Copywriting: what it is, examples, 10 techniques and tips

Have you ever noticed how some sentences make you stop, pay attention, and sometimes even make a decision? It could be an ad, a button on a page, the subject line of an email, or a caption that feels like it was written just for you.

None of that happens by accident. Behind many of these messages is a communication technique known as copywriting.

More than just choosing nice-sounding words, copywriting is about understanding people, context, needs, and goals to build messages that can drive an action. And that can mean a lot more than selling: a good copy can also earn a signup, a click, a registration, a download, or simply spark interest.

In this article, you’ll learn what copywriting is, what it’s for, how it works, some of the main copywriting techniques, and how to put this knowledge into practice.

What is copywriting?

Copywriting is the technique of creating persuasive text and messages designed to lead the reader to take a specific action, such as buying a product, signing up, downloading a material, clicking a link, or requesting more information.

In short, copywriting is writing to drive an action. While other types of text may aim mainly to inform or entertain, copy is meant to guide the reader toward a specific next step.

It’s a very common practice in marketing and can show up in ads, websites, emails, sales pages, landing pages, social media, video scripts, and many other formats.

Good copy starts before you write a word. You need to understand who will receive the message, what problem or desire is involved, what’s being offered, and what action you expect from that person. The words come after.

What is a copy?

Copy is the text or persuasive message created to achieve a specific goal. Copywriting, on the other hand, is the practice, technique, or process used to create that message.

For example: an ad’s text can be a copy created through copywriting techniques. Likewise, the subject line and content of a sales email can be a copy.

In short: copy is what was written; copywriting is the work behind building it.

What is the difference between copywriting and content writing?

Copywriting and content writing often go hand in hand, but they usually start from different goals. Copywriting is more directly geared toward persuasion, action, and conversion. Content writing, on the other hand, may focus on informing, educating, driving traffic, building authority, or strengthening the relationship with the audience.

That doesn’t mean there’s a wall separating the two. A blog post, for example, can teach something and, at the same time, use copywriting elements to encourage the reader to check out other content or take an action.

Likewise, a copy can educate and inform before presenting an offer. In marketing, those lines are much blurrier than they seem.

What is copywriting for?

Copywriting is used to communicate a message persuasively and guide the audience toward an action. That action varies depending on the strategy’s goal and the stage of the journey the person is in.

Among the goals a copy can help achieve are:

• selling a product or service;
• generating leads;
• getting sign-ups or registrations;
• increasing clicks on links and buttons;
• encouraging replies or interactions;
• presenting an offer;
• reducing objections;
• sparking interest;
• strengthening perceived value.

That’s why copywriting isn’t synonymous with “sales text.” A button that says “Download material” is also a copy. An email inviting people to an event is a copy. An ad script can be a copy.

What defines the work is the intent behind the message: what do we want the person to do after coming into contact with it?

How does copywriting work?

Good copy starts with understanding who will receive the message, what that person needs to know, and what action is expected after reading it.

Before thinking about the “perfect sentence,” it’s worth looking at a few fundamental elements:

The logic can vary quite a bit, but one possible process would be: understand the audience → define the goal → build the message → present value and arguments → reduce objections → point to the action.

That’s why writing good copy rarely starts at the keyboard. It often starts with research, a conversation with customers, analyzing an offer, or simply a good brainstorming session.

What are the main copywriting techniques?

The main copywriting techniques include AIDA, PAS, FAB, BAB, PASTOR, Storytelling, Star-Story-Solution, and SLAP. You can also use persuasion resources, like psychological triggers, within these structures.

There are different copywriting techniques and structures that help organize a persuasive message. They’re not mandatory recipes: they can be adapted, combined, and even dropped when they don’t make sense for a given context.

Let’s go through each one!

1. AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action)

AIDA is one of the best-known copywriting structures. It organizes the message into four steps:

• Attention: catch the audience’s eye.
• Interest: present something relevant to that person.
• Desire: show value and strengthen the wish to have that solution.
• Action: point to the next step.

Imagine an ad for a photography course for small business owners:

Attention: “Are your photos making your products look cheaper than they really are?”

Interest: “Learn to photograph your products using just your phone.”

Desire: “You’ll learn lighting, framing, and composition to create more professional images.”

Action: “Check out the course.”

AIDA can be adapted for ads, emails, sales pages, scripts, and many other formats.

2. Storytelling

Storytelling is the use of stories to communicate a message in a more engaging way. In a copy, a story can help the audience identify with a certain problem, picture a transformation, or better understand a solution.

Some elements that can show up are a character, context, conflict or challenge, and transformation.

For example, instead of simply saying that a course helps small business owners photograph products, a copy could tell the story of someone who started photographing with their phone, wasn’t happy with the results, and discovered a way to improve their images.

And you don’t need to turn every copy into a three-act epic. Sometimes a short story or a real-life situation already does the job well.

3. The Classical Structure of Greek Rhetoric

Classical rhetoric can also inspire copywriting structures. The general logic is to organize the argument to introduce a topic, provide context, develop arguments, address counterpoints, and lead to a conclusion.

Bringing that idea into a modern copy, we could have:

introduction → context → arguments and proof → response to objections → conclusion → action.

Imagine a page presenting a tool that automates a certain task. First, it sets the context for the problem; then it shows how it impacts the routine; it presents how the tool works; it answers common questions; and, finally, it invites the reader to try it.

The structure helps organize the reasoning even before you think about word choice.

4. Psychological triggers

Psychological triggers are persuasive resources that can influence how information or an offer is perceived. Some well-known examples are social proof, authority, reciprocity, scarcity, and urgency.

They can show up within different copy structures. A copy built with AIDA, for example, can use social proof to strengthen desire and urgency near the call to action.

Here’s an important distinction: psychological triggers aren’t a structure equivalent to AIDA, PAS, or BAB. They work as resources that can be built into those structures.

5. PAS (Problem, Agitation, and Solution)

PAS organizes the message into three moments:

• Problem: presents a real difficulty the audience faces.
• Agitation: digs into its consequences or impacts.
• Solution: presents a way to deal with that problem.

For example:

Problem: “Do you lose hours manually organizing your orders?”

Agitation: “On top of taking up your team’s time, this process increases the chances of errors and delays other important tasks.”

Solution: “With this tool, you can centralize orders and automate steps in the process.”

“Agitation” doesn’t mean inventing fear or exaggerating a situation. The idea is to help the audience understand why that problem deserves attention.

6. FAB (Features, Advantages, and Benefits)

FAB helps turn an offer’s features into more relevant arguments for the audience.

The structure starts from:

• Features: what the product has.
• Advantages: what that feature lets you do.
• Benefits: why that matters to the user.

Imagine a platform with an automation feature.

The feature is: “The platform automates email sending.”

The advantage: “You don’t need to send emails manually.”

The benefit: “So you save time and can focus on other parts of your business.”

The difference sounds small, but it completely changes how the offer’s value is perceived.

7. BAB (Before, After, and Bridge)

BAB works with three moments:

• Before: shows the current situation or problem.
• After: presents the desired scenario.
• Bridge: shows the bridge between the two.

A simple example:

• Before: “You spend hours trying to organize your finances and never quite know where your money is going.”
• After: “Imagine being able to see your income, expenses, and goals all in one place.”
• Bridge: “With this tool, you can centralize that information and keep track of your finances in a more organized way.”

The structure works especially well when there’s a clear transformation the audience wants to achieve.

8. PASTOR (Problem, Amplify, Story/Solution, Transformation, Offer, and Response)

PASTOR is a longer structure that walks the person from identifying the problem all the way to presenting the offer and the action.

Its steps are:

• Problem: present the problem;
• Amplify: dig into its impacts;
• Story/Solution: present a story or solution;
• Transformation: show the possible transformation;
• Offer: present the offer;
• Response: point to the expected response or action.

On a sales page, for example, this structure might start by presenting a difficulty the audience faces, show why it matters, tell the story behind creating the solution, present the transformation the product offers, explain the offer, and end with a CTA.

9. Star-Story-Solution

This structure starts with a Star, the story’s main character. It then develops a Story, showing their journey, problem, or challenge, and arrives at the Solution, the fix that helped transform that situation.

The “star” can be a customer the audience can relate to.

For example: “Marina worked all day and still couldn’t get her content production routine organized.” The story shows the challenge she faced and then presents the solution that helped change that scenario.

It’s a structure that works especially well for case studies, emails, and sales pages because it lets you present the solution within a narrative.

10. SLAP (Stop, Look, Act, and Purchase)

SLAP is a structure strongly geared toward action and conversion. It organizes the message into four moments:

• Stop: stop and grab attention;
• Look: get the person to look and consider the message;
• Act: encourage an action;
• Purchase: lead to the purchase.

An ad could start with a line that interrupts the flow of attention, quickly present a benefit, invite the person to check out the offer, and then guide them toward the purchase.

Because it’s more direct, this structure can make the most sense in commercial communications where there’s little room to develop a long argument.

Tips for writing good copy

Knowing copywriting techniques helps a lot, but no structure replaces one thing: understanding who you’re writing for.

A few principles make a real difference when building good copy:

• Highlight benefits, not just features;
• Anticipate and address objections;
• Use storytelling when it makes sense;
• Create clear CTAs.

The technique is there to organize the message. Context is what gives it meaning.

Highlight benefits, not just features

A feature describes what the product offers. A benefit explains why that matters to the person buying it.

This doesn’t mean features are useless. They help explain the product. The problem happens when the message stops there and leaves it up to the audience to make the connection between the feature and the benefit on their own.

Anticipate and address objections

Before buying, that “but…” usually shows up.

“It’s expensive.” “I don’t have time.” “Will this work for me?” “What if I can’t keep up?” “Why this solution and not another one?”

Good copy doesn’t need to pretend those doubts don’t exist. Quite the opposite: it can anticipate them and address them clearly.

If the course can be done at the student’s own pace, say so. If there’s support, show how it works. If the price can be paid in installments, mention it. If there are limitations, be transparent.

Persuasion isn’t about hiding whatever might make someone back out. It’s about giving enough information for them to make an informed decision.

Use storytelling when it makes sense

Stories help create identification, put problems into context, and make certain messages easier to picture and remember.

You can tell a customer’s story, share the journey of whoever created the product, or show a real situation the audience faces.

But there’s no obligation to turn every ad into a novel. Storytelling is a resource, not a requirement.

Sometimes, two or three sentences describing a real situation are already enough to give the message another dimension.

Create clear CTAs

A CTA, or call to action, points to what the person’s next step should be.

A good CTA needs to make clear what happens after the click or the interaction.

This doesn’t mean “Learn more” is wrong. The problem is using a generic call when the user needs to clearly understand what action they’re supposed to take.

How to write copy from scratch?

If you’ve opened a blank document and thought “where do I even start?”, take a breath. You don’t need to find the perfect sentence on your first try.

Before writing, ask yourself:

• Who is the audience?
• What action do we want this person to take?
• What problem or desire is involved?
• What’s the main benefit of the offer?
• What proof do we have to back up the message?
• What objections might come up?
• Can any copywriting technique help organize the communication?

After that, brainstorm. List out ideas for arguments, titles, angles, examples, and benefits, even if some of them sound bad at first.

The first version doesn’t need to be final. In fact, it rarely is.

Revision is part of the process. It’s common to find a better idea while you’re writing, realize a certain argument doesn’t work, or find a simpler way to explain something.

Copywriting examples

Copywriting examples vary depending on the channel and the action expected from the audience. Good copy makes the benefit clear and shows what the next step should be.

Take a look at a few examples:

• Ad: “Want to learn photography using just your phone? Check out the course and start with the basic techniques.”
• CTA: “Download the ebook for free.”
• Email: “Learn 5 techniques to improve your product photos.”
• Sales page: “Learn to photograph your products even without a professional camera.”
• Sign-up: “Create your free account and get started now.”

Notice that copywriting doesn’t necessarily mean writing long texts. A line on a button, a headline, or an email subject line can also be a copy when there’s a specific action behind the message.

What does a copywriter do?

A copywriter is the professional responsible for planning and writing persuasive text and messages geared toward marketing, communication, and sales goals.

Depending on the company or role, they might work with ads, emails, sales pages, landing pages, scripts, campaigns, social media content, and many other formats.

And the job isn’t just about writing.

A copywriter might research the audience, study the offer, analyze competitors, define arguments, identify objections, revise text, test different versions, and track results.

In practice, it’s a profession that combines writing, strategy, research, and an understanding of audience behavior.

How to choose good copywriting courses?

There’s no required degree to work as a copywriter. Still, copywriting courses can help a lot if you want to structure your learning, get to know different techniques, and speed up your practice.

Before choosing a course, it’s worth looking at:

• curriculum: does the course teach fundamentals or just hand you ready-made formulas?
• the instructor’s experience: what’s their real-world experience in the field?
• exercises and practice: is there room to put the knowledge into action?
• examples and case studies: does the content show real-world applications?
• how up to date it is: does the material keep up with changes in the market and channels?
• student reviews: have other people had a good experience?
• price versus depth: does the content offered match the investment?
• realistic promises: be wary of courses that promise guaranteed results or easy money.

If you’re looking for copywriting courses, you can also check out the options available on the Hotmart marketplace.

Copywriting and artificial intelligence: what changes?

Artificial intelligence can be a great ally for anyone working with copywriting. It can help generate ideas, create headline variations, organize information, revise text, and develop first drafts.

But there’s a huge difference between using AI as a tool and outsourcing your thinking to it entirely.

Good copy still depends on context, audience research, strategy, offer differentiation, and human judgment. If you simply ask it to “write persuasive copy for my product” without giving enough information, you’ll probably get a generic text full of phrases like “transform your life today” and “discover the secret to…”.

AI can speed up the process. But whoever knows the audience, understands the offer, and decides which argument truly deserves to stand out still needs to be in charge.

So, ready to put copy into practice?

As we’ve seen, copywriting is much more than writing sentences that sound good. It’s a way of building messages geared toward persuasion and action, taking into account the audience, the context, the offer, and the goal of the communication.

We also saw that there are different techniques and structures that can help with this process, from AIDA and PAS to storytelling, FAB, BAB, and other options. But none of them work as a magic formula.

Before looking for “the right words,” try to understand the right person, the right problem, and the right offer.

And, above all, remember that good copy needs to be clear and true. Persuading doesn’t mean promising something you can’t deliver or pressuring someone into a decision. It means communicating value in a way that helps the audience understand why a certain solution might make sense for them.

For anyone selling knowledge and digital products, this can be applied across practically the entire journey: sales pages, emails, ads, content, launches, and much more.

Frequently asked questions about copywriting

Still have questions? Below, we’re answering some of the most frequently asked questions about copywriting. Take a look!