What is PAS formula? The art of “salting” the pain (P-A-S)

Writing for a while, you will come across a formula called Problem Agitate Solve (PAS), and the question “what is PAS formula” is hard to avoid. Simply understood, PAS is a copywriting structure of 3 steps are Problem (problem), Agitate (aroused/exacerbated), and SOlve (Solution).

But why is PAS important?

Have you ever written an ad and put all your energy into describing the product, but… the customer just “skims” through it without emotion? Your article may be great, but it’s “too sweet.”

This is where PAS comes into play. If we consider PAS as a AIDA model PAS is a strategic funnel in content marketing. It is a tactical “weapon”. It does not go around but hits the emotional acupoint (pain) of readers.

In this article, Duan not only introduces what PAS is, but also shares his real-world experience of how you can “sharpen your pen” with this content model, helping you know how to properly rub salt into the pain of customers but not objectionable, how to apply it effectively, when to use it, …

💡 PAS hits the psyche, but the psyche only works when you understand the background: What is content in essence? And who to write to. This is a starting point to read first.

What is PAS in marketing?

PAS formula is an effective method of writing content that is used quite widely in Content MarketingIt stands for three main elements including Problem, which helps to clearly present the problem the client is having, Agitate, which stimulates emotion by emphasizing the seriousness of the problem, and Solution, which is a specific way to fix the problem.

This formula is most often used for the introduction page of products or services of the business and other content types such as content ads, SEA, social networking posts, landing pages, email marketing to increase conversion rates.

Why is PAS formula effective?

As I said earlier, PAS is not a “lucky trick” in writing, but it has worked effectively and sustainably for decades because it is based on deeply rooted truths about human psychology.

In essence, when you use PAS to write ads, you are using 3 basic psychological mechanisms to control the behavior of readers through the content (content) created.

The Pain-Pleasure Principle

This is the earliest principle, when the human brain was programmed to give absolute priority to avoiding pain rather than seeking pleasure.

Why is that?

Because that’s how we survive.

Since ancient times, people have had a great pain (chased by wild animals, hungry, cold, …) so it requires immediate reaction to preserve life. And joy as a full meal, find a warm place can be delayed.

What does it have to do with the PAS formula?

• P (Problem): Activates pain signals in the client’s brain.
• A (Agitate): Shake the pain and turn it from a delayable problem into a danger that needs to be addressed immediately. Like, “Dog, run!”..
• S (Solve): Provides the only and fastest way to escape from that danger.

Prospect theory & loss aversion

You may not know, there’s a Nobel Prize – winning work by two psychologists called Daniel Kahneman and… Amos Tversky pointed out a rather harsh truth is:

“Psychologically, the pain of lost 100,000 VND is 2 to 2.5 times the fun when is 100,000 VND.”

In fact, everyone hates loss, and the A – Agitate step is a masterful application of “Loss Aversion.” It goes like this:

• Instead of saying (look for pleasure): “Buy this course for a better future – Customers can delay.
• PAS would say (avoid loss): “You are stuck, if you do not act now, you will lose another 5 years of youth, lose your chance to advance.”

In general, messages that increase the feeling of “loss” carry double the psychological weight, forcing the brain to pay attention and act immediately to prevent the loss from happening.

Negative Bias (Negativity Bias)

Many psychologists think that our brains are like Velcro with negative experiences and Teflon with positive experiences.

Neuroscience studies, like that of a psychologist John Cacioppo has shown that the brain responds more strongly, faster, and remembers longer to negative stimuli (bad news, criticism, frightening images) than to beautiful, positive things.

Why is that?

This is simply a psychological defense mechanism, and it’s okay to miss the good news, but missing the bad news, like “there are enemies,” “someone wants to hurt me,” can cost you your life.

So how do we apply it in PAS?

Most ads fail because they start with good news, which may be “my product is great,” but readers see it as non-urgent and cursory.

PAS, on the other hand, is based on this propensities, starting with Problem and Agitate, two negative informational streams that immediately “catch” the brain’s attention and force it to read on to find the Solve to that discomfort.

His experience: With years of experience in advertising, also failed. You see that customers do not buy your product, they do not care when you talk about the product or feature, the benefit that they need to buy is “liberation” from their problems.

For example, they do n’t buy vitamins to help them get better, but instead buy pain medications, which will help them get rid of the pain immediately.

Clear distinction: “Surgical Knife” PAS and “Hopper” AIDA

This is one of the classic mistakes Duan has seen in many marketers, even those who have worked for a year or two, even wondering “should I use AIDA or PAS for my ad” in the next 3 years.

My advice is that you are comparing a strategy funnel to a “sharp strategy knife.” They are not interchangeable, but complementary. If you misunderstand this, it means you will use the wrong tool, the wrong time, and waste all your previous effort.

You can see the comparison table between AIDA and PAS below for a more intuitive view:

General remarks: AIDA is a general strategy, which is to build funnels, feed customers. PAS is a specific strategy that helps create effective sales messages.

Where should PAS be used in the AIDA funnel?

This is the important part, which can “eat money”. If you consider AIDA a map, where should you put the PAS knife?

Absolutely do not use PAS on Attention floor

Because the Attention level is where you meet all strangers. If a stranger has just seen you for the first time and you jumped into the “salt” of their pain, what would it be like? Chances are, they will find you extremely uninteresting, offensive and block you immediately.

Duan’s experience is that instead of using PAS too harshly, let a gentle first meeting, creating curiosity, attraction is the best.

PAS (light) can be used on the Interest level

Since they’ll start to get curious after you’ve attracted them, it’s time to use a gentle PAS in your blog post or video.

In practice, you can use P (Problem) to scratch the right itch, then A (Agitate) to tickle them and make them realize that this content is for you. This will help you filter the right people and keep them coming back to find out the solution you propose.

Strongest PAS when placed on Desire floor (desirable)

I think this is the most effective way to do PAS. Since the customer is already warm (warm market), they know who you are, they like your solution but they are still hesitant. They are wondering if they really need it or not, so that they can buy it tomorrow.

At this stage, you will use (P) and (A) to amplify the cost of not acting immediately, turning their “likes” into “desirees” that need to be had immediately because the pain of procrastination is too great.

PAS is the ultimate psychological nudge that pushes them from Desire to Action.

In short: If AIDA is considered the strategic funnel of the whole campaign, PAS is the sharp weapon used at the end of that funnel to optimize the conversion rate at each stage.

3 Steps of PAS Formula in Content Marketing

This is the most core part of the formula, when you master these 3 steps, then you can turn a “gentle” ad into a “single-key killer”. Specifically as follows.

P – Problem: Touch the itch

The first and most important step is to identify the pain point, but many people do n’t do this well, often describing the problem in general rather than touching on the feelings of your potential reader/client.

For example:

• Write something like, “You’re bald.”
• A good (emotional) writing exercise would be: “Do you feel like you’re getting older by the time you’re ten because your hair is thin and your scalp is visible?”

You may have noticed that the first sentence is general, about a fact that does not tickle the reader. The second sentence is directed at the emotional consequences of the customer’s anxiety, which is “fear of old age, fear of bad.”

His experience is:

Find your readers’ problems, touchpoints, and pains by “penetrating” groups, forums, and reading their comments. See what they complain about, what words they use to describe the problem, and then “copy” the same language and use it for the Problem. Do n’t worry about copying, because you’re not stealing, you’re empathizing with the customer.

A – Agitate: Salt is applied to pain but not to emotions

This is the most important and expensive step of the PAS formula in content, is the step that distinguishes between an amateur and professional copywriter will be like.

If the Problem step is to find the wound, the pain, Agitate is to press on that wound, so that the customer can see that it is necessary to immediately write. At this time you should not only raise the problem but make it more serious, more urgent.

In fact, there will be 3 main Agitate techniques as follows:

• Activate your emotions with a deeper description of shame, fear, anxiety, or guilt. For example: “Are you afraid to see your old friend again because they think you’re old?”
• Draw a picture of the future, the consequences if you don’t solve the problem. For example, “If you keep doing this, what will you be like in five years, how much money and youth will you waste trying to do the same crap that doesn’t work?”
• Social impact when a person is afraid of being judged and afraid of being left behind. For example: ” What are colleagues thinking when they see that you are always insecure.”

Follow yourself:

You should do the Agitate phase to make the client aware of the problem, but not to attack them personally, as you are helping, not judging. “Empathy” should be used instead of “aggression.”

For example, you might use something like, “Understanding this problem is causing you to lose confidence and miss out on a lot of opportunities.” Do n’t attack something like, “You’re a failure because you can’t solve this problem.”

S – Solve: You are the one who gives the solution to free the customer from the problem

After you have mentally cornered your client in step (A), they are in a frustrated state and desperate to find a way out, and it is time to find a solution.

To do well and match step A (Agitate) then you need to pay attention to the following factors:

• If (A) you are stirring up a loss of confidence, then step (S) must be to help regain radiant confidence.
• If (A) is stirring about wasting money then step (S) should be the optimal and immediate effective saving solution.
• If (A) is stirring about fears of the future, then (S) must be a guarantee of a safe, secure future.

His experience is:

After cornering them in step (A), step (S) needs to open a door that is bright and clear. Don’t be vague about the feature description, but talk directly about the most practical, core solution, for example, “how this product/service will end that pain.” The most important thing is to always include a strong, clear call to action (CTA), for example “Sign up for a consultation now”, “Get 30% off today”, etc..

Small case study applying its PAS formula

The theory is that, but the reality can be quite different!

💡 For more flexibility, you can compare PAS with AIDA style of emotional leadershipOr see it wide popular content frameworks to know when to use which frame.

To better visualize, you can refer to the comparison table before and after applying the PAS content model to a product as “Communication English course” below.

Do you see the difference here?

In the “nice” version, only talking about features (teachers, tuition) are the things that almost every competitor has. The other version will talk about the pain, loss and liberation of customers. And that’s also what touches the “their wallet”.

Expanded PAS Formula (Advanced)

If you have mastered the 3 steps of the basic PAS formula in content, it is good but not enough, because you want the content (content) on the “muscle” of the opponent, you need to upgrade this technique further. Here is the more advanced, in-depth version that few people talk about.

PASO (Problem – Agitate – Solve – Outcome)

This is a popular and most useful PAS variant, the O here is Outcome. If step S (Solve) helps the customer stop the pain, then the Outcome step will draw a beautiful perspective after the pain is over. It is the answer to the customer / reader’s question “and then?”

For example:

• S (Solve): “Our 1-1 Communication Course Gives You Confidence in Talking in 3 Months”
• O (Outcome) : “Imagine the scenario when you can confidently present, close the contract with an outsider boss”

Simply put, this step (O) will help the client move from feeling “relieved of pain” to “desirous of achieving joy.”

PASO (Problem – Agitate – Solve – Objection)

This is another variation of the PAS formula but the O here is Objection. That is, instead of waiting for customers to ask questions, you will anticipate and immediately handle the biggest barriers in their heads, usually about price, time or trust, …

For example:

• PAS: “Register for roadmap consultation now”
• Objection: “You may think it’s expensive. But no, with this 1-1 route, it costs only one of your drinks but the effect is lifetime.”

Feeling: I love this variation because it shows trust, you are transparent, you understand your customers, and you don’t shy away from their problems. Stay away from the cliché, as this immediate rejection processing will increase conversion rates significantly when writing ads.

PASTOR (P-A-S – Testimonial – Offer – Response)

This is a fairly complete and extremely powerful structure I know to apply to sales pages (landing pages) or email marketing long form.

Including the following elements:

• PAS: So those are the three core steps.
• T (Testimonial): You will release social proof immediately after giving a solution. For example: “Do not just listen to Duan, listen to Lan (an accountant) confidently met with Western boss after 3 months of learning English”, ….
• O (Offer): Make your solution irresistible, this is not just Solve but a “good deal”. For example: “Sign up today to get 40% off + Get 500k Ebook set”.
• R (Response): Add a powerful CTA with an urgency or scarcity. Example “Offer is 3 slots left. Sign up now”.

Compare PAS with other Copywriting Formulas

According to me, a good copywriter is not only a person who knows a few formulas is enough, but should know how to use the right formula for the right audience and the right time, the biggest mistake that I just approached PAS in the first time is to “nail” PAS for every product / service.

PAS (Emotion) and FAP (Position)

There’s a common formula that’s often compared to PAS, which is called FAB. (Feature – Advantage – Benefit).

• Feature: What is it?
• Advantage: What does it do better than the competition?
• Benefit: What do I get?

So when to use PAS and when to use FAB?

My answer is never ask for a better recipe, when you do not know where your customers are. If customers are cold and do not know their own pain, use PAS to “warm up” them with emotions and pain. If they are already “hot” and are staggering wallets to compare, use FAB to close their sale with reason and the superiority of the product / service.

You can refer to the table below to compare and distinguish between PAS and FAB:

So when should PAS formula not be used in content?

Remember, PAS is like a double-edged sword, it has great power if used correctly but is extremely dangerous if used wrongly. As a true professional, you should know when not to pull this “knife”.

Here are 3 cases that I think it is best not to use PAS:

• Violation of advertising policy (Facebook / Google): These platforms often have algorithms to protect users from negative emotions, from the health, financial, … prohibited to use the word “Atigate” too much. Or personal attacks, shocking commitments, … can cause your ads to be unbrowsed or more severely locked account.
• When building a high – end brand: Because they usually do not sell the solution to the pain but sell the class, lifestyle, dreams. You can see that never a Rolex advertisement mentions “fear of being disrespected for wearing cheap watches.” If they now use PAS, it will collapse the value and image of the brand they built for hundreds of years.
• When the client file is too sensitive: This is a moral issue, if you sell psychological counseling services and use PAS to “salt” the client’s depression or self-esteem pain, it is really cruel and immoral. It will have the opposite effect, aggravating and making them feel offended and hate the brand forever.

You should use PAS with a cold head and a hot heart!

Overall, PAS is an extremely powerful tool when writing content but its power comes from hitting the most vulnerable part of the person, so I always consider it a “two-edged sword” quite dangerous.

Throughout his career, Duan has always studied content with a “cold head” to analyze logic, looking for data to know exactly what the customer’s pain is before taking the next step. The “hot heart” here is to stir up the customer’s inner with empathy, not “cheer” or attack them. Because we are the ones helping the customer solve the problem, not the ones judging.

💡 If need a person who properly “salts the pain” for your brand, SEO standard writing service of Duan ready to go.