There’s a tactic nearly all your favorite stories use. It’s called the Try-Fail cycle.
What is the Try-Fail cycle?
Take Lord of the Rings for example (head’s up—includes spoilers for Lord of the Rings, in case you’re still waiting for the perfect time to read or watch)…
Frodo wants to take the ring of power to Mount Doom to destroy it.
But the bad guys, known as ringwraiths, start chasing him down, throwing him off course.
Frodo goes to meet Gandalf at an inn called The Prancing Pony—but Gandalf’s been imprisoned at Saruman’s tower.
Later on Frodo asks a creature named Gollum to lead him to Mount Doom—but Gollum takes him to an inaccessible gate, forcing a change of plans.
Why this works?
The Try-Fail cycle works in stories because it makes the journey more satisfying. Success without struggle isn’t nearly as compelling.
How to use this in your marketing?
When you’re creating ads and writing copy, introduce lots of problems and roadblocks.
Remind your potential customers how difficult things are today—how tough it is to achieve the thing they want.
This way, your product reveal and pitch will feel more satisfying.
This is similar to the PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solution) framework in copywriting, except that when using the Try-Fail cycle, you introduce multiple problems and agitations before finally arriving at the conclusion.
That’s all for now. Happy marketing!
