Three Powerful Copywriting Formulas To Create Copy That Converts

Copywriting / 23 Jun 2022

Is your email campaign enjoying fantastic open rates but dismal clickthroughs? Are your landing pages getting a flurry of web traffic but a paltry few conversions? You may be in need of some stellar conversion copywriting. 

That’s copy specifically designed to get readers to convert, whether that’s signing up, clicking buy or any other call to action you have in mind. And that’s where copywriting formulas come in.

These supremely powerful formulas are what professional copywriting services always have front of mind. They offer tried and tested structures to help you create conversion-crushing copy.

Plus, they work across all copy types, from emails to landing pages and many more. 

Before we dive into exactly what these copywriting frameworks involve, let’s take a closer look at what you stand to gain by using them. 

Why use copywriting formulas?

Using a tried and tested copywriting formula guarantees you a few things: 

• A template for putting together effective, attention-grabbing copy
• Confidence in achieving the engagement you want
• Consistent quality across your marketing content

The structures included in this round-up have one thing in common: they’re all acronyms. And honestly, there are some ridiculous acronyms out there. AICPBSAWN, for example. 

Attention, Interest, Credibility, Proof, Benefits, Scarcity, Action, Warn, Now. 

It’s a miracle if you remember the acronym, let alone the words that the letters stand for. 

But, the point is, no matter how complicated the acronym, the same key ideas crop up, time and time again. 

1. You need to grab your audience’s attention with an offer or promise they can’t refuse.
2. You need to provide proof of your claims.
3. You need to nudge your audience towards a perfectly crafted call to action, with so much grace and decorum that they’ll actually want you to take them there.

Do these three things and you’ll get results. It’s why copywriting services, who are pros at working with these conversion structures, are an increasingly popular investment. 

Conversion structures help you pick out the right details and assemble them in the most persuasive order.

So, let’s dive into our three favourite copywriting formulas.

PASOS copywriting

PASOS is a variation on the better-known PAS technique. While it shares the same initial three steps, PASOS will give your copy added pizazz and your clients a few extra reasons to engage. 

The rigidity of PASOS gives writers specific points to tackle and teases out the finer points of your business branding.

Pain

The first part of any conversion journey is identifying why your target customer needs your product. This is the pain point, and it will often also be your USP. 

Ask yourself: what initial problem am I looking to solve for my customers? 

For example, if you’ve reached this page because you’d like to improve the conversion rates of your marketing emails, then a pain point for you will be that the average click-through rate on emails is just 2.6% (yikes), which means that a lot of your marketing team’s hard work is falling on deaf ears.

This is the problem you need to overcome, and your customer will have one too. Your first copywriting task is to describe this pain. Vividly. 

Agitate

Once you have identified the pain, play on it. Acknowledge all the reasons that the pain hurts. Demonstrate that you understand the pain in a visceral way. You are empathetic because this pain is in your realm of expertise. Make it personal. But crucially, don’t make them dwell too long.

If you’re handing this task over to a copywriting agency, it’s vital that you give them a clear idea of your customer’s pain points, so these first two steps can be shaped convincingly. 

Solution

Now, your product really gets to shine. All that pain that you have been stirring up, you must now banish. Hand them your product on a golden platter – the solution is simple, you’re offering it to them, all they have to do is take it. 

Outcome

Don’t be shy here. Really clarify the benefits of your solution. 

Using a clear content writing structure allows you to show off all the amazing facets of your product and your company, by first balancing them out with the personal approach and empathetic reasoning of Pain and Agitate. 

But here, you get to straight-up boast about how much value you can give your customers. 

Seeing as some of you will have found yourselves here because you want to improve email conversions, a copywriting agency like us might use this opportunity to point out that 78% of successful companies in 2021 had a firm, documented content marketing strategy, which helped boost those lagging email click-through rates we mentioned.

Bullet points and lists are a great tool for this section:

• They force pesky skim-readers to slow down 
• They make your benefits stand out
• Search engines love them, so they’ll boost your website rankings
• In fact, using them frequently can boost traffic by 70% 

Social Proof

There is no better way of influencing trust than by using the words of others. This is why so many website landing pages end with testimonial sliders. It shows that the promises you’ve made aren’t empty; on the contrary, plenty of past customers have benefitted from your services, so new customers can too. 

Social proof, when used effectively, can revolutionise your business branding. Check your positive reviews for recurring words. What do people love about you? That’s your brand, and that’s what you want to show off at this point in your conversion journey. 

Of course, it goes without saying that you need to end your structure with a convincing call to action that speaks back to the promised outcome. Without one, all your hard work has been for nothing.

BAB copywriting

The Before After Bridge technique breaks your product or service down into three key stages: 

• The Before stage, when your target client is as yet unfamiliar with your product
• The After stage, when your product has solved a key problem for the client
• And then, the Bridge, which provides the solution 

By placing the problem and the solution in rapid succession, you increase your client’s motivation to engage. The solution is fast and easy. So easy, in fact, that it can be summed up into one swift turning point.

The principles that form the PASOS technique are equally valuable with BAB. You will still need to build your Before section around pain points, and your After will need to describe the product outcome. 

But, the difference with BAB is its simplicity, which makes it great for short-form copy, such as snappy Instagram posts, quick email marketing check-ins, or image- and graphics-heavy landing pages. 

AIDA copywriting

AIDA forms the basis of many of the copywriting formulas that writers use. It works well for long-form content, particularly blog posts, as it focuses less on singling out specific pain points and more on storytelling and positive problem-solving. It allows for a little more flexibility of form, too.

Attention

Your first objective is to capture the reader’s attention. This might initially be an email subject line, a web page meta title, or the first line of a LinkedIn post, but the attention-grabber should continue into the first one or two sentences of your copy. 

You can do this by tapping into a pain point, asking a question that the reader asks themselves all too often, offering an irresistible deal, or perhaps showcasing one of your success stories. 

Interest

Next, you need to maintain the reader’s attention by generating more specific interest around your product. Funnel their attention down to the things that you can really help with. If you chose to ask an attention-grabbing question, this might be where you start to provide an answer; or, if you showcased a success story, offer a bit more depth, detail and personalisation.

Desire

Interest is not the same as desire. We might um and ah over a deal that’s just dropped into our inbox, but that’s not the same as feeling the urge to snap it up. So, you need to light your reader’s fire using trustworthy testimonials, startling statistics or generous guarantees. 

Action

Finally, when your reader is chomping at the bit to get their hands on what you have to offer, give them what they want. This is your call to action – the link through to the product details, sign-up form or contact page that constitutes the next step.

There are many variations on AIDA out there, some with a heavier focus on statistics or overcoming objections. But, as with all the catchy acronyms highlighted in this post, the key principles are the same: you need to offer a solution, prove that it works, and show your audience how they can make it theirs.

Unsure how to use copywriting frameworks?

Using a basic, formulaic structure for copywriting will help you get your conversions right from the get-go. But how can you put them into practice? And which ones will work best for your current goals and chosen copy format?

There isn’t a simple answer to either of these questions and if you’re new to copywriting, it will take some trial and error. But that’s where we can help.

At Beesting Digital, we know these copywriting formulas and frameworks like the backs of our hands, so you don’t have to worry about the complexities of structure and optimisation yourself. We’ll work as an extension of your own content team. 

FYI, 47% of companies are choosing to grow their content teams in 2022 so they can maximise the traffic they get through copy and content. You can do the same – except without the time pressures and costs of hiring in-house – by making us part of your content creation powerhouse. 

Book your discovery call today to start discussing the possibilities.