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Have you ever heard that decisions are made emotionally and justified after the event using logic?
It’s true, of course, but it’s not the whole story.
A better description of how best to persuade was written a rather long time ago.
Enjoy!
Back in 350 BCE, Aristotle spoke of the three ways to make a persuasive appeal
And you know what? He’s still right. Because not much changes in human psychology.
Now, I don’t want to sound pretentious (but I’m gonna!)
But, IMHO, the problem with most copywriting is that the writers have read nothing about what works, and why. And if they have,it’s from a vanishingly small number of books everyone else has read.
Wouldn’t it make sense to learn from those who studied the art of persuasion 2,000 years before anyone had dreamt of AIDA or AIDCA?
So, not just before the internet or even junk mail, but long before the printing press was invented!
These are Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion for when you need to convince an audience:
- Pathos – An appeal to the emotions.
- Logos – An appeal to logic.
- Ethos – An appeal to the credibility of the writer. Or, more typically in Aristotle’s time, the speaker.
I’m not going to talk about Pathos, the use of emotions to help make a sale or persuade the reader. You know the importance of emotions in making an argument. Greed, fear, anger. Seven deadly sins. Nothing groundbreaking there.
And neither will I talk about Logos, the use of logic in making an argument. It’s even wider known than the use of emotions.
Ethos, however, is less often mentioned within the world of commercial writing, but it is a valuable extra string to your persuasive bow.
So what is Ethos?
I’m neither a philosopher nor a classicist. Yet I do find it fascinating to read about the art of persuasion, and how it’s been approached in the past.
If you want to really dig down into this I recommend you buy or borrow Aristotle’s Art of Rhetoric and Nicomachean Ethics. But it is heavy-going to get to the gold, so I’ll try my best to explain:
It’s partly, but not only, establishing your credibility to speak on the subject.
An appeal to character. It’s like: What can you, personally, bring to the argument?
In some ways, this is the most important aspect of your argument – the part no one else can do!
There are three essential parts to Ethos, and Aristotle said you should include them all for the best chance to persuade.
Extra points for you, if you spot where in this post I hid each of them!
Read on …
Authority (AKA Phronesis)
When you make an argument, always ask yourself why the audience would believe you to be qualified to speak to them.
The Greeks called this Phronesis, meaning your wisdom and intelligence.
This is often translated to prudence, but I don’t like this as a translation because of how the meaning of prudence has morphed into “cautiousness”.
Some folks believe stuff just because an authority they respect tells them it’s true. I know! You and I would never be so foolish …
But most of us want to know how a writer is qualified to give us their view, and why we should sit up and take notice.
And once we decide they are an expert, we are much more likely to take what they say at face value. No need for fact-checking, no need to read primary sources, or run to Google to make sure that statistics are right. Even if we probably should.
This has never been more important. I’ve been around long enough to remember when any amoral Herbert could make a decent online income by throwing together a sales page, pointing enough links at it to rank for advanced rectal scabies, and then sending desperate itchy-bottomed visitors to a ropey Clickbank eBook affiliate offer.
But the sheer volume of dubious AI content getting churned-out at the moment is gob-smacking, and so many big sites are doing this now it’s becoming even harder to know who to trust. And this is only going to get worse.
So if you want anyone to read or listen to what you have to say, it’s more essential than ever to position yourself as a reliable source.
Ask yourself:
What credentials do you bring that can build trust? Have you studied the subject? Include it in your bio. Mention professional bodies you belong to or high-name-recognition clients. If not, can you “borrow” some authority? Quoting esoteric research might fit the bill, because it suggests you have studied deeper than most.
In real life, or in a video, you can use props. Robert Cialdini described how wearing a lab coat confers some weird kind of authority. Think, “I’m not a doctor but I play one on TV”.
This isn’t essential for all advertising. Perhaps potential customers don’t care about your authority if you’re only selling chewing gum.
But if you’re selling financial services, dietary supplements, or a fitness program, you’d better consider how you can look as credible (ie believable) as possible.
How to use this in copywriting?
Use this close to the beginning of a sales letter or sales page. A word of warning – while it’s an important part of your argument, it’s not the best way to grab the reader’s attention. Invoke curiosity and self-interest first.
In a sales video, you can hint at your credentials from the get-go, so you probably should.
Values (AKA Arete)
The second part of Ethos is Arete. Arete is a slightly slippery notion in the modern-day—it roughly means excellence, but with purpose and moral virtue.
Wow! That sounds like a pretty old-fashioned idea, right?
The simplest way to apply this is with personal values. The unenlightened might misconstrue this as virtue-signalling. But people need their purchases, like all their decisions, to be in alignment with their beliefs.
Don’t believe me? Or think it’s only snowflake millennials who think that way?
Do you remember “freedom fries”? Or sane Americans boycotting French wines, because of France’s non-involvement in military action some years ago.
More recently, previously-happy Nike trainer owners set fire to their own shoes, and triggered, gammon-faced men videoed themselves throwing their razors down their toilet.
Another example: If you look at advertising for share-tipping services in the US, it is often aggressively pro-Republican, fixating on what the Democrats are about to do to your wealth. Financial advertisers don’t mess about – you can be confident this approach works.
And I bet you, too, have some companies you’ll avoid giving money to if there is an alternative.
(I prefer not to give money to Nestle, Brew Dog, or Barclays. But I might consider taking theirs, if they’d like me to write copy for them. I can be a little shameless.)
Give a hint to your customers that you and they have shared enemies, shared vision, or even just a shared history, and gain an edge over your competitors.
Where to use this in copywriting?
Any time you use storytelling to sell, you’d be wise to hint at shared values. If you had the same enemies and vanquished them, this will reassure your reader that you’re on the same side. Arete often belongs right at the beginning of a sales letter.
If you look at financial copywriting, you’ll see it often opens with a Big Idea that resonates with the audience’s values and fears, for instance the collapse of civilization, or a new government plan to steal their hard-earned savings.
Likeability (AKA Eunoia)
The third part of Ethos is Eunoia, establishing goodwill.
This is where you create the perception that you have your audience’s best interests at heart.
Build rapport with your reader. Let them see what you have in common, and write to them as you would speak to them.
Don’t make reading your stuff hard work, and don’t talk down to them. Be friendly and conversational.
Imagine you are a door-to-door salesman. How would he behave? What would he say?
He’d aim for maximum rapport.
He’d smile and use tons of eye contact.
He’d speak in a friendly and enthusiastic voice, using short, unpretentious words.
His body language would be open, and he might subtly adopt some of your mannerisms.
He’d also highlight similarities between you and him. You have kids? He does, too, probably around the same age. You golf? Guess what? He’d love to get out and play a few rounds!
Where to use this in copywriting?
Use liberally, right throughout your writing. But particularly at the open and the close.
When all else is equal, people like people that are likeable. They prefer to be around them, and luckily for you, they prefer to do business with them.
I hope you enjoyed this post. If you’re anything like me, you’ve almost certainly wondered why Greek Rhetorical Principles aren’t applied to copywriting more often. 😉In which case, feel free to share it with anyone you feel might benefit. And if you want business writing that follows best practices, gets sales, and doesn’t come across icky and sales-y, contact me …
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