The sole purpose of your ad copy is to persuade readers to take an action, whether that’s to make a purchase, sign up for your email list, opt-in to a webinar or click a link to listen to your podcast. 

Writing ad copy that converts requires that you understand your audience well, know exactly what’s going on in their heads, and meet them where they are. 

Here are 5 copy formulas (aka frameworks) that we use when writing ad copy for our clients (and you can too) to drive your audience to take action! 

1. Pain-Point Focused

When writing ad copy that focuses on your prospect’s pain/problems, make sure that your copy taps into their deepest frustrations, anxieties, and struggles. It needs to convey what’s likely going through their minds and pull them in. 

Essentially, the copy should be able to evoke an emotion in the reader. It should speak to your  prospect in a way where they feel, “This person actually understands what I’m going through… and they can help me!”

For example, if your offer is a business coaching membership, it solves your avatar’s problem of running their business profitably. One of their pain points might be that they can’t get clients. That’s what your copy will focus on because it’s much more acute of a problem than needing to know how to hire a team. 

Next, the pain point has to be specific: it’s not enough to merely say they can’t get clients but specifically call out that they might be losing sleep figuring out where their next client is coming from, and how they’re gonna pay their escalating bills.

Exclusive empowerment is a great thing to use in pain point-focused copy – it calls out everything your avatar is doing right, which you can then use to prove to them why they don’t deserve to have to put up with this pain any longer. 

It might look like this: “I know you’re [suffering from this pain point]. You’ve probably already tried this one solution, which tells me you’re the type of entrepreneur who doesn’t give up. [Exclusive empowerment]. It’s exactly why I created [the offer] for you.” 

Again, that’s very simplistic, but I think you get the idea. 

A note: while it’s important to touch on a pain and/or call it out, it’s equally important not to let your copy linger or sit in it. Audiences do respond well to pain points, but they want to be pulled UP from them, not reminded how much they’re hurting. 

2. Desire Outcome Focused

We LOVE things that feel good – like being told that not only are our dreams and desires valid, but they’re possible. That’s exactly what happens in a desire-outcome-focused copy formula.

Going back to our example of the business coaching membership, in a desire-outcome-focused copy formula, the copy might call out to strong desires as they relate to getting that problem solved. Again, like with the pain-focused formula, the language around the desire has to be specific. 

Instead of just writing that your avatar will get clients, walk them through what it will feel like to have a booked-out business with a waitlist. Paint a picture of their perfect day, after they’ve spent 6 months in the experience of the membership.

It might look like: “Imagine this: you wake up, knowing you’ve already got a full roster of clients… etc.” 

A note: while copy should speak life as much as possible into your avatar’s desires, it’s important to never promise something you can’t deliver on. There are limits to everything, and overpromising can lead to broken trust, at best, and unpleasant legal action, at worst. 

3. Offer Focused

When using this framework, you’ll want to highlight the features and benefits of your course/program — what all is included, like modules, tutorials, case studies, bonuses, etc., and how it’ll help them and solve their problem.

The key thing in offer-focused copy is to showcase exactly how each feature will take away their pain and worry, and help them move closer to their desire. A good prompt to ask yourself after each feature is, “… so my prospect can….” and then write the appropriate transformation. 

People need help seeing what could be (or what could have been), and igniting them to take action from there. Sometimes this looks like future-pacing their experience thanks to your offer. It’s similar to a transformation story you might use in a desire-outcome-focused formula, but instead of just focusing on the transformation, there will also be an element of comparison to their current situation.

It might look like: “Your chance to join the membership is closing – which is important because in 6 months you could be [transformation story].” 

4. Urgency/Scarcity Focused

When using this framework, the copy should emphasize the opportunity cost of not taking action. 

You’ll want to emphasize the urgency or scarcity linked to your offer, like a limited-time discount or bonus that expires after a certain time period. If your program intake is for only up to 20 students, you’ll want to highlight how the seats are filling up and they need to buy now to secure their spot, or if the $100 off discount or a live masterclass bonus expires tonight, you’ll want to remind them of the same in order to prompt them to take action now before time runs out. 

5. Credibility Focused

With credibility-focused ads, the aim here is to build rapport and trust. They give readers a sense of knowing who you are, what you do, your backstory and journey, and how you’ve helped others do the exact thing that your product offers. 

Credibility can come from various areas, like testimonials, case studies, legitimate press coverage, blog posts (like this one!), podcast interviews, and more. 

A note: It might seem obvious, but always double-check that you can use someone’s testimonial.