Want Them To Listen? Talk Like Them: Video Advertising and Linguistics

Last week, I discussed audience research and how video advertisers can use marketing research to better understand their viewers. However, another important aspect of finding your audience is understanding how to speak their language through applying the principles of Linguistic Mirroring.

Speaking The Viewer’s Language

Part of being convincing to your audience is first understanding how we can speak their language. By that, I mean the way you communicate your message to your audience based on how they communicate as a group. According to an associate professor of management and organizations at the University of Michigan’s School of Business, Maxim Sytch, and assistant professor of management at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s School of Business and Management, Yong H. Kim, how we communicate our message directly impacts how convincing that message is to the viewers. This includes the process they call Linguistic Mirroring.

What is Linguistic Mirroring?

Sytch and Kim describe linguistic mirroring as the way that a message is delivered based on the listener’s way of speaking and thinking. For example, if you are creating advertising campaigns for a young audience such as GenZ, you may want to consider the way that demographic communicates and behaves. In their research, Sytch and Kim use the example that evaluators who favor “linear, logical reasoning” will be more receptive to messages from lawyers that contain facts and logic.

Types Of Thinking

If your audience differs from that of strictly logical thinking, consider these other ways of thinking that may be more common in your audience. In a research of more than 1,800 legal documents, Sytch and Kim researched how the matching writing styles of lawyers and their judges impact cases. See the following thinking styles:

• Clout. Expertise and Confidence.

• Authenticity. Honest and personal.

• Emotional Content. Positive and upbeat.

Findings

The findings of the research showed that lawyers who mirrored their judges in style of writing were more likely to win the cases. However, this mirroring concept is not only reserved for judges and lawyers, as video advertising can benefit from this technique as well.

Consider Your Audience

Using what we know about linguistic mirroring, can you think of ways you can mirror your audience? In order to do this, it is vital to be very intentional with choosing your audience. To help you do this, take a look at this advertising example from Pine-Sol, a cleaning solution company that started marketing its products to a social media audience. After watching, consider the following:

• Who is this marketed to?

• What tone is being used to sell the product?

• What writing style is being used?

Pine-Sol has a very specific audience in mind with the marketing campaign for their new product scents. From Meme references to anime-styled characters, the marketing is speaking to Gen Z and younger generations who dominate Instagram.

Video Speaks A Language

Creating video advertising campaigns is not only a creative endeavor, but also one of understanding the viewer’s language and how it connects their viewers to our message. Whether you are creating video advertising for lawyers, educators, or the meme-filled corners of the internet, understanding your audience’s language will help you create content that not only entertains but also speaks with the knowledge that someone is listening.