Hey everyone!
When I became a copywriter, one of the things that bothered me the most was that I had to talk about people’s pain points.
Every copywriting training, manual, or course ever created that is proven and was made by someone who has actually sold things through copywriting will agree:
You have to talk about your client’s paint points and struggles.
But I never liked that idea – at all. I’m kind of this Midwest ‘nice’ girl at heart 🙂 lol, and the thought of blatantly calling out someone’s biggest struggles or challenges and making them read them has never sat right with me.
I didn’t want to be a copywriter if it meant I had to make people feel bad about themselves or call out their mistakes.
The only thing that got me through it was a book called Loved Based Copywriting. Yes, that’s a real thing and a real copywriting method that works.
In the book, the author shares a unique approach to pain point marketing. She says:
“Reminding people of their struggles or challenges is an important part of the copywriting process. Making them feel worse so you cause suffering is not.”
A lot of traditional copywriting methods focus so much on agitating those pain points – which is why writing this way feels so unaligned for me.
Here’s another quote from this book that’s totally worth mentioning:
“In addition, pain point marketing adds urgency and, if done right, can help weed out people who are not truly ready to transform (and who are therefore more likely to be unhappy, disappear from your program, tell others about their ‘bad’ experience, and ask for a refund, because they’re resisting doing what needs to be doing.)”
In other words – you need to bring up your client’s challenges and pain points so they can identify that your program solves something they are actively looking for support with.
But we can do it in a way that empowers them, shows empathy, and lets people who are not ready to do the work to bow out before they join and realize they’re in the wrong place – nobody wants that.
Pain point marketing in a love-based way is about connecting the right people to your offer.
It’s not just about agitating a pain point so much the person feels like they have no other option to buy, and they join out of guilt or shame that they have this struggle.
You want to help people with the exact problems YOU are uniquely made and driven to solve. Because that’s what’s going to keep you excited about your work as the business owner – and your happiness and fulfillment in your programs matter just as much as anyone’s!!! – while also giving your clients the best results, too.
One more thing I’ll say about this before we get into the mistakes you might be making with your pain point marketing right now and how to fix those:
There are a lot of people in the online space as I write this in 2025 who talk about taking out pain point marketing completely. They say it’s unethical and that it is best to instead talk about your client’s DESIRES. Call in what your client wants; Call forward the possibilities and their highest selves!
While I do agree that your marketing should call in the client you want to work with and empower that person to see what’s possible – I also want to say that I often see desire marketing preying on vulnerable people.
For example, let’s say you DESIRE market by telling someone they can leave their crappy 9-5 for more freedom as a business owner.
But do you know if they even have an in-demand business concept? Are they financially stable enough to start a business? Because yes, even the most frugal business model comes with costs.
See what I mean? You’re talking about their desires by sharing how wonderful and freedom-filled their future will be. They’ll never have to miss out on time with their kids. They’ll be a more present mom in the summer when the kids are home! They’ll have more time for self-care.
To me, this is preying on someone who is in a delicate or difficult time in their life by showing them HOW MUCH BETTER things *could* be IF ONLY they did *this.* You can call that desire marketing if you want, but to me that is irresponsible at best and unethical at worst.
Don’t fall for this trap of ‘desire’ marketing – I think it oftentimes is preying on people’s vulnerabilities and struggles more than simply calling out the struggle and showing how you solve it.
Ok, so if you’re reading this and you’re thinking: I want to use pain point marketing in a better way. I want to use it so it brings my best-fit client forward, empowers them to see a result, and shows them that I understand and care about their challenges and have a solution …
Here are four mistakes you might be making right now in leveraging pain points on your sales page and what you can do instead –
Mistake #1 – Skipping The Market Research Phase
I will sing on this hilltop until I die 🙂 – The best way to get the results you’re hoping for in your launch or campaign is to start with market research.
So many business owners skip this part. We jump straight into offer creation and promotion, but it’s like, girl – is this offer you’re providing even something your audience needs or wants right now?
Is there even demand for what you’re selling? What is the standard market pricing for this kind of offer, and does that set you up for your income goal?
Because the best copy in the world cannot sell something your audience does not want or need.
I think I’ve used this example before, but you can have the BEST WINTER GLOVES on the planet, but if I live in the desert, I’m not buying them.
I don’t need them right now. It is 130 degrees outside my front door – the sidewalk is on fire :); cold hands are not a problem I have or need to solve right now.
So, do your market research first. Send a survey to your list, your social media audience, your past best-fit clients, and potential clients you would love to work with.
Ask them questions like:
What is your biggest struggle right now when it comes to [YOUR NICHE] (aka – email marketing)?
What’s one piece of advice you’re hearing that grinds your gears the most when it comes to [YOUR NICHE] (aka – email marketing)?
If you could wave a magic wand and have all your problems around [YOUR NICHE] solved, what would that look like?
What are some things you’ve already tried to solve this challenge, and did they work?
What would an ideal [YOUR NICHE] (i.e., email marketing program) deliver to you? What results would you walk away with?
Do your market research first so you can know your ideal client’s pain points and struggles in their own words before you start making them an offer.
Mistake #2 – The pain points are way too vague
I want to use this example from my client Lisa’s sales page. Lisa helps moms of middle school, high school, and adult children to start their first business.
Her copy says:
“You’re running a “business” from your kitchen table, stealing moments between soccer practice and dinner prep, knowing you could grow so much faster with just a little support and direction.”
Notice how she didn’t say running a business with high school kids can feel exhausting.
Instead, she gave concrete examples of what her best-fit clients are doing right now. Working at the kitchen table, trying to squeeze work in between dinner prep and soccer practice, etc.
Making your pain points specific is the best way to give them life and also to ensure they don’t start causing more suffering for your reader.
Two things can help with this:
#1 – Again, do your market research. You’ll hear from your best-fit clients in their words what they’re going through.
#2 – Think of pain points from all five senses. What are your clients hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, touching, doing, and experiencing right now? Ok, I know that was more than five, but you get what I mean :). Put yourself in their shoes, literally, so you can know what’s really going on and can speak to the challenge they’re going through.
When I write for my clients, I always ask them to answer this question: My clients are struggling with X right now … and I know this because I hear them saying Y.
Thinking about what your customers are saying when they describe their challenges is one of my favorite ways to create pain points that are relatable and specific.
Mistake #3 – The pain point section is way too long
If you have more than three pain point ‘bullets’ or sentences – it’s time to do some editing :). I’d maybe let you get away with having four or five, tops, because I’m wordy like that too … BUT, seriously, you probably need to cut your pain point section at least in half.
This goes back to the difference between calling out challenges and causing suffering.
Do you need to mention their pain point so they know you understand and can help them? Yes.
Do you need to tell a four-paragraph story that explains every little thing they’re doing wrong or struggling with and why that really stinks? Nope – you don’t need to do that :).
I also start paint point sections with an empowering headline that says something like:
You absolutely can [BIG GOAL].
Or … You have the ability to [BIG GOAL].
Then, I go into what’s holding them back, so for example, using my client Lisa’s page as an example again:
“You absolutely can have a profitable, fulfilling business doing what you love – even if you ‘aren’t good at business.’
But turning your passion into something more than a ‘side hustle’ while caring for your family can feel impossible, I know.”
And then we went on to mention a few pain points from there.
Empower your readers. Let them know you understand why achieving their main goal is difficult (for now!), and then share how you can help.
Cutting back on your pain points also forces YOU to get specific on what your program is about. You *can* help people in lots of ways and do lots of things. Your clients of course will experience lots of *bonus* wins when working with you.
But what are the few things you really want to be known for? What is your niche in the market?
Mistake #4 – You’re talking to clients you don’t actually want to work with.
I am so guilty of this, and it’s something I work really, really hard to make sure we don’t do when I write for my copywriting clients.
If you have worked with clients for a long time, you probably can help with lots of different struggles and challenges.
The hard part is making sure you’re talking to the challenges of the clients you WANT to work with – not just calling in everyone you *can* help … if you have to.
It’s very easy to start listing all the struggles your clients might have or that you’ve helped people solve in the past.
It takes more thought and intention to step back and picture your BEST-FIT client and the unique struggles and questions this person has, and be really intentional with who you are talking to.
This, again, requires market research – with best-fit clients. You want to gather research from and write to the people you want to work with. Knowing their specific challenges and having them on your sales page is key in calling them into your program.
Final thoughts
The messaging for your offer, your launch, and your sales page is constantly evolving. This is a process we go through as business owners all the time.
The more times you run your program, the more it will grow and flourish into what you really want it to be.
The more clients you work with, the more you’ll understand those clients and be able to speak to them in your marketing.
Do the market research. Run the program. Repeat. Give yourself a ton of Grace.
You don’t have to have the perfect message or perfect sales page to have a really, really good launch.
If you care enough about your clients to read a blog post like this and to be thinking about the experience they have on your sales page while reading pain points – you are made for this type of work :).
If you are taking the time to talk to your clients, do that market research, and keep refining that process every few months – things will fall into place.
I’m here for you! Reach out to me anytime (hello@jennyrothcopywriting.com) I love hearing from you and talking about all things copy, launching, etc.
You’ll also find three ways I can support you in having the best messaging for your next launch or funnel campaign at the links below:
👉Click HERE to book your Sales Page Edit.
For just $197, I’ll go through your current sales page section by section and tell you exactly what to say/add/change to have it convert higher, AND I’ll write three custom headlines for you.
👉Grab your Free Sales Page Template.
👉 Get the highest converting sales page possible when you book me as your Sales Page Copywriter.
Listen to the Above the Bar Copy Podcast on this topic below!
