Soon after starting a side hustle and stepping into the corporate world I realised there are skills which we don’t pay enough attention to. While trying to get my job as a product analyst I would practise coding, solve product managing case studies and what not; however once I started my job I discovered that interpersonal and documentation skills are equally important.
I believe everyone should know how to write immersive and easy to understand content. It does not matter if you are in marketing field or a software engineer, everyone in every profession has to write documentations.
In this blog I will mainly talk about how to write more structured content and also shred light to formulas for improving your copy writing. I was able to achieve 55+ followers on medium within 1 month of using these writing formulas.
1. A-I-D-A
This techniques can be used when the content is a much longer-form type of copy for example emails, sales pages or ad scripts. The word AIDA is actually an acronym which stands for
- Attention: Capture the attention of the user so that they are engaged enough to read the content ahead. This can be through an enticing title, powerful topic sentence or an opening question.
- Interest: Build interest about the product or service. This interest can be built by mentioning a new feature, a special service or just the unique selling point of your topic.
- Desire: Persuade the reader to desire your product. Include statistics, numbers, any advantages or even testimonials; make the reader feel like they are missing out of something huge.
- Action: Now that you have pulled the reader’s attention, built their interest and even made them desire your product, what comes next? Don’t assume that the user will take an action themselves, tell them what to do next. End with an action that you want the reader to perform for example — Subscribe to the newsletter, Click now, Join us etc
2. QUEST
While AIDA was for much longer copies, QUEST helps you find the treasure in the smaller copies. It is also an acronym which means:
- Qualify: Until and unless your product is some superpower, it cannot target everyone it reads. You have to narrow down the copy to make sure that it captures the right word for the right audience. You have to qualify the customer first.
- Understand: Put yourself in the feet of the reader and understand their point of you. Ask yourself, if you were the consumer — would you be enticed by the content?
- Educate: Make the reader feel heard and educate them on the issue that your topic targets.
- Stimulate: Try to stimulate the reader by making use to adjectives, visuals and colours.
- Transition: This is similar are AIDA’s last step action. This is the point where you transition the reader to be a customer. You can do this by adding a redirection link, a button or a simple call to action.
3. FAB
Larger copies? Tick. Smaller Copies? Tick.
Next we come to copies which are specifically targeted for sales. It can be like a sales pitch of a sales page document. The main aim of this copy is to persuade the reader to become a buyer. If you were still unsure at this point, yes this is also an acronym. It stands for
- Features: Discuss the product’s characteristics and features with the reader.
- Advantages: Explain why your product is different and unique. Focus on how it would be advantageous for the reader.
- Benefits: Use adjectives and finally list down the benefits of using your product.
4. ACCA
What we read until now were focused on a very business-y aspect. The ACCA formula works more when we want to talk about a social issue and spread awareness. It stands for:
- Awareness: Describe the problem that you are trying to bring awareness to through your content. .
- Comprehension: Deep dive and talk about the issue in detail for the reader to comprehend. You can explain the causes of the problems and follow it by the effects.
- Conviction: Make the readers feel the urgency in the issue. You words much have the conviction to have the reader stand on their toes and be ready to join you in the cause.
- Action: By this time you must have understood that a good content writer will always end the content with an action line. You must tell the user what you expect from them after they have gone through the writings.
5. BAB
Now we come to more blogging type of content. A lot of times as a blogger I also make use of this formula. You want the reader to be personally attached and see a reflection of themselves in your content. This formula can also be used to write engaging content on social media sites like Twitter and LinkedIn. The BAB stands for
- Before: Talk about how you started, what resources you had and why you wanted to talk about it. Tell the users who you were before it happened.
- After: Now that you have told them where you stared from, tell them who you are now. Where do you stand and how you are someone credible to give knowledge on the topic. Talk about the after-part.
- Bridge: The bridge is to link the before and after story. This is where the crisp/learning of the content would come in. Talk about what helped you to reach where you are right now, what you went through and what advice you would give to someone who is in the same shoes. This is to bridge the gap.
6. PAS
Now I am surely not gonna ‘PAS’ over this topic (pun intended). This encompasses the entire agenda of your copy into 3 basic steps:
- Problem: You present the problem that your targeted users are facing. It is basically the problem statement your product is trying to solve.
- Agitation: The user has a problem means there are a few hiccups in their way keeping them from solving this issue. Next you try to highlight those agitation and build a sense of urgency telling the user that their problem ends now!
- Solution: Lastly, you win them over by talking about the product, how it solves the issue and its benefits. This is where you use adjectives to describe your product and make sure to end with a call to action.
7. The 4 Ps
Structure your blog into 4 major parts. This can be used for blogs, copies and any documentation. The Ps are:
- Picture: This can either be a literal picture or a metaphor for painting a picture of your product for the readers. Tell them what it is about and how it benefits.
- Promise: Tell the reader why your product is promising. Establish trust with the user and portray your product to be reliable.
- Proof: Here you can use statistics, charts, testimonials or any legit proof of your product actually being helpful to people.
- Push: End with a call to action. Push your users to transition from a reader to a buys
Thank you for reading my content. I hope this was helpful. I write about growth, product and also create notion template. If you read through the content you’d know — this is the call to action. I would love to have you onboard my journey. Get to know about each new blog by subscribing to emails (They will not be boring!)
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Mail: moulshreee@gmail.com
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