When it comes to copywriting, it is important to make the message concise and persuasive. Irrespective of the industry in which your business is, effective communication is what drives sales. Therefore, compelling copywriting is crucial for business success. Copywriting frameworks are extremely helpful in this regard.
Copywriting frameworks provide a predetermined set of questions that you can ask yourself when generating a copy. By using the framework of your choice, you can make sure that your content/message is focused and persuasive. Copywriting frameworks take the guesswork out of the equation and provide you with a step-by-step guide to create strong content/message every time.
Having said that, here are a few different copywriting frameworks that you can consider using in order to drive clicks and engagement on social media & blogs
18 Copywriting Frameworks to Drive Engagement
1: Features-Advantages-Benefits (FAB)
This copywriting framework is best suited for writing product or service descriptions. The FAB framework helps highlight the features that are specific to a product or service and demonstrate how these features are beneficial to customers.
This is how the framework works:
Feature: You can introduce customers to a feature of the product or service you offer
Advantage: Explain what benefits the particular feature offers to your customers
Benefit: Explain how the feature helps your customers solve their problems or achieve their goals
The goal is to highlight the features that can have an impact on your target customers and then demonstrate how they can add value.
Example
Feature: My online course comes with more than 50 hours of high-definition, easy-to-follow video lessons
Advantage: You can decide the schedule and go through the lessons at your convenience and pace anywhere in the world
Benefit: No need to waste time travelling and no pre-set class times! Save money and time! Get high-quality education!
2: Problem-Agitate-Solution (PAS)
The PAS framework is one of the most popular frameworks, especially as far as direct response copywriters are concerned. This framework helps you attract the attention of readers by highlighting a problem that may be bothering them and then making them feel the pain of living with it. Finally, you can offer a solution in the form of either a product or a service.
The framework works as follows:
Problem: Introduce a problem that your product or service can solve
Agitate: Highlight the negative consequences of not solving the problem
Solution: Then, tell your audience how your product or service can solve the problem
The PAS framework works best when you focus on the negative consequences a problem can cause. This, in turn, may persuade your readers to buy your product or service.
Example
Problem: Are you fed up with being overweight? Have you tried different diets and exercise programs, but nothing has worked?
Agitate: Obesity can cause many health problems such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Do you feel terrible because of your appearance? Do you feel helpless when it comes to losing weight and getting into shape?
Solution: Our weight loss program is designed specifically for people like you. Unlike other programs, our program focuses on reducing variations in hormonal levels and helps you get the results you desire. Lose weight, feel fit, and feel great!
3: Problem-Promise-Proof-Proposal (PPPP)
The PPPP copywriting framework is perfect for writing stories and creating sales pages, as it is designed to encourage your audience by drawing their attention to a problem they face, making a promise that your product or service helps them solve the problem, offering case studies or testimonials, and finally sending a proposal (your offer).
Here’s how this framework works:
Problem: Highlight a problem that your product or service is capable of solving
Promise: Show your audience how your product or service solves their problem
Proof: Provide proof for your claims
Proposal: Tell your audience what your offer is
Focus on a problem that is troubling your audience in order to effectively use the framework.
Example
Problem: Do you hate your job and feel stuck? Are you finding it difficult to make both ends meet? Are you concerned about your future?
Promise: I can help you create a rewarding online business. You can decide your schedule as it offers the flexibility to work from wherever you are in the world. No prior experience, technical skills, or initial investment is required!
Proof: I have helped more than 1,000 people set up online businesses and more than 80 percent of them have been able to replace incomes from their jobs in about six months! Here are a few testimonials…
Proposal: Are you ready to take the plunge and change your life? Invest in my course! Become a successful online business owner!
4: Attention-Interest-Desire-Action (AIDA)
AIDA, one of the most popular copywriting frameworks, follows a four-step process to encourage your audience to take action.
Attention: Start with an attention-grabbing statement
Interest: Ensure engagement by providing interesting and relevant information
Desire: Highlight the benefits of your product or service to create a strong desire
Action: Encourage your audience to take action (make it easy for them to take action)
The versatile AIDA framework is very versatile, so you can use it for everything from email subject lines to social media posts and sales letters. Advertisers most commonly use the AIDA copywriting framework.
Example
Attention: Looking to buy a hair straightener? Buy ghd platinum+, the smartest product on the market!
Interest: Works on predictive ultra-zone™ technology, recognizes hair thickness, determines styling speed, and monitors temperature (250 times/second) to maintain optimum heat! Get healthy, glossy hair in one stroke!
Desire: Rounded barrel for enabling easy curling and creating waves! Achieve salon-style straightening at home! Sleek design!
Action: Buy ghd platinum+ today!
5: SLAP Framework: Stop, Look, Act, Purchase
Created by David Ogilvy, one of the all-time great copywriters, the SLAP framework helps you achieve successful outcomes. The four elements of SLAP are:
Stop: Write the opening sentence or headline to grab the attention of your target audience
Look: Highlight your offer or product/service benefits to ensure engagement
Act: Tell your audience what to do through a call to action
Purchase: Highlight the guarantee (risk reversal offer) to remove concerns or hesitation to take action
The simple SLAP framework presents you with an effective way of writing a persuasive copy.
Example
Stop: Are you stuck in a job that does not guarantee any growth?
Look: There’s a way to get out of the rut! Learn to start a business and become an employer!
Act: Register today for my free course! Start your business right!
Purchase: Don’t wait and waste time! Enroll today! I guarantee that it will help you succeed!
6: Before-After-Bridge (BAB)
The BAB copywriting framework is commonly used to create a direct response copy. Its design is such that it persuades your audience by showing them how life was before they purchased your product or service and how life will be after they have bought your product or service.
Here’s how the framework works:
- Before: Highlight a problem that your product or service is capable of solving
- After: Show them how your product or service makes life easy for them
- Bridge: Tell them your product or service is the bridge between before and after situations
If you want the BAB framework to work for you, it is important to highlight the difference between the previous and current situations.
Example
Before: Do you feel cold through the day during winter? Dread getting out of your bed?
After: How would it be to feel warm and cozy in your bedroom? How would you feel if you can jump out of your bed and start your day without feeling cold? You don’t have to feel cold all day! Instead of bundling up in your housecoat, you can wear the cute sweater you have always wanted to wear!
Bridge: The ceramic space heater Lasko 754200 makes it happen for you! This winter add extra warmth to your home! Buy the easy-to-use heater that comes in a compact design!
7: Awareness-Comprehension-Conviction-Action (ACCA)
This framework takes your audience on a journey from recognizing a challenge or problem to fully understanding it and believing that you offer the best solution. This helps them take the action you want your audience to take. The ACCA copywriting framework is frequently used in creating long-form copies and video sales letters (VSLs).
This is how it works:
Awareness: It all starts with you introducing your audience to a problem they are not aware of. This helps to grab their attention.
Comprehension: You then help your audience get a better understanding of the challenge.
Conviction: The next step is to convince them that you offer a solution for the problem by providing evidence and logically supporting your claims.
Action: Finally, you encourage your potential customers to take action (purchase your product or service).
Taking your audience on a journey from recognition of a problem to believing that you offer the best solution increases the chances of them buying your product or service.
Example
Awareness: Are you aware that the harmful blue light emitted by your laptop screen can cause sleep disturbances? Are you struggling with sleep problems? Your laptop screen’s blue light may be the reason!
Comprehension: Exposure to blue light at night can affect melatonin production, making it difficult for you to sleep. Our brains confuse blue light with daylight and send messages telling our bodies to stay alert.
Conviction: It is clinically proven that glasses that block blue light can solve the problem! Wearing these glasses reduces the impact of blue from your laptop screen and helps you sleep better at night.
Action: Buy our glasses now, reduce the impact of blue light from your laptop screen, and get the sleep you deserve. Our customers love our glasses! We are sure you will like them too.
8: The 4Cs: Clear, Concise, Compelling, Credible
This framework helps to create any copy, from email subject lines to website content. It provides you with a way to brainstorm and organize thoughts. This, in turn, helps you to create an effective and persuasive copy.
The 4Cs framework works as follows:
Clear: Write an easy-to-understand, no-jargon copy using simple language
Concise: Ensure that your copy is brief (free from filler words or fluff) and to the point
Compelling: Provide arguments to ensure that your case is strong and use persuasive language
Credible: Substantiate your claims with expert opinions and data
Example
Are you looking to buy a new car? Then, you must check out the latest models we are offering. With many vehicles and models to choose from, you will find one that suits your needs. Besides, we offer vehicles at very competitive prices. Furthermore, our vehicles are technologically superior and offer the latest safety features. This is to ensure that you and your family remain safe on the road! Moreover, we hold the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration certification.
So, if you are shopping for a new car, visit our showroom today!
9: Star-Story-Solution (SSS)
This copywriting framework is very helpful in personal brand building as well as writing video sales letters (VSLs) or scripts, and social media posts. The SSS helps you to narrate a relatable story, highlighting a problem faced by your audience and providing a solution by way of one of your products or services.
This framework works as follows:
Star: Start by introducing your audience to the star (you, a customer, or a fictional character) of your story
Story: Narrate a relatable story as regards a challenge faced by the star
Solution: Highlight how your product or service solves the star’s challenge
The key to achieving results when using the SSS framework is to ensure that your story is highly relatable.
Example
Star: Stay-at-home mom Mary’s dream is to her own business
Story: Mary did try her luck at setting up a few online businesses. However, she has not been able to achieve success. She is frustrated and feels stuck.
Solution: Mary decides to enroll for our course on setting up online businesses. Within months of completing the course, she successfully launches her online business. Apart from making money, she enjoys the flexibility her online business offers.
10: Danny Iny’s 6+1 Formula
The 6+1 Formula, invented by Firepole Marketing’s Danny Iny, is a copywriting framework that helps you create persuasive and actionable copy. It’s best suited for writing sales emails, sales letters, and advertising copy. It has six essential elements. The bonus element that comes with it makes your copy more effective.
The six crucial elements are:
Context: Knowing who you are writing for and why you are writing a copy
Attention: Grabbing the attention of your audience via headline, subject line, story, opening sentence, or a promise
Desire: Understanding the wants and pain points of your audience and how you can help them overcome pain points and achieve their goals
The Gap: Closing the gap based on where your leads are now and where exactly they want to be
Solution: Offering your product or service as the most appropriate solution
Call-to-Action: Guiding your leads to the next step through a strong and clear CTA
Credibility is the bonus element. It includes everything you can do to build trust in your brand.
Example
Context: My email to subscribers who are not able to grow their online businesses
Attention: Going through a growth rut? Here is some good news specifically for you!
Desire: If you are looking to grow your business and make more money and achieve your goals, what you need is a proven system that you can follow
The Gap: The absence of a system can be frustrating. You will not be able to achieve the success level you want
Solution: I can provide you with a solution! The step-by-step system is designed to get you out of the rut and grow your business
Call to Action: Save yourself from frustration! Sign up for my plan today!
Credibility: My solution comes with a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee!
11: String of Pearls
This framework helps you create a series of examples or stories, illustrating a larger point. The String of Pearls framework is perfect for creating a stand-alone copy or list. It is suitable for writing a short copy (social media posts, product descriptions, etc.) as well.
This framework does not stipulate any specific structure. However, it is best to make each story lead your audience to the larger picture you are trying to convey. This means the stories should be placed chronologically, randomly, or logically as long as the connection between stories conveys the overall message.
Example
There are many reasons to love this city:
- Availability of all types of cuisine from street food to fine dining
- Friendly and welcoming people irrespective of where you are from
- There are many things to see and experience
Whether you want a great dining place, to meet friendly people, or see amazing sights, they are all there in this city. Come and experience it for yourself!
12: So What? (SW)
The design of the “So What?” framework is such that it helps your audience understand the consequences of a problem and how they can overcome the same through your product or service. This framework is most commonly used to write VSLs and long-form copy, as it allows users to quickly provide a large amount of information.
The “So What?” framework works as follows:
Introduces your audience to a problem first
Then explains the consequences of not solving the problem
Finally, shows them how they can overcome the problem through your product or service
Example
Most people don’t ingest enough fibre through diet and this causes various health problems (constipation, diarrhoea, bloating, and weight gain).
So What? Are you experiencing health problems? Are you finding it difficult to lose weight? Lack of fibre in your diet could be the problem!
Our high-fibre cereal boosts your fibre intake. One serving of the cereal provides 25 percent of the recommended daily fibre intake. Besides, our delicious cereal comes in multiple flavours. Try it today!
13: The 4 Us: Useful, Urgent, Unique, Ultra-specific
The 4Us framework is ideal when you want to give your audience a slight push to your audience to click a link, buy your product or service, or take whatever action that leads to a conversion.
Here’s how the 4 Us framework works:
Useful: The 4 Us framework helps you to straight away get to the main point, which is how your product or service can help your audience, as most readers may not have the time to go through your entire message.
Urgent: Incorporating some kind of urgency in your ad copy encourages your audience to take action. Urgency can be created, without being pushy, by extending time-limited discounts and offers, additional features to early adopters, etc.
Unique: Highlighting the unique features of your product or service in the most concise form possible
Ultra Specific: Targeting an extremely specific set of audiences through your ad copy or offering something to perform a specific function
Example
Register for my webinar on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. All your questions on SEO will be answered, irrespective of the time needed. Only 10 seats left! Click here.
14: A FOREST: Alliteration, Facts, Opinions, Repetition, Example, Statistics, Threes
This powerful copywriting framework helps create persuasive and effective ad copy. It works as follows:
Alliteration: Repeating the same sound in starting words of a phrase or sentence helps you create an impactful, attention-grabbing headline that encourages engagement
Facts: Providing accurate and relevant evidence adds credibility to your message
Opinions: Using opinions to emotionally connect with your audience
Repetition: Using repetition is a powerful way of not only reinforcing a message but also making it memorable (emphasizing key points or creating a sense of urgency).
Examples: Providing examples helps to illustrate a concept or point
Statistics: Demonstrating the effectiveness of your product or service through statistical evidence
Threes: Repeating something thrice emphasizes something and helps your audience remember it
Example
Luxurious lakefront apartment! Warm wooden flooring! King-sized kitchen! Click here for more details.
In the above example, alliteration, repetition, and threes are used to get the audience to click on the provided link. Just a few words are used to persuade readers to take action.
15: The 5 Basic Objections
People come up with five basic objections as responses to proposals or suggestions. They are:
I don’t have enough time
I don’t have enough money
It won’t work for me
I don’t believe you
I don’t need it
It may be difficult to overcome these objections, as they are rooted in uncertainty and fear, but not impossible. Some suggestions to overcome objections are:
I don’t have enough time: Make tasks seem less complex by breaking them down into easier and smaller steps
I don’t have enough money: Offering financing options or payment plans makes a purchase seem more affordable
It won’t work for me: Providing additional resources (tutorials, support services, etc.) makes your audience feel more comfortable with the process
I don’t believe you: Providing reviews and customer testimonials to demonstrate the quality of your product or service
I don’t need it: Providing additional information might help them develop a better understanding of the concept and your product or service.
Addressing these basic objections helps you create a compelling copy.
Example
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16: The Why: Why customers should trust you, Why customers should buy from you
Trust is the key to driving loyalty and achieving business success. To earn trust, companies must recognize and respect their audience and provide them with relevant and personalized experiences. You can help your customers build trust by giving top priority to customers, being transparent, sharing customer feedback, connecting with customers, and investing in your employees.
There are many reasons why prospective customers would buy your product or service. They include:
- The uniqueness of your brand, product, or service
- Your unique selling proposition
- Trust in your company
- The price of your product or service
- The quality of your product or service
- Ease of access
- How well you sell your product or service (experience)
17: AICPBSAWN: Attention, Interest, Credibility, Prove, Benefits, Scarcity, Action, Warn, Now
This framework helps to create your sales copy in a structured manner, ensure that your audience doesn’t miss out, and motivate them to take the right action.
Attention: Highlighting the USP, biggest benefit, or the nagging problem that your product or service can solve grabs the attention of your audience
Interest: Providing relevant and valuable information keeps them interested in whatever you are saying
Credibility: Ensuring quality and meeting promises enhance your company’s credibility
Prove: Providing proof to your claims enhances customers’ trust
Benefits: Highlighting the benefits of your product or service often helps to answer your customers’ question “what’s in it for me?”
Scarcity: Creating a feeling of scarcity encourages your audience to take action
Action: Leading your audience to the next step through calls to action helps them take the action you want them to take
Warn: Providing a warning as to what happens if your audience doesn’t take action serves to create a sense of urgency
Now: Motivating your audience to take action now helps you achieve desired outcomes
The AICPBSAWN framework covers everything and is best used for creating long-form sales letters.
Example
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18: OATH Formula
The OATH formula covers the four stages of awareness about your product, service, or idea: oblivious, apathetic, thinking, and hurting.
This formula acts as a guide when creating your copy. This is because it helps you to focus on your audience and their needs. The OATH copywriting framework helps you design your copy based on the stage in which your audience is with respect to awareness of your product or service. The spectrum ranges from a complete lack of awareness (oblivious) to those desperately looking for a solution (hurting).
Example
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Conclusion
We hope an understanding of a few copywriting frameworks would inspire you to explore and start creating a more persuasive and effective copy. The key to success is identifying a framework that works best for you as well as your business. You may have to try and test some of these frameworks and tweak them until you achieve the results you desire.
