The best marketers and copywriters follow structures to ensure their content is structured in a way that makes sense and keeps readers attention.
Here are my favorite frameworks you can copy in your business:
#1 Before-After-Bridge (BAB)
Describe the problem your customers face before. Show what it's like after. Explain how your product is the bridge between their current place and desired state.
Example: Great social media posts take a lot of time (before). Imagine taking only 15 minutes to design one (after solution). With Canva (bridge) you can make graphics in a few clicks.
Why it works:
Contrasting between before and after makes the benefits memorable
Imagining future results gives us motivation to change (and buy the product)
Make sure to explicitly separate the different parts of before & after. Bridge the change with transition words and different visuals.
This is perfect for businesses that sell a change like a before/after workout photo or before/after home renovation.
#2 AIDA (Attention–Interest–Desire–Action)
This is the most common copywriting framework that you can use for almost any copy on social media, your websites, and your emails.
Attention: This is your hook and wow statement. Wow them with a crazy fact or interest them with a personal or contradictory statement.
"Are you a middle-aged man who wants to get shredded?"
Interest: Keep your reader curious and engaged. Use interesting use cases, quotes, and explanations that expand on your hook.
"Getting into a top 20 university only depends on these 3 key factors"
Desire: Show your reader the emotional benefit and what their life could be like if they bought from your business.
“Once I started using this app, I never had scheduling mix-up for a call ever again.”
Action: Specific CTA (call to action) of what your customer should do
“Get our free E-book on the best SEO practices for your website"
#3 The Five-Act Narrative Structure
This is journey and most common storytelling frameworks in popular books and movies.
Act 1 is setup. Alice is an entrepreneur.
Act 2 is the rising action. Alice is growing her business but has a few problems.
Act 3 is the climax. Alice struggles with bookkeeping and finance.
Act 4 is the falling action. Alice found QuickBooks.
Act 5 is resolution. Buy QuickBooks now.
Why it works:
We follow stories with arcs and clear structures better
Characters build empathy and the conflict keeps attention
Pro Tip: Use this framework for longer pieces of content like articles or long-form video.
#4 PAS (Problem–Agitate–Solve)
Problem. State the pain point
Agitate, Intensify the problem (specific details to make reader feel the pain)
Solve. Offer solution to problem with your product.
Why it works:
We pay more attention to problems (negativity bias)
Agitating the pain builds tension that the solution resolves
Closing Thoughts
Using these frameworks doesn’t make you lazy or not unique.
The best marketers have mastered advertising and branding with these structures because they are proven to work.
My favorite combos:
For content marketing like short emails & articles use AIDA (Attention–Interest–Desire–Action)
For ads use PAS (Problem–Agitate–Solve) or BAB (Before-After-Bridge)
For longer content pieces use The Five-Act Narrative structure