The Fundamentals of Persuasive Writing

If you have the power to make someone do or believe something, you are invaluable.

Politicians, religious leaders, successful entrepreneurs, marketing and PR professionals, negotiators, and salespersons have mastered the art of persuasion.

The book “The Fundamentals of Persuasive Writing” focuses on how one can produce persuasive text for marketing, sales, and entrepreneurship. I’ve covered the principles, methodology, and best practices of persuasive writing, often drawing lessons from my 5+ years of work experience as a marketing content writer.

Over the years, I’ve written for news publications, SaaS startups, blue-collar companies, and large enterprises. This book draws from those experiences. All the chapters of this book are linked at the bottom.

In this chapter, I’ve explained what writing is and how marketing has evolved over the years to set the foundation for the remainder of the book, followed by the prologue.

What is persuasive writing in marketing

The goal of writing, in general, is to shape their thinking in a certain way. In the case of marketing, for instance, the objective is to shape the perception of the audience in a way that they purchase the goods or seek the services.

It is about providing select information in an engaging way that nudges the reader in a particular direction of decision-making.

You see this in advertising all the time. 

Tupperware, a well-known kitchenware company, promotes its products by first providing information on what a good lunch box is. They tell their audience that a good lunch box should keep the food warm, last for a long time, and be affordable.

This shapes the perception of the potential customers on what a “good” lunch box is. And to their luck, they can find a lunch box that fits that description right in Tupperware’s stores!

The evolution of marketing

People don’t like being told what to do. That’s why the ability to persuade is a precious skill.

The likelihood of resistance is always higher when you plainly tell someone to do something. This welcomes scrutiny, which is always good, but it is resource-intensive for marketers.

A better strategy is to nudge someone in a particular direction, so they make the desirable choice themselves.

Let’s understand that phenomenon through the Tupperware example mentioned earlier.

Notice that the marketing teams at Tupperware didn’t explicitly ask their audience to just purchase their products because it was durable, premium, and affordable. Rather, they did the opposite — mentioned the features of an ideal lunch box first and then introduced the product. 

Consequently, the purchase decision will emerge from the buyers themselves. They won’t be reacting to a salesperson’s slick tongue. Quite the opposite, actually. They would think, in their own minds, about the importance of durability, quality, and affordability of a lunch box and realize that Tupperware fits that description.

This strengthens their intent to purchase and are more likely to be satisfied with their product, simply because they (without anyone’s help) have chosen a great product. 

The marketers smile in the darkness.

Marketing has become subtle. It’s all about evoking the right emotions while presenting the right information in the right sequence. Even if someone doesn’t make the purchase instantly, they will use that “knowledge” whenever they do, which will work in the favor of the marketers.

In the rest of the book, I’ve talked about various elements that make a piece of text persuasive, including the tone and style. You will also find tips to quickly master the relevant principles of persuasion and improve your persuasive skills over time. I hope you will enjoy it.

But first, the prologue.

Prologue: The fundamentals of persuasive writing

Most writers are trash, and it’s not their fault. The thing is, SEO has ruined the art of writing and the science of persuasion with it. Everything now has to be keyword-rich because that’s how Google likes it.

The vicious cycle of bending over to the search algorithm has reduced most content on the internet into a nutritionless word salad. The density of knowledge in most articles I have read online is lower than that of the gray matter of Tito Ortiz (because he is dumb, not because he has CTE).

To make things worse, AI is exacerbating this.

Over the past couple of years, AI has invaded everywhere. Videos, podcast episodes, articles, and even LinkedIn comments seem to be machine-written. If you are a new writer, LLMs can write better than you!

Hence, most of the writers are resorting to leveraging AI to produce copy that adheres to the SEO guidelines of Google.

Furthermore, it’s quite easy to learn the basics of SEO to write good enough articles that pay the bills. From a writer’s perspective, the incentive to improve, from a job security standpoint, is diminishing, all things considered.

Of course, that tactic to remain an average run-of-the-mill SEO writer who produces keyword-rich drafts and guest posts isn’t rewarding in the long run. The income doesn’t increase much after a certain time and you are easily replaceable.

All of that has inspired me to write a book. My goal is to demonstrate what good articles are (through the quality of the chapters of this book itself) and introduce you to the art of persuasive writing. This will enable you to broaden your skillset and make more stacks.

Now, let's get straight into it.

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Chapters:

1. What It Means to Be Persuasive

2. How to Gain Persuasive Power Over an Audience

3. Writing Articles That Persuade: 5 Tips

4. Honing Your Persuasive Skills (4 C’s)

5. Difference Between Persuasion and Manipulation

6. Dark Persuasive Tactics: Lessons From Media, Religion, and Politics

7. 4 Hacks to Persuade Easily

8. Persuasive Writing: Everything You Need to Know

(the end)