Problem-Agitation-Solution (PAS) in Marketing

Problem-Agitation-Solution (PAS)

What Is It?

The Problem-Agitation-Solution (PAS) framework is a highly effective and widely used copywriting and marketing formula. It is a three-step structure designed to capture an audience's attention, intensify their need for a solution, and then present the product or service as the definitive answer. The formula works by mirroring the natural psychological journey a customer takes when considering a purchase: recognizing a problem, feeling the pain of that problem, and seeking relief.

The first step, Problem, involves clearly identifying and articulating a pain point, challenge, or frustration that the target audience is currently experiencing. This immediately establishes relevance and empathy, making the audience feel understood. The second step, Agitation, is the psychological core of the framework. It involves amplifying the negative consequences of the problem, exploring its emotional toll, and raising the stakes. This step leverages the psychological principle of loss aversion, making the audience more motivated to act to avoid the pain than to gain a potential benefit. Finally, the Solution step introduces the product or service as the necessary and immediate remedy, providing a release from the emotional discomfort created in the agitation phase.

For example, a company selling project management software might use PAS as follows: Problem - "Are you constantly missing deadlines and struggling to keep your team on the same page?" Agitation - "If you continue to rely on scattered emails and confusing spreadsheets, you'll not only lose clients but also risk burnout and a damaged professional reputation. The cost of this disorganization is far greater than you think." Solution - "Our new platform, ProjectFlow, is the all-in-one solution that centralizes communication, automates task tracking, and guarantees you hit every deadline, turning your team into a productivity powerhouse."

How It Works

The effectiveness of the PAS framework is rooted in several key psychological mechanisms that drive human decision-making and motivation.

Quote from a Popular Marketer

"Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem. It's a chance to change the culture for the better." — Seth Godin [1]

This quote encapsulates the spirit of the PAS framework, which begins with a focus on the customer's problem and positions the marketer's offering as a helpful solution, not merely a product for sale.

10 Tips on How to Use It in Marketing

1. Deeply Research the Problem: Before writing a single word, conduct thorough research to understand the specific pain points, frustrations, and language your target audience uses to describe their problem. The more accurately you can articulate their pain, the more credible your solution will appear.
2. Focus on Emotional Agitation: Don't just state the problem; explore the emotional toll it takes. Use vivid, sensory language to describe the feeling of the problem. For a financial product, this might be the "knot in your stomach" or the "sleepless nights" caused by debt, not just the debt amount itself.
3. Use Real-World Examples in Agitation: Amplify the problem by showing the real-world, negative consequences of inaction. For instance, a cybersecurity company might agitate by showing a news headline about a small business that was recently hacked, making the threat tangible and immediate.
4. Keep the Solution Brief and Benefit-Focused: The Solution phase should be a clear, concise, and direct link between the pain and the relief. Avoid listing features; instead, focus on the benefit that directly reverses the pain point. If the problem is "wasting hours on manual data entry," the solution is "instant, automated data sync."
5. Test Different Agitation Levels: The "Agitation" step is the most sensitive. Test different versions of your copy—some with mild agitation and some with more intense emotional language—to find the sweet spot that motivates action without alienating or "cringing" the audience.
6. Apply PAS to Different Content Formats: The framework is versatile. Use it for a 30-second video script, a social media post, a landing page headline, an email subject line, or a full sales letter. The structure remains the same: Hook with the Problem, build tension with Agitation, and resolve with the Solution.
7. Use the Problem as Your Hook: In digital marketing, the Problem statement should be the headline or the first sentence. It must be a powerful hook that immediately stops the reader's scroll, as it directly addresses their current state of mind.
8. Integrate Social Proof in the Solution: Strengthen the credibility of your Solution by including a brief testimonial or a statistic that shows how many others have already found relief. For example, "Join the 10,000+ businesses who have already eliminated [Problem] with our software."
9. Ensure a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): The CTA should be a natural extension of the Solution. It shouldn't just say "Buy Now," but rather "Get Your Relief Today" or "Start Solving [Problem] Instantly," reinforcing the idea that the action leads directly to the promised relief.
10. Use PAS for Customer Onboarding: The framework isn't just for acquisition. Use it in onboarding emails to remind new users of the problem they used to have, the pain they avoided by signing up, and how the product is the solution, reinforcing their decision and encouraging feature adoption.

References