Copyhackers / established writing models · Messaging
Put the argument in the right order
Use AIDA, PAS or Before–After–Bridge as a checklist for the order in which readers need to learn things, once the facts and main argument are settled. The model arranges the content – it doesn't replace it.
When it helps
When the material is good but the copy jumps around, starts at the wrong end or finishes without a clear next step – in emails, on landing pages and in ads.
Keep in mind
When the facts or main argument are missing, or when the template tempts you into exaggeration, inflated problems and filler. Short copy rarely needs every step.
How to apply it
- Pick the model that fits the reader: PAS when they already feel the problem, Before–After–Bridge when the change is easy to picture, and AIDA when a longer piece has to take a new reader all the way to action.
- AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action): catch the right reader with something relevant, not merely loud. Build interest with detail about how it works, make the benefit concrete in the reader's day and end with a single clear step.
- PAS (Problem, Agitate, Solve): name the problem in the reader's words, show what it really costs in time, money or hassle, then present the solution. Sharpen the problem with concrete consequences, not fear or exaggeration.
- Before–After–Bridge: describe where the reader is now, show a realistic 'after' and explain concretely how the offer gets them there. The 'after' must not promise more than you can deliver.
- Treat the model as a checklist, not a fill-in-the-blanks template: cut any step that adds nothing and check that each paragraph leads on to the next.
Questions to work with
- What must the reader understand first to want to keep reading?
- Do the problem, offer and next step connect without a leap in logic?
- Which paragraph could go without the reader missing it?
A fictional example
Fictional: a service gathers a team's tasks into one shared list that everyone in the team can see.
Draft
Total control. Maximum potential. Unlimited possibilities.
Revised
Who's doing what this week? When tasks are scattered across email, chat and sticky notes, things slip through the cracks. Put them in one list the whole team can see. [See how it works]
Problem, consequence and solution in three sentences (PAS): the reader recognises the situation before the offer appears, so the superlatives aren't needed.
Read the original sources
The application and example are our own. The example is fictional and has not been conversion-tested.