Market to everyone… well almost everyone!

As media practitioners, we are always trying to figure out how to best reach our customers and target audiences. This could be so we can make the most money, best serve/help people or it could be a combination of both. Communication and messaging are so powerful in this environment, but if you don’t understand what your audience wants and needs then you can’t reach them in the most impactful way.

There are a few different ways to connect with those people called persuasive appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. I’m sure you’ve heard of these terms if you have been placed in a middle school or high school English class.

In short:

Ethos appeals to ethics such as good sense or good character. This is about showing your audience that you can be trusted.

Pathos appeals to emotions and mind states such as happiness, anger, or excitement. This is all about invoking a particular emotion out of your audience.

Logos appeals to logistics and reasoning. A good way to get this appeal across is by using facts or numbers in your approach.

With knowledge and understanding of these persuasive appeals, you can use the Elaboration Likelihood Model Theory to better engage your target audience.

Check out this video for a quick and simple explanation of the Elaboration Likelihood Model Theory!

The Elaboration Likelihood Model Theory states that depending on how audience members process information, they can have their attitudes and behaviors persuaded and altered. Through this theory, information is processed in two different ways: the first way is the central route which is more rational and the second is the peripheral route which is a less invested process more focused on feelings/optics.

Find a way to appeal to all three persuasive appeals and there will be a good chance you have captured audience members who will process information centrally and peripherally!

This website provides a great skateboard advertisement example of how to do just that!