Spending time studying the law, while upkeeping my skills in persuasive writing have led me to consider the power of compelling writing in driving positive change. The field of public policy has recently opened up to the notion of digital marketing and copywriting.
Want a policy pushed through or a change made to an existing policy?
Use the power of the people. Show how many people are rallying behind a specific cause. What better way to do that than to harness the power of our digital interconnectivity?
Copywriting, often used in the realm of marketing, is persuasive writing that is designed to appeal and drive action from the reader. Gone are the days where tacky slogans can rally people or convoluted pages of text can convince the public.
Organizations, nonprofits, humanitarian agencies, government agencies, think tanks, political parties, politicians, and companies, are now turning to persuasive messaging to connect with their targeted demographics and propel change.
How exactly are successful public policy organizations leveraging persuasive messaging?
It all starts off with market research. Getting the pulse of the people. This is where researchers and analysts are brought into play. Data is collected and key audiences are identified.
Then comes strategy development. Influential people, organizations, and impacted communities are identified. The best methods to reach these populations are identified.
For instance, larger organizations would likely be at high profile conferences and events. Presentations and speeches given on the targeted policy would have the potential to sway high profile individuals and organizations.
Impacted communities, activists, and volunteers, would best be reached via social media. Grabbing visuals and compelling posts that briefly describe the cause would garner attention amongst these populations.
The common thread throughout is the persuasive writing. Whether you are writing up a social media post or crafting a high profile presentation, how you say things matter.
How Can You Write Persuasively To Drive Policy Reform?
Here's a generalized template you can follow and tweak according to your needs.
Statement - Briefly describe the issue at hand. What is the overarching problem? What is currently working and what should be done next. This is like the abstract of the policy memo. You will paint a broad picture while incorporating the efforts and outcomes of a specific policy.
Evidence & Analysis - Provide data, research, and evidence for the issue at hand. This is where you can really get persuasive. Provide rationale for your chosen solution. Create a solid defense that also holds the reader's interest in some form. Depending on who you are writing the policy memo too, you want to make sure you make clear how the reader also benefits from your proposed policy plan. This upscales the persuasion factor.
Recommendations - Position your proposed plan and explain why and how it would work. What evidence do you have to back up your claims? How does your policy plan benefit as many targeted groups as possible? This is another chance to persuade and sway.
Conclusion - Briefly summarize the gist of your policy memo and remind the reader of the issue's importance. End the memo in a manner that drives motivation and potentially action from the reader.
If you have a marketing background or a rudimentary understanding of marketing, you will notice that the most basic policy memo format mirrors the AIDA framework often used in copywriting.
AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire, action. You first draw the reader's attention, hold their interest, instigate desire for your cause, and then subtly provoke them to take action.
Combining elements of persuasive writing or the AIDA framework with a well written policy memo can help you effectively propel your message to high profile stakeholders and targeted local communities!
So, if you work in public policy, or are simply a citizen campaigning for change, try fusing techniques from persuasive writing and classic policy writing to achieve a higher return on results!
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