If you’re a marketer, a persuasive writer, or you’re in some other role that requires you to speak to a health-conscious audience, you need to understand how this audience thinks and how you can effectively persuade them.
This is a manifestation of the central premise behind shopper marketing. In shopper marketing, your goal is to create messaging and positioning strategies that maximize your appeal to a specific target demographic, rather than some big, generic audience. The better you know how your audience sees the world, the more effectively you can guide their behavior.
So, how do health-conscious audiences see the world? And what’s the best way to reach them?
Understand That “Health-Conscious” Means Different Things to Different People
First, understand that it’s difficult to categorize a broad group of people as being “health-conscious,” since the phrase means different things to different people. One person might consider themselves health-conscious just because they read nutritional labels before buying foods. Another might consider themselves health-conscious because they work out every day, despite rarely paying any attention to what they eat.
Once you understand this, you’ll be in a position to appeal to specific individuals, rather than some amorphous, gigantic cohort.
Segment Your Audience Further
In line with this, it’s a good idea to segment your audience further. Sure, everyone in your audience would describe themselves as health-conscious, but would they all have the same educational background? Do they live in the same types of neighborhoods? Do they have similar income levels, religious backgrounds, or values?
Depending on the context, it’s likely that there are many different people who belong to your overall audience. It’s your job to split those people into smaller groups so you can make more relevant, focused appeals to each of them.
Persuade in Baby Steps
It’s much easier to persuade someone to do something if you persuade them in baby steps. Instead of convincing them that all wars are bad, you can convince them that one specific war was bad; from there, it will be much easier to convince them of your overall point. If you want a person to subscribe to your subscription based monthly food delivery business, you can start by getting them to sign up for your free email newsletter.
Every step taken by your audience is a step closer to total persuasion.
Make Both Logical and Emotional Appeals
Aristotle described rhetoric (the study of persuasion) as having three main pillars: ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos refers to a person’s perceived authority on a topic. Pathos refers to an emotional appeal. Logos refers to a logical appeal.
Health-conscious people can be persuaded most effectively with emotional and logical appeals. On the emotional side of the equation, you can make a case that a certain decision will make them feel healthier or better about themselves. You can also convince him that they’ll feel a sense of belonging if they make a specific decision. On the logical side of the equation, you can make a compelling, fact-based argument that a certain decision is the healthiest move to make.
Use a Variety of Mediums
Take advantage of a variety of different mediums. You can communicate with audiences in the modern era using a wide variety of platforms and tools, from blogs to social media. The more frequently you reach your audience, and the more angles you use to do it, the better.
Make Use of Repetition
Repetition is a well-known and often utilized persuasive strategy. Let me say that again: repetition is a well-known and often utilized persuasive strategy.
Do you already feel yourself becoming more convinced of this point? You don’t want to go overboard with this, lest your followers begin to think you’re annoying. But if you have a catchy slogan, an important persuasive hook, or some other effective messaging strategy, consider repeating it consistently.
Harness the Power of Influencers
It may also be a good idea to harness the power of influencers. Is there a health guru or healthy living expert that your target audience segment greatly respects? Would they be willing to evangelize your product or repeat your arguments?
Learn From Your Past Efforts
Finally, make it a point to learn from your past efforts. Measure your level of persuasiveness across all your strategies and channels and try to figure out which of your tactics were most effective. Eliminate the ineffective strategies and double down on your best ones.
Persuading people isn’t always easy, especially if you’re trying to persuade a stubborn audience on a challenging point. But if you work hard to better understand how health-conscious people think and how they make decisions, you’ll stand a much better chance of persuading them, whether that means getting them to buy a product or just getting them to buy into your argument.