Beginner copywriters get stumped trying to make copy that sells. They even become overwhelmed by looking at what the experts can do. Then beginners feel hopeless and inadequate. They feel like it is going to be an uphill battle making copy that can sell. What they don’t quite realize is that the pros are all masters of one sales formula: the PAS framework.
The PAS or pain, agitation, solution framework is the framework used to help guide a prospect towards buying a product. Here’s what PAS stands for:
Pain (problem) – Describe the problem or situation your prospect is in.
Agitation – Describe what is making this problem worse. List out agitations and stack them! Makes the situation dire!
Solution – The solution takes care of the problem and all of the agitations!
You’ve probably noticed that in the opening paragraphs I have used the PAS framework.
Pain – beginner copywriters find it hard to write copy.
Agitation – They even become overwhelmed by looking at what the experts can do. Then beginners feel hopeless and inadequate. They feel like it is going to be an uphill battle making copy that can sell.
Solution - The PAS framework makes creating high converting copy easy. The framework is a reliable tool to products. So when you apply it to your client’s ads they’ll convert. Because you did a good job you’ll get referrals.
Now lets dive deep into how the PAS framework works.
How PAS works
The PAS framework works simply. First you describe the problem or pain that a prospect is feeling. It is ideal to talk about the biggest problem that is really bugging them. The best way to find this out is of course to talk to your customers and see what they are telling you.
Next you describe the agitants. These are the results of not having their problem solved. This agitation is what motivates the customer to look for a solution. If you don’t emphasize their pain they won’t be as likely to cure their pain with your product.
Finally you describe the solution. This solution is the thing that cures your customer’s pain and removes all of the agitants. You want to paint a clear picture of your product solving your customers problem. Otherwise they won’t buy.
Why PAS works
If you’re new to the copywriting world you might be wondering why experts use this framework and why it works so well. The reason it works lies in consumer psychology.
After hundreds of years of marketing people have noticed trends about customers. Customers are more likely to try to cure their pain than they are to do something for gain. For example people who are overweight would rather take a pain pill to alleviate their joint pain problems. Even though if they exercised they would cure that problem naturally.
With that aspect of consumer psychology in mind its no wonder why people naturally buy as a result of this framework. It helps them understand that the product cures a pain or a problem they have been having.
Examples of PAS in the wild
To see this framework at work lets see how people in different industries are successfully using PAS to sell products.
Squat university abdomen instability exercises
Squat university is a youtube channel and website created for the purpose of helping people become stronger and healthier. You’ll see he mostly talks about the squat and how good it is for you. But there is a component that people don’t always get right when performing the squat: having a strong braced core.Not having a strong core (abs) can lead to problems when working out (problem). When you don’t have a strong core it can lead to your squat form suffering, your deadlifts creating back problems and your back popping for no reason (agitations). To cure these issues he recommends people follow the Mcgill big three exercises to strengthen your core and stabilize your spine (solution).
How to get the featured snippet (income school)
Bloggers need to get traffic to their blog (problem). They tend to do this through having lots of posts about a certain topic. However it can still be difficult to rank on google because of various mysterious reasons (agitation). People have heard about writing to get the featured snippet spot but even when they believe they answered the question adequately, google doesn’t always award them the snippet (agitation). But the folks over at Income School have a specific approach that they say provides better results than haphazardly creating posts.Their answer to getting search traffic is to work hard at getting the featured snippet (solution).
Why you would want a water fed pole instead of a squeegee
Window washers generally use squeegees to clean the windows on houses. However using the squeegee can take a long time (problem). Often they can’t clean a window with the correct angle which makes it difficult to effectively clean (agitation). Bushes and other objects that block a window washers way can cause further delays in the cleaning process or make it impossible to clean a window without a ladder (agitation).For the above reasons that’s why using a water fed pole is so useful (solution). The water fed poles are able to cut the time it takes to clean the windows on a house to just one hour. The water fed pole also is able to clean at better angles making it a more optimal choice. The water fed pole also comes with an incredibly long pole. Making difficult to reach windows, especially because of yard items, easy to clean.
How to make PAS more effective
Now that you know how PAS works and why it works you probably have tried to make some sales copy. Great! But maybe your copy didn’t convert as much as you’d like it to. Here are some ways you should try to make your copy more effective.
Describe the problem, then make it more clear.
Sometimes you lose people right at the beginning. You lost them at the stage where you are describing what the problem is. If you don’t make the problem absolutely clear then they’ll be left confused on what exactly this solution cures.When you are writing your first draft boil the problem down to just a few words in a single sentence. Here’s some examples:
- A weak core leads to back issues.
- Your blog does not get enough traffic.
- Using a squeegee to clean windows takes too much time.
Agitate the problem
It is one thing to clearly talk about the problem. However if the problem isn’t described as the biggest problem they’re facing that’s preventing them from living a fulfilling life then you will lose sales. Here are ways to agitate the problem more effectively.
List different agitants that make the problem worse.
One problem can have many effects or agitants that make someone’s life worse. Let’s use the example by Squat University of having a weak core. If your core is weak it can affect how effective your squat can be. But there are other ways a weak core can affect your life:-
A weak core can make sitting uncomfortable.
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A weak core can make other exercises not as effective.
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A weak core can cause injuries when doing exercises.
When you have these agitants listed out you can then address how each one affects the prospect. Who knows your prospect may have experience in one or all of those agitatnts. If they are experiencing these problems they are more likely to listen to what you have to say.
Explain in detail how the solution cures the problem
Beginner copywriters may not do a good enough job explaining how the solution cures the problem. That’s why it’s important to first talk about the solution, then go through every agitant listed and show how the solution cures the agitant.Leaving no stone unturned gives the perception that the solution is incredibly valuable. When you talk about every step, every pain, every possible outcome it is no wonder people buy. Your prospects will have no reason not to buy.
Common Mistakes with PAS
To help you avoid making mistakes here’s a list of mistakes you can go over to make sure you aren’t making a common mistake. These mistakes are so common for beginners who haven’t written much sales copy. Don’t worry though. In time, with enough practice you’ll instinctively avoid these mistakes that trip up other copywriters.
Not defining the problem well enough
When the problem is unclear, it is hard to know what the product actually solves.Let’s take this sentence for example:
- Weak abdominal muscles and poor form can cause spinal instability.
It is confusing what exactly is the problem weak abdominal muscles or poor form. Both of those things are problems but only one of them are what we are trying to talk about. Let’s simplify the problem statement like so:
- Weak abdominal muscles cause spinal instability.
There that’s better! Now we have a clear simple problem to work through. We can now think of a bunch of ways that this problem agitates someone’s life. And we can provide the solution, Mcgill big 3 exercises, to improve someone’s life.
Not talking about the problem that the customer wants to cure the most
Customers care the most about themselves. So if you talk about a problem that they aren’t experiencing they won’t listen.
Let’s return to the abdominal muscles example. If your prospect is experiencing pain while squatting they may be interested in the solution that would alleviate that pain. But if you lead with talking about how weak abdominal muscles cause poor form they are less likely to listen further. Instead talk about the most important, most painful problem first. Then talk about its agitants. You should get great results from this.
Not talking enough about the agitants. Really make it hurt!
If you only list one agitant in your problem you are doing your prospect a disservice.They might be experiencing multiple problems as a result of the main problem you are talking about. If you talk about multiple agitants then you will be able to better describe the situation that they are in. And as the old saying goes “If you can describe the problem clearly, people automatically believe you have the answer.”.
So make sure you are talking about all of the agitants or affects that not solving the problem can lead to.
Not painting a clear enough picture on how the solution solves the problem and the agitants.
If your description of the solution doesn’t adequately solve the agitation, people won’t buy.
Your description shouldn’t leave a reader wondering “How does that work?” or “Why does this solve that?”. If it does then you’ve created unclear copy which is the bane of any decent copywriter’s existence. Remember a confused mind will not decide. That means people won’t buy what you are offering.
So paint a clear picture of how your solution solves their problems.
Outcome (take away)
Now you know how to use the PAS framework to sell products. You understand how PAS works. You understand why it works and you’ve seen examples of it being used in the real world.
Before you read this article you probably didn’t know much about PAS or anything about it at all. Now you can go out and write highly effective copy that’ll sell more than you could have dreamed.
Tag me on twitter @theanthonyhowel because I’d love to see what you end up creating!