Persuasion frameworks
Four persuasion frameworks and when to reach for each one
PAS: Problem, Agitate, Solution
- Problem. Your API keys are scattered across
.envfiles, CI configs, and Slack messages. - Agitate. One leaked key can take down production. You won't know until a customer calls.
- Solution. Vault centralises every secret with per-environment rotation and zero-config CI integration.
Use PAS when the audience knows the pain but hasn't acted. Over-agitation is the common failure. Read it aloud. Cringe? Soften. Shrug? Sharpen.
AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
- Attention. Interrupt the scroll. 73% of SaaS churn happens before the first "aha" moment.
- Interest. Show relevance. If onboarding takes more than one session, you're losing.
- Desire. Show the outcome with proof. Teams using Onramp cut time-to-value by 40%.
- Action. One clear CTA. See your onboarding score free.
Use AIDA for cold traffic: display ads, cold email. Skip for warm traffic.
Common failure: "Get more done with our app" tries to be Attention, Interest, and Desire at once.
StoryBrand: Customer as hero
The customer is the hero. The product is the guide.
| Beat | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Hero | Who is the customer? | A founder who can't sleep because deploys keep failing |
| Problem | External + internal + philosophical | Broken deploys; feeling incompetent; code should ship, not haunt |
| Guide | Who helps them? | The product, positioned as the expert |
| Plan | What are the steps? | Connect repo, set alerts, deploy with confidence |
| CTA | What action do you invite? | Start your first deploy free |
| Success | What does winning look like? | Ship on Friday without anxiety |
| Failure | What's at stake? | More 3 a.m. incidents, more team burnout |
Count we/our/us versus you/your. If we-language wins, the brand is the hero.
Use StoryBrand for homepage heroes, about pages, and sales pages. Skip it on pricing pages and reference docs.
BAB: Before, After, Bridge
- Before. You spend two hours every Monday pulling reports from four tools.
- After. Every metric, live, in one dashboard. Monday starts with decisions.
- Bridge. Metric pairs your stack in 15 minutes and surfaces the numbers that move revenue.
Use BAB when the audience wants change but needs a path. BAB assumes motivation; PAS creates it.
"Our product makes it easy" is a dead bridge. "Connect Stripe and Postgres, the dashboard is live before your coffee cools" is one the reader can picture.
Choosing by audience temperature
| Temperature | Definition | Framework |
|---|---|---|
| Cold | No context, no awareness | AIDA |
| Problem-aware | Knows the pain, hasn't acted | PAS |
| Solution-aware | Comparing alternatives | StoryBrand |
| Motivated | Wants change, needs a path | BAB |
Pick the framework before writing a word.