Because only rookies write from scratch…

We’ve pulled together every single copywriting formula we’ve ever seen to create the ultimate guide – the most complete handbook – to copywriting formulas.

This one post will help you write all your copy faster and with greater likelihood of success.

You should be using copywriting formulas whenever you write anything.

They eliminate the guesswork that makes a lot of bad copy bad copy.

They will help you face the Blank White Page without cowering. They’ll help you generate A/B test ideas faster. They’ll help you pinpoint what’s going wrong in a button… in a headline… or even in a video script.

First and Fast: How Do Copywriting Formulas Make Copy So Much Better?

You start with a copywriting formula for what you’re trying to write:

• A web page in general

• A long-form sales page

• A landing page

• An email

• An ad

• A pricing page

• An About page

• A blog post

• A Lead Gen Page
  
  

That starting-point copywriting formula will help you organize your messages for most persuasive impact.

Once you’ve got your messages organized, you start working through the elements on the page, VSL, email or blog post you’re writing. You use copywriting formulas to write a better:

• Headline for a page OR a post (they’re different!!)

• Value proposition

• Testimonial

• Bullet list

• Block of body copy

• CTA or button copy

• Subject line (for emails)

You’re 90% of the way to complete when you have these pieces sorted.

From there, it’s a matter of optimizing your copy by applying persuasion principles like these, using the proven better copywriting practices found throughout this blog, and adding in a few of the fancy-pants copywriting techniques I share in my copywriting courses.

We’ve also added, for your writing pleasure: generators! If only because they’re entertaining.

NOTE: Copywriting formulas work best when you use them with copy research.

20+ Copywriting Formulas to Help You Write & Sell

1. Copywriting formulas for general websites

AIDA

Attention – Jar the reader out of their boring ol’ lives

Interest – Engage their mind with unusual, counter-intuitive or fresh info

Desire – Engage their heart so they want what you’re offering

Action – Ask them to take the next step

Think about one of your lead-gen pages or an opt-in box. Moz does this well:

A lot of businesses address the A, I and A in AIDA… but forget entirely about the D. Take this landing page hero as an example:

Where’s the D?

It takes patience and confidence to spend a little time building up the D. Apple has more than enough confidence to work on the D. Actually, check out how well Apple uses the first three steps – AID – and totally delays the final A:

All down the page, the visitor gets dose after dose of AID, which builds incredible anticipation for that “buy” button. …And you thought Apple was just about design! Clearly, you don’t sell f***loads of beautiful product without being incredibly good salespeople.

See more examples of how to use AIDA here and here, and learn about its origin (if you’re particularly geeky) here.

AIDCA and IDCA

A variation on AIDA, AIDCA goes like so:

Attention

Interest

Desire

Conviction

Action

You can see that AIDCA simply adds in a pre-close moment of “conviction.”

Conviction is intended to help skeptical audiences get over their skepticism. As Andy Maslen puts it in this book, convince prospects that it’s safe to act because what you’re saying is true. Do this using:

• Testimonials

• Endorsements

• Statistics, data points or figures

• Demoes

• Guarantees

To get IDCA, you just drop Attention from the start. Why would you wanna do that? Because sometimes you’ve already got their attention – so you don’t need to start again. You just need to hold their attention, and you can do this by piquing their interest.

So when might you use IDCA over AIDCA?

When you’re driving from an email or an ad, where you’ve already grabbed the prospect’s attention. The landing page may not need to grab attention again. So sweep straight into interest, like Lawrence Bernstein does:

Danny Iny’s 6+1 Formula

Described in detail here on Smashing Magazine, Danny Iny of Firepole Marketing also offers a spin on the AIDA model. His isn’t in acronym form, which I kinda dig because I’m very skeptical of acronyms – they’re just too convenient.

Here’s how Iny’s six-step copywriting formula goes:

1. Consider the context

1. Grab attention

1. Move the reader swiftly to desire a solution to their problem

1. Present the consequence of failing to act, which Iny calls “the gap”

1. Present the solution, telling only as much as is necessary to get to the next step
2. Call the prospect to act

The +1? It’s to be credible throughout and always.

What I particularly like about the formula – aside from context and credibility (which are generally unspoken must-dos) – is the gap.

PAS

In this video I’ll walk you through the PAS Copywriting Formula:

Dan Kennedy called PAS the most reliable copywriting formula for sales ever invented. Popularly used in everything from tweets to long-form sales pages, PAS goes like so:

Problem – Present the problem your prospect feels