Advertising appeals are communication strategies that marketing and advertising professionals use to grab attention and persuade people to buy or act. In rhetorical theory, the idea of an “appeal” dates back to Aristotle, who identified the three main appeals of communication (also known as the rhetorical triangle): ethos, pathos, and logos, or, in modern language, credibility, emotion, and logic. The idea was that, if you can establish yourself as credible (ethos), for example, you are more likely to persuade people. Likewise, if you tugged on your audience’s heartstrings (hit their emotions, pathos) or presented a logical argument (logos), you could persuade people to act. In other words, you (or your communication) appealed to people because you were credible, you affected their emotions, or you made logical sense. Marketing and advertising gurus have been using appeals for as long as marketing and advertising have been a thing. Consider celebrity endorsements, which are prime examples of applying ethos, or the credibility/endorsement appeal. If you see an image with Jennifer Aniston holding a bottle of Smart Water, you are being appealed to by Aniston’s credibility (or, at the very least, her notoriety). If it’s good enough for her, the advertisers hope you’ll think and feel, then it’s good enough for the consumer who respects and adores her.But modern-day advertisers didn’t stop at just the three appeals, as Aristotle did. While credibility, emotion, and logic in many ways do summarize the three broad ways in which people are persuaded, advertisers get much more specific in order to target their marketing communications approaches. Understanding the available appeals in marketing and advertising will put you in a position to be more creative, more persuasive, and ultimately more effective in your marketing and business communications. THE 20 ADVERTISING APPEALS YOU SHOULD KNOWWhile there are more than twenty that exist, and it’s possible you could even coin your own, the list below addresses twenty of the most common advertising appeals used by marketing professionals today, listed alphabetically.
To ConcludeAppealing to your audience is about using your target market market research. The idea is to engage your consumers by provoking their emotions. Every aspect of your advertising campaign needs to be polished and well-thought out. Don’t forget to collect customer feedback, you can use this to improve the quality of your ad campaigns. If you’re looking for a resource to create digital banners check out Creatopy. The internet is full of various free marketing tools which can support you with your ad campaigns. |