Imagine you’re at a party, and you’re trying to convince your friend to ditch the chips and hit the dance floor with you. Do you say “Come on, dancing burns calories!” or “If you don’t dance, you’ll miss out on all the fun!”? Believe it or not, the way you frame your message can make all the difference.
In copywriting, this is what we call “message framing” – and it’s a powerful tool for influencing how your audience perceives and responds to your words. But what exactly is message framing, and how can you use it to supercharge your copy?
The Psychology of Message Framing
To really understand message framing, we need to take a quick detour into the land of cognitive psychology.
Back in the 1970s, psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky came up with something called “Prospect Theory”. The gist is that when we make decisions, we don’t just weigh the final outcome – we put way more emphasis on the potential gains and losses along the way.
In other words, how you present a choice can sway how people perceive it. Frame something as a gain, and people are more likely to take a risk. Frame it as a loss, and they’ll play it safe. It’s why “90% fat-free” sounds way better than “10% fat,” even though they mean the same thing.
As humans, we’re not just risk-averse, we’re loss-averse. The pain of losing something hits us about twice as hard as the joy of gaining something of equal value. It’s why we’ll drive across town to avoid a $5 ATM fee, but barely blink at a $5 latte.
Using Message Framing In Search Ads
To use message framing effectively, the key is to think about what you want your audience to feel and do, and then choose a frame that nudges them in that direction.
Let’s say you’re writing an ad for a new weight loss supplement. You could focus on the positive gains, like “Get the body of your dreams!” or “Feel amazing in just 30 days!”. That’s a gain frame – it emphasizes the good stuff they’ll get if they buy.
Or, you could tap into loss aversion with something like, “Don’t let another year go by feeling unhappy with your body.” This is a loss frame – it highlights what they stand to lose if they don’t take action.
Neither frame is inherently “better” – it depends on your audience and your goals. If you’re targeting people who are already pretty motivated, a gain frame can give them that extra push. But if you’re trying to light a fire under the procrastinators, a loss frame might be the way to go.
You can also play with different types of framing depending on what you’re selling. If you’ve got a product with immediate, tangible benefits (think pain relief), a positive frame that highlights those benefits can work wonders. But if you’re selling something with more long-term or abstract perks (like life insurance or education), a negative frame that emphasizes what they could miss out on might be more persuasive.
How To Use Message Framing Effectively
So how can you actually craft a persuasive message frame? Here are a few tools to add to your framing toolbox:
- Know your audience: The better you understand what makes your target audience tick, the easier it is to choose a frame that resonates. What are their hopes, fears, and motivations? What kind of language do they use? A little empathy goes a long way.
- Play up the contrast: Humans are wired to notice contrast and change. Use this to your advantage by highlighting the gap between where they are now and where they want to be. Paint a vivid picture of the transformation your product can provide.
- Get emotional: Emotions drive decisions, period. Whether you’re going for warm and fuzzy or fired up and ready to act, an emotional appeal can be the secret sauce that makes your message stick. Just make sure it’s authentic and aligned with your brand voice.
- Use vivid, concrete language: Abstractions are nice, but they don’t pack the same punch as tangible, sensory details. Instead of “improve your fitness,” try “feel the rush of nailing your first pull-up”. The more your audience can see, feel, and imagine the outcome, the more persuasive your message will be.
Let’s see how this all comes together in the real world of copywriting. We’ll look at two classic use cases: search ads and landing pages.
For search ads, you’re working with super limited real estate – you’ve got to make every character count. This is where a punchy, benefit-driven message frame can really shine. Imagine you’re selling a productivity app. A gain-framed headline like “Crush your to-do list in half the time” highlights the core benefit and creates a sense of momentum. Follow it up with a loss-framed description like “Stop letting tasks slip through the cracks” to tap into that fear of missing out.
Now let’s say that ad did its job, and someone clicked through to your landing page. Here, you have a bit more room to play – but the framing principles still apply. You might lead with a big, bold, positive headline that reinforces the promise of the ad, like “Welcome to stress-free productivity.” Then, as you guide them down the page, you can sprinkle in some loss aversion to create urgency, like “Don’t let another day go by feeling overwhelmed and behind”. Tie it all together with a clear, benefit-focused call to action, and you’ve got a recipe for persuasion.
Using Message Framing Ethically
As marketers and copywriters, we have a responsibility to use framing ethically and transparently. That means no exaggerating, no fear-mongering, and no making promises you can’t keep. Frame your message in a way that emphasizes the real, authentic value you’re offering – not in a way that manipulates or misleads.
Summing Up
Message framing is all about understanding what makes people tick and using that knowledge to craft messages that resonate. It’s about tapping into the quirks of the human brain – our aversion to loss, our love of a good story, our craving for tangible outcomes – and using them to create copy that persuades, motivates, and inspires.
But the real magic happens when you combine a smart message frame with a product that genuinely makes people’s lives better. That’s when you’re not just framing a message – you’re framing a true story of transformation.
