The art of persuasive engagement

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the importance of persuasion in marketing and how customer education often fails to engage the audience effectively. It provides insights on how to approach persuasive audience engagement by focusing on emotional connection, behavior-driven strategies, and understanding customer belief systems.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Persuasion in Marketing

1. What is the #1 job of marketing according to the CMO the author worked for? The CMO the author worked for said the #1 job of marketing is persuasion - to persuade the customer to engage.

2. Why does the author roll their eyes when a founder says "We need to educate our audience about our product"? The author rolls their eyes because they believe that no one wants to "study" a product or service, and very few will have the time or inclination to do so. Customer education is often just bombarding the audience with endless facts and data.

3. What are the key elements of good persuasive marketing according to the article?

• Emotional connection: Forming an emotional connection with the audience by understanding their needs, fears, and desires.
• Behavior-driven: Understanding the target audience's behaviors, decision-making processes, and how they currently compensate for their needs.
• Belief systems: Understanding the customer's existing beliefs and opinions, and tailoring the messaging to align with their frame of mind.

[02] Challenges with Customer Education

1. What are the main problems with customer education that the article identifies?

• Too much information with too much jargon, driven by product-first thinking instead of customer-first thinking.
• Assuming prior knowledge that the customer may not have, particularly about the business, not just the technology or product.
• Providing boring and contextless content, such as FAQs, documentation, and technical specifications, without considering the customer's specific needs and business model.

[03] Examples of Persuasive Audience Engagement

1. How does Hugging Face's Model Hub demonstrate effective persuasive audience engagement?

• Accessibility: The Model Hub makes it easy for developers and researchers to access pre-trained models without the need for extensive resources or infrastructure.
• Collaboration: It fosters a collaborative community where users can contribute their models and improvements, driving innovation and progress in the field.
• Ease of Use: The hub provides tools for easy integration and deployment, reducing the barrier to entry for using advanced NLP models in practical applications.

2. How does Too Good To Go's app and content engage customers in a persuasive way?

• Impact Tracking: The app helps users see how much food waste they've saved and the corresponding reduction in their carbon footprint, promoting sustainable behavior.
• Educational Content: Their blogs, videos, and webinars educate and inspire users about the impact of food waste and sustainable practices.
• Practical Advice: Their blog provides recipes to turn food waste and leftovers into delicious meals, further engaging customers.