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Skillsbfd-formula

bfd-formula

Writing & research

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Updated 10-16 09:57

About this skill

The BFD copywriting formula (Belief → Feeling → Desire)

R — Reading

"Make good use of the 'BFD copywriting formula'"

— Robert Bly, Chapter 4, 4.7

I — Interpretation

Write deeply resonant copy by analyzing three psychological dimensions of the target customer:

B — Belief: What does the target customer believe? What fixed perceptions do they have about the industry, the product, and the problem?

  • Example: "Financial management is all a scam" / "If it's expensive, it's good" / "Small companies are unreliable"
  • The copy must respond to or challenge these beliefs

F — Feeling: How does the target customer feel about the current situation?

  • Fear, frustration, anxiety, hope, anticipation, anger
  • The copy must reach these emotions, not just state facts

D — Desire: What does the target customer truly want?

  • Surface needs vs. deep desires (want to buy a drill bit → actually want a hole in the wall → actually want to make the home more beautiful)
  • The copy must promise to satisfy the deep desire

How to use: first use BFD to analyze customer psychology, then respond to all three dimensions one by one in the copy.

Complementary to the Features → Benefits framework: the latter handles product logic (what this product can do), while BFD handles customer psychology (why the customer would care).

A1 — Past Application

Case 1: BFD analysis of an accountant's ad

  • Problem: Why small business owners are unwilling to hire an accountant
  • BFD use:
    • B: "I can file my own taxes, I don't need to spend that money"
    • F: "I get anxious every tax season, afraid of making a mistake and being penalized"
    • D: "I want to focus on running my business, not get tangled up in taxes"
  • Conclusion: The ad first challenges the belief (filing on your own may mean paying more tax), reaches the anxious emotion, and promises the desire to "focus on the business"

A2 — Future Trigger ★

In what situations will the user need this skill?

  1. The copy has been written but feels "cold", lacking the power to move people
  2. There is a customer profile but it is too surface-level (only age/income), requiring deeper psychological insight
  3. Preparing to do user research and needing a framework to design interview questions
  4. Everyone understands the product's features, but it just "fails to move people"

Language signals

  • "How do I write copy that moves people"
  • "What are customers actually thinking in their hearts"
  • "The copy is too dry, how do I add emotion"
  • "How do I make the copy resonate"
  • "I don't understand my customers"

Distinction from adjacent skills

  • And feature-to-benefit difference: the latter handles "product logic" (what it can do), this skill handles "customer psychology" (why they should care)
  • And guide-desire The difference: the latter is a philosophical principle about "desire orientation," while this skill is an operational framework for analyzing customer psychology

E — Executable Steps (Execution)

  1. B Analysis — list 3-5 core beliefs of the target customer

    • Beliefs about the product ("too expensive," "not useful," "they're all about the same")
    • Beliefs about the problem ("this isn't a big deal," "I can solve it myself")
    • Completion criteria: each belief can be expressed in the customer's own words

  2. F Analysis — identify the target customer's 2-3 main emotions

    • Negative emotions brought by the status quo (anxiety/frustration/fear)
    • Positive emotions about change (hope/anticipation/excitement)
    • Completion criteria: can specifically describe "what the customer feels in what scenario"

  3. D Analysis — distinguish surface needs from deep desires

    • Surface: I need a product with X feature
    • Deep: what kind of person I want to become / what kind of life I want to live
    • Completion criteria: the deep desire is at least 2 layers of "why" behind the surface need

  4. Map BFD to copy

    • Address beliefs → challenge or reinforce with evidence/new information
    • Reach emotions → use scenarios/stories/imagery to make readers "feel"
    • Promise the desire → make an explicit promise in the headline and ending

B — Boundary (Boundary) ★

Do not use this skill in the following situations

  • Purely technical B2B products — decision-makers make rational choices based on features/specs/budget, and emotional factors are very weak
  • Urgent promotional copy — no time for deep psychological analysis
  • Industries with strict regulatory restrictions (pharmaceutical/financial) — emotional appeals may violate compliance requirements

Failure modes the author warns about in the book

  • Analyzing only D (desire) while ignoring B and F — the resulting copy reads like "self-indulgence"
  • Projecting your own emotions onto the customer — requires real research rather than guesswork

The author's blind spots / era limitations

  • BFD assumes consumers have stable beliefs and emotions, but in an era of fragmented information, consumers' psychological states may be highly fluid
  • Does not cover how to verify the accuracy of BFD analysis (can be verified through A/B testing or user interviews)

Related skills (Phase 3 to be filled)

  • depends-on: [feature-to-benefit]
  • contrasts-with: {{}}
  • composes-with: [five-stage-sales, guide-desire]

Audit Information

  • Verification passed: V1 ✓ / V2 ✓ / V3 ✓
  • Test pass rate: {{%}} (see test-prompts.json for details)
  • Distillation time: 2026-05-03