4 Ps of persuasive copywriting

Copywriting is all about persuasion. You need to convince and convert people.

Easier said than done, right?

If just writing words on paper (or web page) could persuade people, everybody would be a successful copywriter.

Your readers are cynical, especially when you are asking them to part with their money.

In fact, there is so much content to consume on the Internet that even if you offer them something for free, they are going to take their attention somewhere else if you don’t offer them something convincing, in a highly persuasive manner.

4 Ps of persuasive copywriting can help you convince and convert people.

What are 4 Ps of persuasive copywriting?

Frankly, what these 4 Ps stand for depends on who is explaining them, but they can be expanded as

• Problem
• Promise
• Proof
• Proposal

Problem

• Mention in the beginning what problem the reader is facing.
• Current content is not improving search engine rankings?
• Website copy is not converting?
• No response on social media?
• Website design is uninspiring?
• No response from emails?

I am listing these problems from the perspective of my content writing and copywriting services.

Your target audience may have its own set of problems.

When you mention the problem at the beginning the reader can immediately relate and is drawn to what you want to say next.

Everybody wants a solution to their problem.

I mean, if you don’t have good search engine rankings, don’t you want to improve them?

Promise

After mentioning the problem, you promise to solve it.

Through your copywriting, you can improve conversion rate.

Through optimized content writing, you can improve search engine rankings.

Through convincing writing for email, you can improve email marketing response rate.

You can write persuasively.

You can use power words.

You can write compelling headlines.

You can hook readers.

You can lead them from casual interest to being paying customers and clients.

Proof

Proof comes through testimonials and recommendations.

You can mention websites (again, I’m writing from the perspective of someone who offers content writing and copywriting services) you have written content for.

You can use your portfolio.

You can tell the reader how much experience you have.

You can mention your methodology.

Proposal

By now your readers are ready to receive your proposal.

What do you intend to deliver?

How are you going to solve their problem?

What is the guarantee that you will solve the problem?

Do you offer some protection against your promise (I offer them a no obligation free sample).

These 4 Ps of persuasive copywriting can be used as a standard template and in most of the cases, this template will serve you well.