Summarize:

In order to have a valid argument, you need to make sure that your evidence is accurate and factual. Basing your satire on something that isn't true will only discredit you now and in the future. Thorough research is vital. The way you present these facts is just as important. Typically, you should make sure that the facts are either completely right or completely wrong. Presenting true facts in the midst of sarcastic remarks and ironic scenarios will give your argument support, but weaving in one incorrect fact can put your entire argument in question. On the other hand, getting all the facts wrong, and making them obviously wrong, suggests that you know the truth of the matter and are intentionally getting things wrong to make your point. Your audience needs to understand what you are trying to say. Fancy words are only impressive to other people with vast vocabularies, and substituting someone's name for a fake name only works if you provide enough detail to let the reader know who you are talking about. One way to come up with a fake name for someone is to use a name that is close to the original name while providing details that match those of the actual person. Your humor should have an edge when writing satire, but you should avoid being downright vicious, even if you are writing with a Juvenalian tone. For example, you can draw a connection between a singer's number of breakup songs and her number of ex-boyfriends, and that can work. Implying that the same singer is somehow unlovable, however, starts becoming too vicious to be funny. The best satire is very literate and mature. Being obscene tends to make you seem juvenile and childish, which undermines the validity of your argument. Obscenity is usually pretty easy to identify and stay away from. For example, excessive swearing, vulgar remarks about an individual's mother or hygiene, or implications about one's private bedroom matters are usually off limits. Good satire is subtle, rather than being over-the-top. When you make a satirical argument for something, it should be in a serious or matter-of-fact tone. Even though satire needs to be obvious, unlike other types of humor, it requires a sophisticated and mature tone in order to really work. One of the easiest ways to write satire is to take the exact opposite stance as the one you are actually trying to take. In doing so, you can show how preposterous the opposing side actually is. Refer back to Swift's A Modest Proposal. He wrote from the perspective of someone who used humanitarianism to justify acts that were very inhumane and, in doing so, shined the spotlight on people in his society that used the same methodology in less dramatic ways.
Check your facts. Keep your writing simple. Balance the border between vicious and sharp. Avoid obscenity. Pretend to be serious. Turn a story upside-down.