How to Use the PAS Formula - Copyhackers

Executive overview

Most copywriters skip straight to the solution, missing the work that makes readers feel the problem. The PAS (Problem–Agitation–Solution) framework gives agitation a structure: map where the prospect is now, explore how the problem shows up across every area of their life, then surface what it's costing them before offering a way out.

Fill in a set of interview questions about the problem — don't edit, just write — and the answers become a first-draft sales page with minimal rewriting.

Agitation is the most powerful part of PAS, and most copy skips it entirely.

The transformation frame

• Define the reader's X state (where they are) and Y state (where they want to be) — borrowed from Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula.
• The gap between X and Y anchors everything you write in agitation.

Mapping the problem across the prospect's life

• Start with the big problem, then ask how it has manifested most recently.
• Explore each life domain: work, self-image, inner thoughts and anxiety, community, home, family, bank account.
• Not every domain needs an answer — the goal is to generate specific fodder, not fill every field.
• Don't edit while filling this in; write fast and clean it up later.

Diagnosing why the problem exists

• Ask why the problem exists for them in the first place.
• Identify misconceptions the prospect holds — or that people around them hold (family, boss, co-workers).
• Ask what the problem is costing them; this is easy to forget and easy to skip.

Bridging agitation into solution

• Don't jump from agitation straight to "here's the answer."
• If the prospect has tried to solve it before, surface the mistakes they made — keep them feeling the problem.
• If they haven't tried, explore how they expect to solve it and why they haven't yet.
• Separate "why they can't solve it without help" from "why they can't solve it without your specific help" — these are different.

Turning interview answers into copy

• Once the questions are filled in, reframe each question as a crosshead (sub-heading) on the sales page.
• Replace all instances of "they" with "you."
• Keep the rest of the answer copy largely as written — it's a strong first draft.
• The order the questions are answered in is already close to the correct page order; very little restructuring needed.