The PAS Method of Storytelling To Touch Your Prospect’s Heart!

What is the PAS Method of Storytelling

The Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) method is a storytelling framework commonly used in copywriting and marketing to persuade an audience.

The framework involves three key steps:

1. Identify a problem the target audience is facing
2. Agitate that problem by highlighting the negative consequences and emotional impact
3. Present your product or service as the solution that will eliminate the problem

This taps into the audience’s emotions and desires, making the message more compelling.

Where can we use this in business

The PAS framework can be used in many areas of business, including:

• Marketing and advertising copy – PAS is commonly used to structure persuasive ad copy, website copy, email marketing, etc. to grab attention and motivate action.
• Sales pitches and presentations – Salespeople can use PAS to frame their pitch, highlighting the customer’s problem, the consequences of not solving it, and positioning their product as the ideal solution.
• Product descriptions – Describing products through the lens of the problems they solve and the outcomes they enable is more compelling than just listing features.
• Content marketing – Blog posts, videos and other content can use PAS to hook the audience with a relatable problem and provide valuable solutions.
• Fundraising – Nonprofits and startups seeking funding can use PAS to vividly describe the problem they are tackling, why it matters, and how their organization will solve it.
• Motivating employees – Leaders can apply PAS in communications to rally teams around solving important problems and paint an inspiring vision of success.

In general, anytime you need to persuade, influence, or sell in a business context, the PAS framework provides a simple blueprint for crafting a compelling message.

The Problem Explained

The Problem step is about identifying and clearly articulating the pain point, challenge or desire that your target audience is experiencing.

Some examples of presenting the Problem:

“Are you struggling to lose those last 10 pounds? Feeling frustrated after trying every diet out there with no long-term results?”

“Is your website failing to generate leads and sales, no matter how much traffic you send to it? Watching your ad spend increase while your conversion rates continue to plummet?”

“Tired of unreliable freelancers who disappear and leave your important project unfinished and your deadlines in jeopardy?”

The key is to hone in on a specific, relatable problem that will make your ideal customer say “that’s exactly my situation!”

Some tips:

• Do your research to understand your audience’s real challenges, using surveys, interviews, reviews, etc. You can use the Audience Experience Map for this.
• Describe the problem vividly using their language and paint a picture of how it impacts them. Secondary web research on review sites and discussion forums are a great starting point for picking up customer vocabulary.
• Tap into their emotions – how does this problem make them feel? Frustrated, overwhelmed, stuck? Check out how these powerful words can help you with this.
• Avoid broad or vague descriptions of the problem. See how to frame a problem, or write a brief on a product.
• Show empathy and let them know they’re not alone in struggling with this

When you nail the Problem step, your audience will eagerly keep reading to find the solution you propose.

Agitate Explained

Agitate, is about making the problem feel even worse for the reader.

Some ways to do this:

• Paint a vivid picture of how the problem negatively impacts their life.

  For example: “Every day you struggle with your weight, feeling self-conscious and avoiding social situations. You worry about the long-term health consequences of being overweight.”

• Emphasize the frustration and emotional toll of dealing with the problem.

  “You’ve tried diet after diet, only to lose motivation and gain the weight back, leaving you feeling like a failure.”

• Highlight how the problem will continue or get worse if left unsolved.

  “The longer you wait to get your finances in order, the more debt piles up, making it harder and harder to ever get ahead.”

• Compare their situation unfavorably to others who don’t have the problem.

  “While your competitors’ websites generate a steady stream of leads and sales, yours sits there gathering virtual dust, invisible to your target customers.”

The key is to really tap into their emotions – fear, frustration, embarrassment, anxiety – and make them feel the full weight of the problem.

You want them thinking “I’m so tired of dealing with this, I need to find a solution NOW!”

Some more examples of agitating the problem:

“Your lack of confidence is holding you back in your career, your relationships, your life. You’re getting passed up for opportunities while you watch others succeed.”

“Clutter is stealing your peace of mind, making your home feel chaotic and stressful. It’s hard to relax when everywhere you look is a reminder of how disorganized your life is.”

The agitation phase primes the reader to be receptive to the solution you’ll present next.

The Solution Explained

The Solution step is where you present your product, service, or offer as the ideal way to solve the problem you identified and agitated.

Some tips for crafting an effective solution:

• Focus on benefits, not just features. Explain how your solution will improve their life or work, not just what it does. For example:

  “Our project management software doesn’t just organize your tasks, it helps your team hit every deadline, stress-free.”

• Be specific. The more specific you are about how your solution works and the results it delivers, the more credible and persuasive your message will be.

  “Join our coaching program and you’ll get a personalized 90-day plan to land your dream job and a 20% average salary increase.”

• Provide proof and credibility. Back up your claims with data, testimonials, case studies, or other evidence that your solution really works.

  “See how these 3 clients each saved over 10 hours a week by implementing our system.”

• Create a sense of urgency. Motivate them to act now by making a limited-time offer, emphasizing scarcity, or reminding them of the cost of inaction.

  “Register by Friday to lock in your 50% discount and finally start the business you’ve been dreaming about.”

• Make it easy to take the next step. End with a clear call-to-action that tells them exactly what to do next, like:

  “Schedule your free consultation now” or “Add to cart.”

Some more examples of effective Solution statements:

“Introducing our new sleep supplement, designed to help you fall asleep faster, sleep deeper, and wake up refreshed without grogginess – backed by a 90-day satisfaction guarantee.”

“Join over 5,000 thriving entrepreneurs in our proven 8-week online course. You’ll learn the exact steps to find your profitable business idea and land your first paying customer, even if you have no experience. Enroll now and get $500 in exclusive bonuses.”

“Our intuitive CRM plugs right into your existing tools and automatically alerts your sales team with custom talking points, so they close more deals without any manual data entry. Take it for a free 14-day test drive – no credit card required.”

The key is to present your solution as the answer they’ve been looking for, and the bridge that will take them from the pain of their current problem to a better future state.

Make a compelling case for why your solution is uniquely positioned to deliver the results they want.

The AI Recipe For PAS

Step 1: User Inputs

To effectively apply the PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solution) formula for building landing pages, it’s crucial to gather comprehensive information from you.

This information will serve as the brief and guide the application of the PAS formula.

Do answer these questions:

• Target Audience: Who is the primary audience for the landing page?
• Business Overview: What is the nature of the business, and how long has it been operating?
• Current Challenges: What specific challenges is the business facing (e.g., lack of traffic, low engagement, poor conversions)?
• Business Goals: What are the primary goals the business wants to achieve with the landing page?
• Unique Selling Proposition (USP): What makes the business’s product or service unique or better than competitors?
• Call to Action (CTA): What action do you want the audience to take after visiting the landing page?
• Brand Voice and Tone: How should the message be conveyed to align with the brand’s voice?
• Key Benefits: What are the main benefits of the product or service?
• Supporting Evidence: What testimonials, case studies, or data can support the claims?

Begin Prompt

Begin Prompt

[Role]: Act as a Content Strategist. You are an expert in planning, developing, and managing content to achieve specific business goals. You have a deep understanding of audience needs, content creation best practices, storytelling techniques, content distribution channels, and measuring content performance. You collaborate with various teams like marketing, product, design, and sales to ensure content is aligned with overall brand strategy.

[Avatar]: [Business Owner Name], a [Age]-year-old [Business Type] owner selling [Product/Service]. The business is [Business Age] years old and based in [Location]. The business has a website and social media presence but is struggling to drive traffic and conversions. The owner knows they need to improve their content strategy but isn’t sure where to start. They are in the consideration stage, evaluating different content strategy solutions and providers.

[Topic]: Challenges in developing an effective content strategy

[Task]: Write a PAS framework addressing the challenges of developing an effective content strategy for an e-commerce business.

[Structure]

Problem:

• Headline: [Problem Headline]
• Points: Highlight the key problems [Business Type] businesses face with content strategy, such as [Current Challenges]. Describe how these issues negatively impact business growth. In 150 words.
• [CTA]: [Problem CTA]

Agitate:

• Headline: [Agitate Headline]
• Points: Expand on the consequences of not having a solid content strategy, such as [Consequences]. Make the reader feel the pain of these problems. In 150 words.
• [CTA]: [Agitate CTA]

Solution:

• Headline: [Solution Headline]
• Points: Introduce the benefits of working with an expert content strategist to develop a goal-oriented, customer-centric content strategy. Touch on key elements like [Key Elements]. Position this as the clear path to overcoming their content challenges and driving business results. In 200 words.
• [CTA]: [Solution CTA]

[Testimonial]:

• Headline: [Testimonial Headline]
• Insert 2 Testimonials: Provide testimonials from satisfied clients, highlighting the positive impact of a strategic content approach. In less than 200 words.
• [CTA]: [Testimonial CTA]

[Case Study]:

• Headline: [Case Study Headline]
• Insert a Case Study: Provide a case study demonstrating the success of implementing a strategic content approach. In less than 200 words.
• [CTA]: [Case Study CTA]

[Style & Tone]: Empathetic, yet professional and authoritative. Concise, clear language that demonstrates expertise. Conversational but focused on problem-solving.

End Prompt

Prompt for PAS tested in Perplexity.

Caveats

1. Start this exercise with a Product Brief.
2. Modify the Avatar, Topic and Task and make it contextual to the problem you wish to solve
3. Ideally, use the Product Brief to craft an Audience Experience Map [AEM]. Create a condensed 200 word avatar for your product from the AEM.
4. If that’s too much work, use the Avatar from the Product Brief.
5. If you skip these steps above, you’ll still get an answer, but it will be less nuanced and probably off by some margin.

Next Steps

1. To help you find your way around Phewture, I have put together a set of AI Recipes under Wayfinding. Do go through these and you’ll navigate like a pro through this stream of consciousness. 😄
2. The Learning Methods are exercises that I’d recommend if you wish to wrap your head around the possibilities of using AI Recipes at work, or for play.
3. Don’t forget to leave your comments below and share your joy with your friends on social media. Use the share icons below this post to gain some good karma.
4. Wish to train your in-house team on AI techniques and raise their productivity by 5X, and creativity by 10X?

   Pigtail Pundits offers AI-spurred training for teams. Do check out the Training Services.