How to Write Better Email Copy: Framework and Guide

(AKA: Make them feel it, then fix it.)

The PAS framework is one of those formulas that just works. This is because it plays into something deeply human: the urge to fix what’s broken or what causes us an issue, or a negative emotion. 

Here’s how it breaks down:

Problem: You start by calling out the problem your reader is facing. Like, properly name it. Don’t water it down or dance around it. This is where your subscriber personas are key – you need to really know what’s keeping them stuck, annoyed, upset, frustrated, overwhelmed, or behind.

Ask yourself:
What’s going wrong for them right now?
What’s the friction?
What’s the actual blocker?

Call it out, be honest, be real. This is what hooks them in -and keep it emotive.

Agitation
Next, you poke the bear. You dig into how that problem feels. What it costs them. What it impacts. Emotion is your superpower here – you want them nodding along like “yep, that’s me” while also thinking “ugh, I need this to stop.”

This step is not about being manipulative – it’s actually all about showing empathy. You’re saying: “I get it. I see you. And yeah, that thing is pants.”

Solution: Now that they’re deep in the ugh, you swoop in with the fix.

This is where your product, service, offer, or idea becomes the hero. Show them exactly how it solves the problem – clearly, confidently, and with proof if you’ve got it. Make the next step feel obvious, easy, and possible.

Important heads-up:
Don’t go inventing fake problems just to slide in a sales pitch. That’s how you lose trust fast. PAS is powerful only when you’re tackling real, meaningful issues that your audience actually cares about.

When you nail this framework, it doesn’t feel like a formula. It feels like relief. And relief converts.

(AKA: Why it matters, not just what it does.)

Let’s be super honest, no one buys a product just because of its specs. They buy because it helps them solve something, do something better, or feel something they want to feel. In fact it's a FACT that every decision is driven from emotion. 

That’s where the FAB framework comes in.

It helps you go from “Here’s what it is” to “Here’s why you should care.”Thisis actually something lot's of businesses still aren't doing.
 
Feature
Start with the what. What is it? What does it include? What does it do?

This is your time to lay out the facts and give your audience the details. Think of it as setting the scene – but remember, this part is NOT where the magic happens (yet). You're just warming them up.

Examples:

“A built-in analytics dashboard”

"Q10 Minerals & peptide"

“Daily email automation triggers”

“30-minute onboarding call with a strategist”

Advantage: Now let’s add some flavour. What makes those features actually useful?

This is the bridge between “cool, sounds good” and “ooh, that would make my life/work/x easier.” You're connecting the dots between what something does and why it’s better than what they’ve got right now.

It’s where you explain how it helps them win, save time, do less, or move faster.

Examples:

“So you can track performance without jumping into five different tools”

"So your skin stays plump and hydrated all day"

“So your emails go out while you’re in bed”

“So you’re not stuck Googling how to get started”

Benefit: What’s in it for them?

This is the real reason people buy. This is what hits the emotion, the desire, the relief. This is where you turn features and advantages into impact.

Think:
More time
Less stress
Bigger results
Actual life improvements

Examples:

“Spend less time doing admin, and more time scaling your business.”

"Stop buying multiple creams and lotions to keep your skin feeling good - just buy one"

“Feel confident knowing your email’s doing the heavy lifting for you.”

“Start seeing leads come in without manually chasing people all week.”

Why FAB works

Well, because it's FAB? FAB is all about relevance and clarity. It strips away the jargon and focuses on what actually matters to your audience.

You’re not just listing product features – you’re showing how your thing makes their life/work/day easier, smoother, or more successful.

It’s also great for B2B and B2C. If your audience is human (they are), this works.

(Or how to move someone from “meh” to “where do I sign?”)

The PPPP framework isn’t just another copywriting formula, it’s a proven method that’s helped create some of the highest-converting sales and email campaigns in history.

Why? Because it follows a natural journey people go on when deciding to take action:
You identify the pain.
You offer a fix.
You back it up.
You make the next step easy.

Problem: Start with what’s wrong.

You need your reader to feel like you’ve just climbed inside their brain. This is where you call out the real pain points, the frustrations, the blockers, the things they’ve probably been putting up with for too long.

Examples:

"You promised yourself this would be the year you’d finally get consistent with working out…
But between meetings, school runs, and actual life - the gym is the first thing to go."

“Your open rates are tanking and your boss is asking if email is even worth it.”

“You’re spending your day chasing leads that never convert and watching your pipeline flatline.”

Promise: Now that you’ve named the problem, give them hope.

What’s a better future? What can life/work look like on the other side of this problem?

This is where you position your product, service, or offer as the clear and credible way to solve the issue. Be specific. Make it believable. Show them that something better is not only possible - it’s available right now.

Examples:

"Our on-demand workouts are built for real life - 10, 20, or 30 minutes, no equipment needed, and led by trainers who don’t shout at you or make you feel guilty."

“We help businesses triple their email engagement without sending more emails.”

“This simple change saved one team 10+ hours a week and doubled their conversions.”

Prove: If you’ve made a bold claim, now’s the time to back it up.

This is where most emails fall flat. Your audience has been burned before they’ve heard promises. What they need now is proof. Evidence. Case studies. Testimonials. Real stories.

You move people from emotionally invested to logically convinced.

Examples:

"Over 80,000 members have used our platform to build a consistent fitness habit - even with zero motivation and 20-minute windows between meetings."

“Here’s how we helped [Brand X] go from a 7% open rate to 37% in under 30 days.”

“Real feedback from [Client Y]: ‘We finally feel like our email channel is working for us.’”

Push: You’ve got their attention. Now tell them exactly what to do.

This is your call to action. Make it direct, clear, and frictionless. If you’ve got an offer or incentive, now’s the time to use it. The key is to keep the momentum going, don’t let interest die in the inbox.

Examples:

"Start your 7-day free trial today, no card required. Just your email, a good playlist, and 10 minutes."

“Book a free 15-minute strategy call - let’s fix your email marketing.”

“Grab your free audit and start seeing results in your next send.”

PPPP works because it’s human. It reflects how people think when they’re trying to solve a problem. It speaks to pain, builds trust, and gives a clear next step.

It’s not pushy or manipulative. It’s structured, smart, and strategic.

Use this for cold emails, lead nurture, launches, reactivation flows, anywhere you want to move someone from passive to action.

The BAB framework (Before-After-Bridge) is one of those beautifully simple yet powerful copy techniques that helps you move someone from “meh” to “must-have” in under 150 words.

It’s ideal for email because it cuts the waffle and gets straight to what matters:
❶ What’s your reader going through right now?
❷ What could life or work or a situation look like if that changed?
❸ And how do you help make that happen?

Before: This is where you hold up a mirror.
You paint the current state, the pain, the friction, the missed opportunity. Don’t overdo it with drama, just be real and relatable. Your reader should be nodding along like, “Yep, that’s me.”

After: Now you flip the script. What does life/work/situation look like when that pain is gone? Make them feel the shift, not just practically, but emotionally. What gets better, easier, or more enjoyable? How d do they feel now?

Bridge: Here’s where you drop the offer.
Your product, service, or offer is the thing that gets them from the “before” to the “after.” Be specific, be useful, and be clear. No one wants a vague promise.

BAB in action
B2B Example (SaaS platform for internal team collaboration):
Before:
Your teams are buried in Slack threads, chasing updates across Google Docs, and still somehow missing deadlines. Projects are scattered, and everyone’s out of sync.

After:
One central hub where all your teams collaborate in real-time, timelines stay on track, and no one needs to ask “where’s the latest version?” ever again. Hours saved and everyone feels less frustrated.

Bridge:
[Platform Name] brings your teams, tools, and timelines together - one space, zero chaos. Start your free trial and see how much smoother your week runs.

B2C Example (Meal prep subscription):
Before:
It's been a crazy day and now it’s 7pm, you’re hungry, you're tired and your fridge is empty… unless you count a lonely jar of gherkins and a suspicious-looking lettuce.

After:
Dinner shows up at your door, pre-portioned and actually delicious. No supermarket dash, no kitchen meltdown, just 15 minutes and a warm plate of something that doesn’t involve toast.

Bridge:
With [Brand Name], you get chef-designed meals delivered weekly, choose, customise, and eat without the stress. Try your first box for just £10.

Why BAB works
Because it gives your audience a story arc they can picture themselves in.
And not a fairy tale, a real one. The kind where the happy ending is achievable, logical, and just a click away.

Classic for a reason.

AIDA is one of the OG copy frameworks, and unlike most 2010s marketing advice, this one’s actually still worth listening to.

It’s the foundation of persuasion in marketing, and in email, it becomes even more powerful because it maps beautifully onto the way people actually read emails (skim first, scan second, maybe act if you’re lucky).

Step 1: Attention
This is your scroll-stopping, thumb-pausing, brain-interrupting opener.
Think subject line + preheader, these two are the gatekeepers. If you don’t nail attention here, nothing else matters because no one’s even opening your email.

What works:
Curiosity or tension (without being clickbait-y)
Bold insights or challenges
Personal relevance

Step 2: Interest
Now that you’ve cracked the inbox door open, you need to keep them reading.
This is where your lead-in needs to resonate. Make it scannable, make it interesting, and please, sound like a human, not a corporate instruction manual.

Use:
A relatable pain point
Storytelling
Stats with a twist
A surprising POV

Step 3: Desire
Now we’re getting to the good stuff.
This is where you flip their interest into a “yes, I want that” moment. Highlight the transformation or outcome they can expect, not just the features.

Make it feel tangible. Make it feel now.

Desire builders:
Before/after comparison
Social proof
Benefits framed around them, not you

Step 4: Action
Don’t leave them wondering what to do next.
Tell them. Clearly, casually & confidently.

Your CTA needs to be low-friction and high-clarity, a button, a bold sentence, something they don’t need to decode.

B2B Example – Email automation software:
Subject line:
Still manually following up with leads? That’s costing you £££££££

Attention:
Sales teams waste hours every week chasing leads manually.

Interest:
You already know that most leads go cold in under 48 hours. But what if you could automate your follow-ups - personalised, timely, and scalable?

Desire:
With [Platform], companies reduce manual workload by 60% and convert 3x more leads - no extra hires needed.

Action:
Book a demo and see it for yourself.

B2C Example – Subscription coffee brand:
Subject line:
Running low on beans again?

Attention:
We’ve all been there, 7:32AM, zero coffee, full, wild chaos.

Interest:
Our subscription means you never have to panic-text your partner “Can you grab coffee on the way home?” ever again.

Desire:
Get ethically sourced, freshly roasted beans delivered to your door like clockwork. Skip or pause anytime. 

Action:
Try your first box for £6 → [CTA button]

Why AIDA works
Because it's natural. This is how people think when they’re moving through a decision:
👉 Something grabs their attention
👉 They get curious
👉 They want the thing
👉 They decide to go for it

So don’t overcomplicate it. Just follow the structure, tailor it to your audience, and write like you’re having a conversation that matters.