The 4P’s - A Persuasive Writing Structure

Having done a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies, I’m always interested in communication forms and strategies of all types.

Over at www.CopyBlogger.com I found a great article on “The 4P’s” that aims to create a persuasive writing structure.  I can see this structure being relevant to speech as well as writing, so this could have some interesting applications.

From the post:

Persuasion is not about coercion or manipulation (we’ll leave that to the politicians). As Sean D’Souza wisely says in his training programs, persuasion is about understanding. Understanding leads to acceptance when the product is relevant and high-quality, and when the idea is sound and well-targeted.

Selected quotes on The 4P’s:

1. Promise - This promise is “what’s in it for them.” Yes you want their attention, but the promise is the only reason the reader is willing to give it to you.
2. Picture - You’re fleshing out the promise and beneficial payoff using vibrant descriptive language.  The Picture phase suggests using storytelling and vivid descriptive imagery as a way to hold the reader’s emotional interest while you nudge them down the path to acceptance.
3. Proof - Now’s the time to play it straight and appeal to the reader’s logical mind to support the emotional triggers you pulled with the Picture.
4. Push - The Push phase is more than just a call to action. It’s delivering an outstanding offer in a promotion, and then asking for the purchase.

In my usage I would tend to think of “push” and “purchase” in a different sense than most copywriters, but this is a cool little approach that may yet prove to be effective.