Persuasive Content Writing.
Read it, you know you want to…
We all need to be persuasive in our business writing at some point whether it is putting together a proposal or sending an email request. For content marketing and copywriting persuasion is an essential skill to convince your customers that they should have your product or visit your website.
Which brings us to the first point to consider; you are writing for people first and the requirements of SEO need to come second. So you need to know what it is the people who make up your audience like and dislike before trying some of the techniques listed below.
Persuasive Writing Techniques
Consider the tone you use for your customers. Your tone is your company character and is determined by the types of words and phrases you choose and the type of situation you are writing about so informal and chatty for a fun piece or more formal for a serious article. It should reflect how you want to be perceived by your target.
Use emotional or power words to create an emotional response and a connection to your readers. There are many internet lists of word suggestions but as an example words such as “exclusive” or “imagine” can speak to a customers wants or words such as “expires” or “last chance” will connect to their fear of missing out and encourage them to take action.
Don’t use jargon. Yes, you might need to include some technical terms but keep to plain and simple language whenever possible.
Using repetition is a great way to emphasise a point and to create a sense of rhythm in your writing. It also links one piece of text to another. A famous example is Martin Luther King’s I have a Dream speech.
If you speak directly to your reader, using ‘you’ and ‘your’ they will feel that what you are telling them is specifically for them. It’s also more like having a conversation and we’ve been taking a look at the rising content trend of being human in a previous blog. Why not take the opportunity to include a bit of flattery too? – “You’re clever enough to know…”
And after telling your audience how great they are it’s time to show how good you are by using reviews, case studies and testimonials. This will help to establish trust and develop your credibility.
By incorporating these techniques into your content writing you will be well on your way to persuading your customers that they need to be doing business with you and your company.
Great tips – readers are intelligent and hate being patronised, so if you can offer them something they want and make them feel good about it, why not be direct?
Thanks for sharing.