How To Use Copywriting Formula The Right Way
I’m pretty sure when you first started learning copywriting, you will find a lot of articles or YouTube videos that teach copywriting formula.
AIDA, PAS, BAB, 4 Ps, and so many others!
Almost every new copywriter seems to think this is the “shortcut” to writing great copy, and it will make businesses see you as a “good” copywriter.
I hate to break it to you, but copywriting formula isn’t the magic answer to writing good copy.
Which is why I keep telling new copywriters (and everyone who wants to write copy) to learn how to do copywriting research instead and use formula as a secondary tool.
What Copywriting Formulas Actually Do
I’m not saying copywriting formulas are completely useless or wrong to use. But you need to understand what they actually help you with. What they actually do.
Copywriting formulas give you a structure to follow, especially when you’re new to copywriting, they can be helpful.
They help you understand how copy is meant to flow from beginning till the end, from attention to interest to desire to action.
But a formula alone, without the right content and context written in your copy, won’t help the copy much.
When you write copy using a formula first and do the copy research later (or never), what you’re doing is just filling in a template with guesses.
You’re guessing what your audience cares about. You’re guessing what language resonates with them.
You’re guessing what their real pain points are, what words they use to describe their problem, and what would actually make them want to buy.
Your copy won’t convert because people just scroll past it as nothing in it made them feel seen. The headline didn’t stop them. And the body copy didn’t leave them feel understood either.
There’s no “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for” thoughts when they came across your copywriting.
So, to understand it better:
Copywriting formulas are the skeleton of your copy. But without copywriting research, that skeleton has no flesh, no soul, no heartbeat.
Copywriting formula tells you where to put things. But copywriting research is what tells you what to put there.
What Actually Makes Copy Convert
Over the years (working as a full-time copywriter, a freelancer, and now teaching other copywriters) I’ve learned that the ONE thing that separates average copy from highly-paid copy isn’t which formula you use.
It’s how well you understand these 3 things:
- Product or service — What does it actually do? What’s the real transformation it delivers? What makes it different?
- Target audience — Who are they? What do they want? What are they afraid of? What have they already tried that didn’t work? What exact words do they use to describe their problem?
- Market — What else is out there? What are other brands saying? What angle hasn’t been used yet?
When you truly understand all three, your copy almost writes itself. The formula becomes a tool you reach for naturally, not a crutch you lean on before you know what you’re even saying.
What to Do Instead: Copywriting Research
I teach something inside my membership that I call The Master Copy — a structured research document that you fill in before you write a single word of copy.
It’s not the kind of boring, dry research you did back in university. I call it fun research — the kind where you’re digging into what real people are saying, feeling, and searching for.
And honestly, any copywriter can create their own research template.
Here’s a simplified version of what the research process looks like:
Step 1: Understand the product deeply
Before you write anything, get close to what you’re selling. Use it if you can. Read every testimonial, review, and case study.
Talk to the client. Ask: what problem does this solve? What results have real customers seen?
The best copy doesn’t describe a product, it describes what life looks like after using it.
Step 2: Get inside the audience’s head
This is where most beginners skip straight to the formula and miss everything.
Go where your audience talks — Facebook groups, Reddit, reviews on Shopify or Lazada, YouTube comments, DMs from customers.
Look for the exact words and phrases they use to describe their problem. You’re not looking for inspiration. You’re looking for language to steal — ethically.
When your copy mirrors the words your reader already uses in their head, they feel like you understand them on a deep level.
That’s when copy starts to feel less like a sales pitch and more like a conversation.
Step 3: Study the market
Look at what competitors are saying. Use Facebook Ads Library to see what’s already running. What angles are being used? What promises are being made repeatedly?
Then ask yourself: what hasn’t been said yet? What gap can your copy fill?
This is how you find a fresh angle that makes your copy stand out instead of blending in with everything else in the feed.
How Copy Research Changes Everything
When I started applying this research process consistently, the quality of my copy shifted a lot!
And I didn’t even have to use different formulas. I was actually using the same formulas I always had.
But now they were filled with real insight — real language from real people, real pain points, real desires. And that made all the difference.
Copywriting Formula vs Copywriting Research
| Approach | What it gives you | What’s missing |
| Formula first, no research | Structure | Substance |
| Research first, then formula | Structure + substance | Nothing — this is the winning combo |
| Research only, no formula | Deep insight but messy output | Organisation |
The goal is always research first, formula second.
So When Should You Use Copy Formulas?
You can still use copywriting formula, but not as your starting point.
Once your copywriting research is done and you will deeply understand your product, audience, and market, that’s when you reach for a formula.
Use it to organise everything you’ve learned into a clear, flowing piece of copy that takes the reader from where they are to where they want to be.
At that point, the formula stops feeling like a template you’re filling in. It starts feeling like a natural flow that your research was already pointing toward anyway.
Use FB Ads Library
If the idea of research feels overwhelming, here’s the most accessible place to begin: Facebook Ads Library.
It’s free, requires no sign-up beyond a Facebook account, and gives you a window into how real brands are talking to real audiences right now.
Pick a brand in a niche you want to write for. Find their active ads. Study the angle, the language, the structure. Then look at the comments — that’s where the audience tells you exactly how they feel.
Final Thoughts
Copywriting formulas are a tool you can use, but they should not be a foundation.
If you’ve been relying on them too heavily and wondering why your copy still doesn’t convert — now you know why. It’s not that you’re doing the formula wrong.
It’s that the formula needs something to work with. Give it research, and it will do its job.
Start with your audience. Understand what they’re REALLY going through. Learn the “language” of their problem and their desire.
Then let the formula do what it was designed to do: organise all of that insight into something that moves people to action.
That’s how you write copywriting that converts.
