“Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal”

Pablo Picasso

If you are a copywriter…

Or want to become one…

Let me tell you that, COPYWRITING is an art.

An art of targeting the right human emotions using the power of words, to motivate, inspire, influence, persuade, or move people to act in a certain manner, towards a certain objective.

I am not saying this to manipulate people into taking whatever action you want…

…but if you use the art of copywriting in your business, you can turn your business into an ethical, legal(as your business already is), into an efficient and high revenue making machine.

Let me explain to you how…

Any marketing campaign needs three things to make itself successful:

1. Market
2. Media, and
3. Message

It is the third one, the message that is the most important because that message is for humans. Though the markets may vary for different businesses, and…

…media may change from Magazines to Instagram or Radio to Podcasts…

…it is the message that carries all the power.

Because in the end it is HUMAN BEINGS that will be reading your message, and…

Human Beings are bags full of emotions, roaming all around with their objections, solutions, problems, desires, pain points, goals, wishes, questions, hindrances, dreams, aspirations, missions, etc.

Human beings are constantly looking for something to make their lives better and it is your job to craft such messages that attract, interest, and engage them to buy your product or service that will let them achieve what they want.

But if you are reading this article after clicking on the headline about Copywriting Frameworks, you already know that writing a good copy is not that easy.

You know that you need to write a highly engaging copy for your business that connects directly with your audience but probably you are looking for something to ease your pain as a copywriter.

And the headline of this article is the solution to all your copy problems. FRAMEWORKS

Frameworks are systems that you can use whenever you want to create something, but not from scratch.

And if the frameworks are already tested and proven to be successful, then your copy problem is already solved.

But then the new problem that arises is:

Which framework to choose out of all available to attract the maximum amount of your target audience to your offers and encourage them to act the way you want to?

You need not worry because…

…I’ll be explaining below only the most widely accepted, and proven copywriting frameworks that have stood the test of time and delivered excellent results to businesses for half a century and still work…

…despite the change of mediums from traditional marketing to digital marketing. So let’s get to them…

5 Time Tested, Highly Effective Copywriting Frameworks That Convert

Copywriting frameworks just plain work.

They eliminate all the guesswork from crafting an engaging copy.

That is why you should be using them whenever you sit to write copy for any marketing asset. The first step is knowing what you are going to write a copy for.

Is it going to be a:

• A web page in general…
• A long-form sales page…
• A video sales letter (VSL)…
• An email…
• An ad…
• A tweet…
• A blog post…

Being clear about the type of material you want to be writing copy for will help you organize your messages for the most persuasive impact.

After you’ve got your messages organized, you can start working through the elements on the page, VSL, email, or blog post, or anything else that you’re writing.

You can then use the frameworks to write a better:

• Headline for a page OR a post (they’re different!!)
• Subheadline
• Explainer Video
• Value proposition
• Story
• Testimonial
• Bullet list
• Benefits
• Block of body copy
• CTA or button copy
• Subject line (for emails)
• Guarantee
• FAQs, etc.

Using the copywriting frameworks and filling in the blanks to craft copy for the required elements, you’re 90% of the way to completion.

Now it’s just a matter of optimizing your copy by applying persuasion principles to inspire, motivate, persuade, influence, drive, and move your target audience to your desired action.

This action can be either to:

• Comment on your social media post
• Like your Facebook page
• Follow you on Instagram
• Click on the link in your social media post that takes them to your landing page
• Fill up a form on the landing page
• Click on a button on the landing page
• Watch a video on the page
• Buy your product or service, etc.

Now that you know the different marketing assets that copywriting can be used for and…

…the different elements of a marketing asset for which copywriting needs to be done…

…let’s understand the most widely used copywriting frameworks that have the power to persuade your audience to act as you desire:

1. AIDA

This framework is one of the oldest out there.

Not only is this framework used for creating compelling copies, but the 4 principles it’s based on are also used to understand the flow of sales funnels for businesses.

American advertising pioneer Elmo Lewis developed the formula around 1900 for designing and writing adverts.

The idea behind AIDA is that the copy has to:

Attract the Attention of its audience…

Build Interest in their mind with unusual, counter-intuitive or fresh info… Create a Desire in their heart so they want what you’re offering, and… Encourage them to take Action

Check out this example to see how it works to inspire action that you want your readers to take:

This framework is so important that you should see not just one, but two examples to understand its importance.

Take a look at this one from Moz:

This framework is so popular that a lot of other copywriting frameworks have been created as reincarnations of this framework.

If you’ve understood how to use AIDA framework now, then you can use the other variations as well, because they follow a similar process:

• ACCA (Awareness – Comprehension – Conviction – Action)
• AIDPPC (Attention – Interest – Description – Persuasion – Proof – Close)
• IDCA (Interest – Desire – Conviction – Action)
• AAPPA (Attention – Advantage – Proof – Persuasion – Action)

Want to Get Better Engagements With Your Copy?

Use the AIDA framework to create compelling copies for almost any marketing asset like social m edia posts, stories, testimonials, product reviews, etc.

It has been proven to be the most effective copywriting framework of all time.

Go ahead and create your first copy using this framework Now.

Did you notice what I did there? The 4 lines above this one represent the use of AIDA. Isn’t it cool how easily you can use it almost anywhere?

Now, let’s move on to the next one to add in your copywriting secrets cookbook…

2. FAB

I have seen a lot of product descriptions on eCommerce sites and a lot of sales pages touting their own horns about how the different features of their product are the best in the market and how the technical specifications of the product are the best.

Let me tell you, your customer doesn’t care about you.

He cares about himself and your product descriptions and sales pages need to convey that. This is where this framework can help you write better copy, focused on the user and not you. Here’s what it stands for:

Features – What your product or service can do for your target audience

Advantages – How and why is that helpful to your target audience

Benefits – What does it mean for your target audience

FAB reminds you to always focus on customers.

Your customers aren’t interested in features, and they aren’t interested in specifications, they don’t even care about advantages.

All they want to know is what you offer to them.

To create interest in and desire for your product you need to home in on the benefits you offer to your reader.

Buffer provides this great example of FAB in action in one simple Tweet:

Feature: Social media management

Advantage: Get help scheduling updates

Benefit: Get more clicks

Here’s one more example to help you understand:

Here, HubSpot highlights their software using the FAB formula:

“With HubSpot’s marketing, sales, and CRM software, you can grow like a company twice your size while connecting like a real human being.”

Features: Marketing, sales, and CRM software that help manage your “pipeline”

Advantages: Grow like a company twice your size

Benefits: Connect like a real human being

This framework makes it easy to convince your audience about why your product is the best for them. So remember:

Benefits Sell.

Sell the Sizzle, Not The Steak Clear?

Great.

Moving on to the third framework that will kindle the emotions in your audience so badly that they will be forced to act. This framework is…

3. PAS

This framework is a way to organize all your voice-of-customer research into marketing copy that gets sales. It stands for:

Problem – Identify a Problem

Agitate – Agitate the problem

Solve – Solve the problem

If you can lay out your audience’s problem using the same words they would use, push that pressing problem harder by bringing it up again and, then going deeper, what do you think your audience will feel?

In a dying need of a solution to avoid that pain, isn’t it?

And that is exactly what you should do by presenting your offer as the solution to the problem you’ve just described.

Don’t believe me? No problem.

But you should believe when Dan Kennedy says this:

“When you understand that people are more likely to act to avoid pain than to get gain, you’ll understand how powerful this first formula is. (…) It may be the most reliable sales formula ever invented.”

PAS is powerful because problems can attract even more attention than benefits.

People want to avoid pain, hassle, risks, glitches, and problems.

As an example ask yourself, why are you even reading this article right now?

You wanted to write effective copy, right?

And you wanted to avoid the pain of your copy not performing well enough to get you the results you desired.

So when I offered to present you with the time tested copywriting frameworks that not only guarantee engaging copy using persuasion principles but also speed up the writing process…

…you are here reading this line, 1700+ words down the article.

This is how you need to think about your customer as well while writing copy…

…and this one framework can help you achieve that in a few minutes if you have done your market research well.

The next important and widely used copywriting framework is called…

4. The 4 P’s

The 4 P’s in this framework stands for:

Picture

Promise

Prove

Push

As I stated above, every copywriter needs to know the objections, problems, pain points, goals, wishes, questions, hindrances, dreams, aspirations, missions of the audience he is writing copy for…

…because it is only then can he engage with the audience and offer them something that will help move from their current state to the state they want to be in.

Infact effective copywriting involves showing someone a picture of a desirable income.

And using the 4P copywriting framework you can deliver happiness to your potential readers and customers. Here’s how:

Picture: Create a vivid scene that your prospects can easily put themselves in, whether about an existing pain or an aspirational future…

Promise: State how your solution will end that painful scene or bring that aspirational scene to life for them…

Prove: Support your promise!

What are the consequences if you fail to do as promised? Who else has already seen you keep your promise, and how?

What can you demonstrate to skeptics that your solution is easily going to ensure the promise is kept?

Push: Nudge the prospect to take action…

By building your copy based on these 4 P’s you will definitely strike a chord in your prospects minds and will be able to convince them to take your desired action.

Check out this example by CampaignMonitor about how 4P Framework can be used to craft great emails:

Movin on to the 5th framework that is one of the most popular and widely used is called…

5. PASTOR

You might know that the original meaning of the word “pastor” is “to shepherd.” And what does the shepherd do?

He or she cares for, feeds, and protects the flock.

Isn’t that what a copywriter should do for its target audience as well?

To adopt the same loving, caring, and protective role towards your target audience…

Well this framework helps you do just that.

Here’s what PASTOR stands for:

P – Person and the Problem

A – Amplification

S – Story

T – Testimony

O – Offer

R – Response and Results

You must begin by identifying the problem that you are solving.

The more accurately you can describe your reader’s problem in terms they relate to, the more they instinctively feel that you must have an answer to that problem.

The next step is to amplify the consequences of not solving the problem.

What will motivate people to buy your product, invest in your service, or accept your idea is usually not just the beautiful outcome framed in a positive light…

It is rather, realizing the consequences of not attaining that outcome.

The first two steps of this framework are similar to the steps in the PAS copywriting framework

After you are done with describing the problem in detail and establishing the consequences of not solving it, now comes the time to tell the story.

This is where the magic happens.

As a copywriter your job is to create stories related to the customer pain points and how the product you are writing for can help solve it.

It might be the story of how the product/service helped you finally solve this persistent problem, or…

…it might be the story of how the product/service helped a client or customer discover the solution, or any kind of story that could relate your product to the problem of the customer.

You need to remember that Storytelling is the oldest of Human Arts.

Human Beings are wired to get attracted to stories.

When written well, humans remember them by their hearts, subconsciously.

So make sure you nail this step of the framework and the rest will be easy.

The next key step in writing your copy is to remember that whatever you’re selling…

…what people are buying is not the “stuff,” it’s the transformation.

So include testimonials from people about how the product/service solved the problems for them.

This step makes people believe that they are not the only ones or the first ones to use your product or service.

This eliminates the hesitation to buy from you, along with building trust and proof that your product or service works.

Are you getting how powerful a copy using this framework can turn out?

Great.

So far, you have defined the problem, clarified the cost of not solving it, told the story of the solution, and helped your reader visualize the transformation through testimonials from others just like themselves.

Now is the time to describe exactly what you are offering for sale.

This is the section of your copy where you lay out your offer.

What is that you are selling and at what cost and the other bonuses and guarantees you are offering.

This step is easy as you know this since the start.

After this comes the last step of the framework.

This is the moment of glory. The ask.

What do you want your user or reader to do?

Ask them for it.

Not in a pushy way, but in a problem-solving and ethically persuasive way.

Remind them of the consequences of not solving the problem again and then present your CTA. That’s it.

This is how the PASTOR framework can be employed to create effective copy that will convert.

How to Go From Novice to Master

You can write the most beautiful copy in the world, but if your copy doesn’t address your web visitors’ needs and problems, you’ve wasted your time with writing.

The only way to write powerful web copy is to understand what makes your reader tick.

Know the pain points you can solve. Understand the fears you need to overcome. Appreciate the desires you can fulfill.

Along with that, when you master copywriting fundamentals, you’ve effectively mastered one of the most valuable marketing skills.

And the first step to mastery is learning the frameworks. In this post you have learned 5 of the:

🚀 Most Powerful..

🚀 Time Tested..

🚀 Proven to Convert…

🚀 Highly Effective…

Copywriting Frameworks, that can make a huge difference to how you market your product or services.

Just by using these 5 frameworks in your:

✅ Headlines

✅ Subject Lines

✅ Blog Post Intros

✅ Sales Letters

✅ Social Media Posts

✅ Videos

✅ Ads, etc.

… your marketing message will be powerful enough to make an impact in your target audience. Now who wouldn’t want that for his business, right?

But this is not all.

Apart from these 5, there are a lot of other time-tested frameworks you can follow for successful copywriting.

While frameworks will get you miles ahead of where you’d otherwise be, they’ll only get you started.

Mastery comes through practice, continuing over time.

So even though copywriting is tough, you can make it a whole lot easier on yourself (and better) by employing frameworks explained above.

If you have learned these frameworks for the first time or have been using some other frameworks while writing your copy, do share your story in the comments below.