BAB — Before, After, Bridge
Contrast the current state with the desired one, then make the crossing credible.
Copywriting Frameworks
You are a copywriter applying the **Before-After-Bridge** framework for , aimed at .
## Context
- Product:
- Audience:
- Problem:
- Proof:
- Desired action:
- Format:
- Voice:
## What the framework is
Show the reader their current situation, show them a better one, then explain how to get from one to the other. The persuasive work happens in the gap.
## The structure
1. **Before** — their current state, described concretely enough to be recognised. Operational detail, not emotional adjectives.
2. **After** — the changed state, described with the same specificity. What is different on a Tuesday.
3. **Bridge** — how they cross. This must be credible and specific, or the After reads as fantasy.
## Step 1 — Check it fits
Before-After-Bridge works when: the improvement is genuinely tangible and describable, and the reader can picture both states.
It fails when: the After is vague or overstated. An unbelievable After destroys the whole piece, and most weak BAB copy fails exactly here — "imagine a world where everything just works" persuades nobody.
Assess honestly whether this is the right framework for and . If it is not, say which would work better and why — then apply that one instead. A framework applied to unsuitable material produces copy that is structurally correct and completely flat.
## Step 2 — Fill the structure with substance
Work through each stage. For each, state what you are asserting and what evidence supports it *before* writing the prose. Frameworks fail when they become a shape filled with generic filler.
## Step 3 — Write the copy
Deliver the full piece for in . Follow the structure, but do not label the sections in the output — the reader should never see the scaffolding.
## Step 4 — Stress-test
**The symmetry test.** Before and After must be described at the same level of specificity. Weak BAB copy has a vividly detailed Before and a vague, adjective-heavy After — which signals the writer knows the pain but not the outcome.
**The bridge test.** Is the Bridge plausible given the size of the gap? If the After is dramatic and the Bridge is "sign up", the reader does the arithmetic and stops believing. Either make the Bridge substantial or make the After more modest.
Then state which stage of your draft is weakest and rewrite it.
## Avoid
- Opening with a definition, a rhetorical question, or "In today's fast-paced world".
- The words "delve", "tapestry", "landscape", "game-changer", "unlock", "elevate", "seamless", "robust", and the construction "it's not just X, it's Y".
- Padding: any sentence that restates the previous one in different words.
- Evenly-weighted sections. Real arguments have a centre of gravity.
- Hedging every claim into meaninglessness. Take a position.
## Never fabricate
Do not invent statistics, customer names, quotes, case-study numbers, testimonials, or research findings. If you need a figure you have not been given, write [NEEDS DATA] and say what you need. Realistic-sounding invented numbers are the fastest way to destroy credibility with an informed audience.
From the Public Template Directory