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The internet is full of copy frameworks. PAS, AIDA, StoryBrand, JTBD. Pick one and your page reads like everyone else’s. The frameworks help when you are stuck, hurt when you over-apply them, and miss the patterns that actually move senior B2B buyers. Here is how to use them well.
The Four Most Common Frameworks, Plainly Explained
PAS (Problem, Agitate, Solution). Identify the reader’s problem, intensify their awareness of its consequences, then present your solution. Copywriters like it because it is simple and produces motion in the reader. “Your website is slow. Every extra second of load time is costing you enquiries. Here is how to fix it.”
AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action). The oldest model. Grab attention, build interest, create desire, prompt action. Often used as a structural model for entire pages: hook headline, informative copy, social proof, CTA.
StoryBrand. Donald Miller’s framework positions the customer as the hero, your business as the guide, and your service as the plan that leads them to success. Produces empathetic copy that avoids making your business the focus. Common criticism: over-applied, it makes every B2B site sound like a self-help book.
JTBD (Jobs to Be Done). Bob Moesta and Clayton Christensen’s framework focuses on the job the buyer is trying to accomplish. Not “we sell accounting software” but “we help growing businesses make accurate financial decisions without hiring a full-time CFO.” Reframes copy from product features to buyer context.
All four are useful in the right application. The problem is not using frameworks. The problem is applying a framework wholesale to every page, for every audience, in every context.
When PAS Works and When It Does Not
PAS is effective for lower to mid-funnel content and for audiences who recognise the problem you are describing.
A senior marketing manager at a B2B software company who has been burning paid budget on a slow landing page will respond to PAS copy that names their exact problem. The agitation step (“every 100ms of load time costs you conversions at the current CPC rate”) is specific enough to land.
The same framework applied to senior decision-makers who do not yet recognise the problem falls flat. If your buyer does not know they have a problem, agitation feels like manipulation rather than empathy.
PAS also struggles on service pages for prestigious or senior services. “Your website is embarrassing your firm” is agitation-first copy that works for some audiences and alienates the senior partner who has been running a successful firm for 25 years. Read your buyer before choosing the framework.
The StoryBrand Pattern, Used Carefully
StoryBrand produces useful copy when applied with restraint. The core insight is sound: make the customer the hero, not your business. Copy that starts with “we” and focuses on your capabilities and awards is less engaging than copy that starts with “you” and focuses on the buyer’s situation.
Where StoryBrand creates problems for B2B:
The guide archetype is limiting. Not every business relationship is guru-and-student. Senior professional services clients are often better served by copy that treats them as intelligent equals navigating a specific problem, rather than heroes guided by a wise mentor.
Over-application produces homogenous copy. When every B2B website follows the StoryBrand template, every page opens with a customer problem, presents a three-step plan, shows success, warns of failure, and ends with a CTA. The formula becomes invisible through ubiquity.
Use StoryBrand as a lens, not a template. The customer-centric perspective is valuable. The specific script is not always right.
The Unframeworked Pattern That Wins for Senior B2B
There is a copy pattern that consistently outperforms frameworks for senior B2B buyers. It has no official name. It is simply: specific outcome, specific buyer, specific proof.
Specific outcome. Not “we help you grow.” “Companies that complete our financial diagnostic engagement typically identify £X to £Y in hidden efficiency opportunities within the first 30 days.”
Specific buyer. Not “for businesses of all sizes.” “For UK professional services firms between 20 and 200 people transitioning from founder-led to professionally managed.”
Specific proof. Not “trusted by leading companies.” “When [Named Client], then [Company Size], ran this process in [Month Year], they [specific measurable outcome].”
The pattern works because senior buyers are pattern-matching against their own situation. Generic copy matches no one’s situation precisely. Specific copy matches fewer people, but it matches those people strongly enough that they enquire rather than browse.
Page by Page Copy Structure
Different pages serve different jobs. The copy job is different on each.
Homepage. Qualification and orientation. The copy should answer: who this is for, what we do, why trust us, what to do next. Keep it short. Let service pages carry the depth.
Service page. Education and conversion. The visitor is considering this service specifically. The copy should describe the service clearly, name who it suits, explain what the engagement involves, address the main objections, and provide social proof specific to this service. Service pages should be 400 to 800 words minimum.
Pricing page. Confidence and conversion. The copy at this point has a different job than service page copy: the visitor is already interested. Now they need to feel that the price is justified and the process is clear. FAQ sections, specific outcome statements, and named testimonials do more work here than long capability descriptions.
Contact page. Friction reduction. What happens after they submit? How quickly will they hear back? Who will they speak to? These questions create hesitation. Answer them on the contact page.
A Simple Voice and Tone Test
Read your copy out loud. Specifically, read your homepage hero section, your primary service page opening paragraph, and your about page.
Where you stumble, pause, or feel slightly embarrassed reading aloud is where the copy needs rewriting. This is the clearest signal of corporate jargon, padding, or unnatural sentence construction.
The benchmark: your copy should sound like how you actually explain your work to a smart person who doesn’t know your industry. Not formal. Not casual to the point of lacking credibility. Confident plainspokenness.
If your homepage hero reads “We deliver transformational outcomes through integrated digital strategy,” put that in a sentence you would say to a serious prospect at a first meeting and notice how it sounds.
If it sounds like something you would never actually say, rewrite it.
At Fernside Studio, every web design engagement includes copy review. We read your draft copy against your positioning and your audience, and give you specific suggestions where it is working against you.
If you want a critique of your three most important pages, including homepage, primary service page, and contact page, book a copywriting review session here.