is a big one. Men and women now and through the ages have gone through a great deal to achieve it. With that said I  added the two below. They usually go together.

9. Freedom and 10. Independence .

Some examples of life forces at work

For instance, your prospects currently see themselves as indentured servants who work at a job to pay bills. They feel that they can never do any better and have no ability to change. They had none of the advantages growing up that the “successful people” did and they have no one to turn to. That is who they are now.

Who do they want to be? They want to have choices, they want to have freedom and independence. They want to learn how to create opportunities that they control so they don’t hate waking up every day. You have something that will help.

Your advertising content should start with a description of their current problem and then show a different, better picture of them deciding who to work with, where to work, and what projects to do. This is life force #1 enjoyment of life, force #5 comfortable living conditions, and also #9 and #10 freedom and independence.

Another example that serves different desires. You offer foreign language courses, conversation, and reading comprehension.

Your prospect currently only speaks their native language, English. They travel a lot and don’t like being dependent on others to accommodate them by having to speak English. That is where they are now.

They see themselves being capable to get around and speak for themselves. They feel empowered when they can ask a question or read a sign, or order from a menu without being the ‘tourist”. You use the idea of tension between the idea of the uninformed tourist and the sophisticated traveler. 

This would fall into the category of comfortable living conditions #5, social approval, and #8 their own desire to be superior.

How to create effective sales content

Now you’re ready to create the sales information that takes them on a journey from point A which is where they are, to point B where they can be.

It is most effective to start with empathy, showing them that you know how they feel and you understand their situation. Empathy can come from your own story or someone else’s story who had a similar experience.

After establishing a rapport so they know you understand them, you can transition to explaining how they can move toward their goal. And why your product or service can do that.

Next, connect the dots and make it known that there is nothing special about you (or the person whose story you told) that you fixed this very problem and they can do it too.

Then add exactly what they get, “what’s in the box”. Give the details and the benefits. Describe how it works. What they can expect.

The bigger problem

However, the real problem is not that they don’t believe you’re credible or your product doesn’t work. The real problem is they don’t believe they can do it too, and can’t imagine a positive outcome. They may have been in this situation for a long time and question if there is a solution. And here is the challenge – to get them to see themselves having success.

Help them with your words and visualization. Paint a picture of what success looks like. Make them believe it will solve their pain or result in the progress they seek. Explain that they need a positive mindset and a commitment to follow through with the help you offer. Provide examples and testimonials if you have them.

The current wisdom says that people have about a 5-second attention span and if you want to capture them you need to get it quick with short content. Research shows that is not true. If a prospect is interested in the topic, they will spend the time reading what you wrote. They will absorb everything you say as they want to understand the solution.

So don’t be afraid to write engaging, thorough content. They will gladly read it and want to know more.

Summary

Effective content that promotes your products or services needs to speak to the potential customer’s needs, wants, and desires. It helps them see that their goals are reachable and that maybe you are the answer.

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