Persuasive Writing: How To Write Persuasive Essays and Blogs

If you're a freelancer or small business owner and you have a blog, persuasive writing is vital to its success because words have power!

Therefore, whether you want your reader's to adopt your viewpoint or take a specific action, you're going to need persuasive writing.

What is persuasive writing?

Persuasive writing is the art and science of using the written word to convince readers to adopt your viewpoint. It's a powerful tool for changing minds and to get people to take a specific action. 

The three types of persuasive writing are: 

1. Ethical - which taps into your reader's sense of right and wrong. 
2. Logical - uses logical arguments, facts, and data.
3. Emotional - this targets the reader's emotions to gain his or her attention. 

Each type has its strengths and weaknesses, so it's important to know which one you're trying to accomplish before you start writing.

But more than that, it's important to understand,

• What makes people tick?
• What makes them feel? 
• Why do they care about certain issues? 

This knowledge allows you to craft a more effective message that will resonate with your readers and will let you write conversationally to engage your audience more.

Why do bloggers need to use persuasive writing techniques?

Do you want your blog to simply be a hobby or do you want it to be a real business earning you a passive income? 

If your goal is to build a real income generating business with your blog, learning how to write persuasively is vital.

You work hard to write blog posts, but if no one is interested in reading them, how do you feel? 

It sucks big time, doesn't it!

So, learning how to write persuasively is a must!

Which action do you want your audience to take?

• subscribing to your email list.
• booking a discovery call.
• buying your product or service. 
• downloading a lead magnet. 
• leaving a review of your product or service.

Therefore, in this post I'm going to focus on how to employ 4 persuasive writing tips focused on using logical facts, data, and arguments so you can improve the persuasiveness of your blog posts. 

Persuasive Writing Tip #1: Don't just make a claim, support it

Be clear about what you want to say and why you want to say it, but if you're making a claim you must have support for it.

For example, I could make the claim that most small businesses fail, but without any proof to support my claim, it's unlikely my readers will be convinced. 

However, if I quote and link to a trustworthy source to support my claim, you're likely to be convinced. 

Therefore, after a little research I am able to support my claim.

According to  research conducted by Fundsquire, in Canada "20% of businesses fail in their first year and around 60% will go bust within their first three years."

That's much more persuasive, isn't it!

Persuasive Writing Tip #2: Be crystal clear about what you’re saying

If your readers don't understand your message because they can't follow your line of thought and reasoning, you're going to have a difficult time convincing them of anything. 

You must remember that your readers come from all walks of life, and many of them may not have the same background or knowledge that you do.

How can you ensure your readers can follow you? 

Using transition words is an effective way to help them, for the following three reasons:

• First, transition words and expressions tie ideas together.
• Second, they show the relationships between ideas.
• Third, they keep your thoughts organized.

Transition words and phrases to improve your persuasive writing

Check out the transition words and phrases below and try using some of them in your blog posts to clarify your ideas and make them crystal clear to your readers.

To add an idea: first, second, third, next, in addition, moreover, furthermore, besides, as well.

To give an example: for example, for instance, as an illustration, to illustrate, as a case in point, in particular, in general, specifically.

To qualify a point: perhaps, probably, for the most part, many if not all.

To concede a point: granted, certainly, of course, no doubt, surely, naturally, although this may be true.

To emphasize a point: above all, in fact, especially, most importantly, equally important, primarily, mainly, most significant.

Persuasive Writing Tip #3: Use short paragraphs and sentences

Long paragraphs and sentences are great for novels and poetry, but for blog posts?

Not so much.

Why use short paragraphs and sentences?

• They make your posts easier to read.
•  Breaks up your persuasive writing into manageable chunks. 
• Readers get a chance to mentally digest the content before moving on.
• Most readers want concise, SCANNABLE content for the web.

If you'd like to learn more about writing posts that people love reading, I wrote about that subject here: Blog Posts People Love Reading. 

Persuasive Writing Tip #4: Include research and data to support your claims

You can make the claim that a particular product, idea, or service is the best, but claiming something is the best doesn't create trust or prove that it is.

On the other hand, persuasive writing means involves supporting your claim about something being the best with,

• facts
• figures
• testimonials from people who've actually benefited from it.

Moreover, getting experts who have conducted research, review their findings, and using that information to support your claims makes your message authoritative.

Authoritativeness is a powerful persuasive writing technique.

This will help establish trust with your readers, and they'll be more likely to try your product, idea, or service. 

What are examples of persuasive writing techniques?

For a great example of using the 4 persuasive writing tips I've highlighted for you in this post, I found the following article: "Your Guide To The Top 13 AI Writing Tools [We Tested The Best]."  

If you're looking for an AI writing tool and you're not sure which one you should be using to help you with:

• research
• blog posts 
• headlines 
• product descriptions 
• sales pages 
• long-form content 
• short-form content 
• social media ads and posts 
• value for the price

You'd benefit by reading this article written by Ashlea Hernandez, a writer, editor, and AI tester. 

She's an expert, she's a writer, and she tests a variety of AI writing tools and then provides her unbiased feedback on which tools are best for your purposes.

Ashlea has written a well-researched article on these tools and used all four of the persuasive writing tips that I've highlighted in this post.

So be sure to study her article to learn from Ashlea so you can improve your persuasive writing skills.

Check out this blog post: Persuasive Copywriting: The Shrewdly Clever Secret You Must Employ

Conclusion

Ultimately, persuasive writing is about putting the needs and interests of your readers first.

With the 4 persuasive writing tips I've highlighted in this post, you can start blogging with confidence.

Supporting your claims, writing with clarity, using shorter paragraphs and sentences, and including research and data, your blog posts will be effective, engaging, and persuasive.

These techniques can help you to get your message across and make sure your readers are paying attention.

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