30: Use Before After Bridge to close more sales
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, only rookies write from scratch!
The best copywriters in the business spent the majority of our time researching our clients’ offers, our clients’ voices, and our clients’ customers. And then we take that rich research and we plug it into a copywriting framework or formula to assemble a brilliant marketing or sales message.
In this episode of ill communication, I’m sharing another simple and super effective copywriting formula that you can use for writing Facebook ads, social media posts, emails, and customer testimonials or case studies.
It’s called the BAB formula and I love it for so many reasons. I’m diving into what this formula is, how to use it, an example of it in use, and what to be careful of when using this formula.
It is simple and easy for your reader to understand, and it keeps things super simple for us when we're writing as well.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
What The BAB formula is
Why I love this formula so much
Examples of this formula in use
Something to be careful about when using this formula
There you have it! The BAB formula is so simple and can be used for a variety of things in your business. I hope you’ll use this formula in an email, testimonial, or social media post this very week!
If you are interested in learning more about the Amplify Your Voice Guides, you can check them out here.
Remember, if you enjoyed this episode, I would really appreciate it if you took the time to leave a rating and review and share it with a friend on social media. It helps other people find the podcast and helps me a lot!
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Welcome to Ill Communication. Copywriting Tips and Sales Strategies for Small Business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and changemakers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soul mate clients. Let's get started. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Only rookies write from scratch. The best copywriters in the business spent the majority of our time researching our clients, offers our clients voices and our clients customers. And then we take that rich research and we plug it into a copywriting framework or formula to assemble a brilliant marketing or sales message. And in today's episode, you're going to get a simple and super effective copy formula you can use for writing Facebook ads, social posts, emails and customer testimonials or case studies. Hey there, my friend. Welcome to episode 30 of the Ill Communication Podcast. Today I'm breaking down a brilliant copywriting formula. The b a, B before after bridge. So the other day I was writing a Facebook ad for a weight loss client who's hosting a free training. One of the things this client communicated is that their ideal client needs to know this weight loss solution actually works.
Because if you're a woman who's ever been on a health journey, you've probably tried multiple diets and solutions and none of them have actually worked. So for this client, it's very important to demonstrate right off the top that the weight loss solution is effective. So rather than farting around for a couple of hours writing and rewriting aimlessly, I pulled out one of my favorite copywriting formulas, the B, a, B before or after bridge. And because I had a powerful formula, along with her voice of customer and research, I wrote her Facebook ad in well under an hour. It reminded me why it's such a powerful and simple copy recipe, and it's why I'm sharing it with you today. So I love the baby formula. It presents the problem your customer is facing and then quickly moves to the solution. You arrange your message or invitation in this order before describe where your reader is today. What are their challenges or desires? Empathize with the problem they're facing right now. You can also tell a story about a client and what things were like before they worked with you. Then you immediately jump to what happens after someone works with you. Paint a picture of their world without that problem. Describe your client's life or business after they work with you. And then we move into the bridge section. Here's where you show how your solution, service or product creates the bridge between the before state and the after state. You might want to throw in some social proof or a little more story or some data points to add extra credibility and build trust.
B a B before after bridge works well because it taps into our emotions. People see themselves mirrored in the before section and that it quickly moves to the future state, which makes us feel good. Baby is perfect for writing short copy like testimonials, social posts, and Facebook ads, and you can use it to structure a longer form case study. And it's effective for writing fundraising messages. You talk about the state of the world before you present the state of the world after the problem is solved, and then you provide the bridge. But in the case of fundraising, the bridge is actually your donor. And the donations that they give, not your charity. Anyway, that's an aside. If you want to dig a little deeper or ask any questions, just reach out to me privately for that. Anyway, let me give you an example of how to use baby. I can I use the example of the one I wrote for my weight loss client I mentioned earlier because I'm under a non-disclosure agreement and I'm actually going to highlight another weight loss client who came to me for a different service. So listen in for the three different sections before after bridge. Here goes. When Corinne reached out to me, she was at her wit's end. She was spending way too much time editing the copy her team of writers created for her. She was frustrated because as the CEO and founder of a multiple eight figure company, she does not have the time to write all the copy.
It's just not the best use of her time. But the copy her team wrote for her just didn't sound like her and she didn't really know how to articulate what was wrong. She struggled to explain to her writers why it was wrong and how to correct it. So she just ended up editing or rewriting the copy herself, which meant she couldn't focus on the bigger picture strategies in her business. After our work together, Karen had a voice and copy playbook to use with her team so they could immediately understand how to write and sound just like her. Now her writers deliver copy. That's a near-perfect mimic for her voice. There's less back and forth for Karen. She spends less time writing and editing copy, and she has more trust and way less worry about the copy her team is creating for the business. Now she has more time to focus on big picture business strategies and stay in her zone of genius. And this, my friend, is the power of the Amplify Your Voice guide. It's a custom created resource that documents and explains the nuances of your voice. So other readers and team members can write and sound just like you. My client, Karen, has a very unique and personality packed voice. She drops a lot of F-bombs and curse words and has funny little Karen isms she uses in her copy. Her voice is so unique and it's very difficult for others to capture the right tone and personality and writing.
After I analyzed and assessed Karen's voice and broke it all down inside her Amplify Your voice guide. Not only did her team discover how to write and sound like her, but Karen actually had a better understanding of her own voice and new language to help her explain when something sounds off. So if you're at a stage in your business where you're spending way too much time writing or editing your copy and you want to hand it off to your team and trust they'll deliver a near-perfect piece of copy every time. You probably need a custom created voice guide. The Amplify Your voice guide is an essential tool for founders and CEOs who want to streamline your copyrighting and review process. So if that sounds like you book an intro and strategy, call with me to see if it's a good fit for you and your business. So did you catch the three sections? I painted a picture of how Karen was struggling before we worked together. I described what it was like for her after we worked together, and then I bridged it all together by showing how the Amplify Your Voice guide created that transformation. And I hope you'll notice I also included a call to action at the end so the reader or listener knows what the next step is. Before, after bridge is simple and easy for your reader to understand, and it keeps things super simple for us when we're writing as well.
But I do want to provide a final disclaimer. There's a concern the baby can overpromise and oversimplify the transformation. You want to make sure you're not suggesting that the transformation happens overnight. You don't want someone to think they're going to get rich quick or lose £10 in 24 hours. So when you use the before after bridge formula, please approach it with a level of empathy and honesty to make sure you're not painting an unrealistic Cinderella story. That's not an accurate representation of what it's like to work with you. Well, my friend, that's it for this episode of L Communication. I hope you'll pull out the before. After. Bridge and use it in an email, testimonial or social post this very week. If you enjoyed this episode, would you take a minute to leave your rating and review? It helps other people find the podcast. And I also love when people take a screenshot and share the episode on their social media channels. If you're ever inspired by what you hear, don't be shy to share it with your networks. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'll see you next time for another copy tip. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Ill Communication. Hey, if you enjoy these snack sized strategies and tips, you'll want to join my VIP Copy and Cocktails club. It's my email newsletter where I share more coffee tips, sales strategies, and the occasional recipe for my favorite beverage or appetizer du jour. To subscribe, visit Kim Qualcomm slash Newsletter. Thanks for tuning in.
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