• 5-minute read
• 2nd July 2021

6 Tips on How to Write Persuasive Copy

Persuasive copy is material that is designed to persuade or convince people to do things. Whether you’re writing a product description, a marketing email, or a captivating new brand poster, persuasive copywriting is a useful skill. In this article, we outline six top tips for writing persuasive copy:

1. Be honest so you can build trust with readers.
2. Use the right language and tone for your audience.
3. Consider document, paragraph, and sentence length.
4. Think about the needs of your audience.
5. Appeal to your readers’ emotions.
6. Have your writing proofread by experts.

For more information on writing persuasive copy, read on.

1. Be Honest in Persuasive Copy

When writing persuasive copy, you should be honest. Don’t exaggerate the benefits of your idea, product, service, or solution. Exaggerated claims can discourage potential customers and lower their confidence in your brand.

Instead, make the features and benefits of your product or service clear and allow it to sell itself. Your readers will notice your honesty and learn to trust what you say, helping you to build long-term relationships.

2. Use Language Your Audience Will Understand

It’s important that you use the correct language and tone for your audience. Just as you would explain the inner workings of a newly released car in one way to a young child and another way to an experienced car enthusiast, using slang in a formal brochure selling a costly house could come across as unprofessional.

So, to ensure that your writing is appropriate for your audience:

• Think about who you want to reach and who will read your material.
• Think about the tone that will be appropriate for the audience and subject.
• Use the kind of language that your intended audience would use.
• Avoid jargon and make sure to define potentially unfamiliar terms.

You will want to write in a way that is accessible to as many people within your target audience as possible, as this will help keep them engaged.

3. Document, Paragraph and Sentence Length

Document, paragraph and sentence length can be important in persuasive writing, since you need to tailor your copy to the situation at hand:

• If you are writing persuasive copy to be read quickly (e.g. a call to action or a service description on the homepage of a website), then short, punchy words, paragraphs, and sentences will appeal most. This can be important if you know readers will be skim reading or casually browsing.
• For more detailed product descriptions, blog posts or articles, you can go into more detail using longer sentences and paragraphs. This is most appropriate for when someone is already interested in a product, service or idea and now wants more information.

As such, think about how and where your copy will be used. Do you just need to hook people’s attention or make them click on a link? If so, go short and snappy. Or are you looking at a more serious decision, such as an expensive purchase? In that case, you might want to spend more time setting out the benefits.

4. Think About the Needs of Your Audience

Instead of purely outlining features and statistics, try to think about your audience’s desires and how your service, product or solution will benefit them. Try asking yourself the following questions about what you are trying to sell:

• How will the service or product benefit my target audience? What problems do they face? And how will this solve them?
• What makes our service or product different from its competitors?
• If I were to use this service, solution or product, what would I find particularly useful, helpful, or enjoyable about it?

This will help you identify the best way to appeal to your audience’s needs.

5. Appeal to Emotions

While setting out features and benefits appeals to the rationality of your readers, people are also emotional. And appealing to your audience’s emotions can be a great way to make your written copy more persuasive.

This can be as simple as emphasising the positive experience your product or service will offer, using words such as ‘enjoy’, ‘love’, ‘relax’, ‘thankful’, and ‘excited’, or appealing to images that resonate with positive feelings, such as family or spending time with friends. Think about how you want potential customers to feel upon reading your copy and look for ways to evoke those feelings.

But it can also involve playing on negative emotions, such as the fear of missing out. If a deal or discount is only available for a limited time, for example, you’ll want to emphasise that sense of urgency in your copy.

6. Have Your Writing Proofread

Mistakes in writing undermine trust, which in turn reduces the persuasiveness of your copy. As such, you should always check your writing thoroughly after drafting.

Or, even better, you can ask the experts at Proofed to do so, and rest assured that your writing is clear, professional and accurately conveys your intended meaning.