PAIS - Create content that your audience actually wants to read!

PAIS stands for Problem, Application, Industry, Solution. It’s a unique content marketing framework I developed that aligns the needs of an audience to specific content that resonates. Its primary use is in the B2B space, but it can also be applied in B2C, Professional Services and Saas environments..

Put Simply: The PAIS content marketing framework helps you meet your audience where they are and guide them toward solutions.

Step One: Determine if your audience is problem-aware or problem-unaware.

Problem Unaware

Think of someone typing into Google: “Why does my website load so slowly?”

The searcher knows something is wrong, but they don’t yet understand the real issue. They are problem-unaware. They feel the pain, but they don’t know what is causing it.

The job of the content for this stage isn’t to pitch solutions. It’s to educate and orient. Give them clarity around likely causes and reasons for the pain or problem they are experiencing.

In the example above,  your content might highlight that oversized images are a common reason for slow-loading websites.

HINT: Problem-unaware searchers aren’t ready for your big reveal. Skip the popup and drop some knowledge instead. That’s the vibe.

Problem Aware - Solution Aware

But what about someone who already knows what their problem is, just not how to fix it?

Using the website example: they’ve gone from searching “Why is my website slow?” to “how to compress images for faster site speed.”

They are now problem-aware: they know what the issue is (oversized images) but don’t know yet which tools, services, or methods will solve it.

At this stage of the user journey, your job is to acknowledge the problem, provide practical context, and start connecting the dots to the solution - without rushing to pitch - in order to naturally open the door to more advanced solutions later.

For example, you could publish an article called “Tips and Tricks to Reduce Image Size” where you share a list of free tools and plugins. This validates your expertise and builds trust with your audience.

By now, you’re probably asking “When do we get to the (S)olution?”Soon. But before we get there, there is an important contextual bridge we need to cross with our audience.

Application & Industry

This is where you show your audience how their problem plays out in the real world., Instead of saying “hey now buy our product,” you demonstrate that you understand their pain by giving examples of how others have gone about solving.

In the slow website example, you could show a use case where an “E-Commerce brand boosted conversions by 15% after optimizing site images for speed.” 

By contextualizing the problem in actual industries and applications, you accomplish two things: 

1. Build Credibility (“we have the receipts”)

2. Show impact of solving the problem (faster site = more sales, less churn = happier users)

Now you (and they) are ready for a Solution…

Solution

By now, you have helped the audience identify their problem (oversized images), educated the user on a solution for their problem, and shown the impact others have felt by solving it. Now you’re ready to pull your offer out of the hat. But let's be real, we still want to present our solution as the savior to their troubles. 

In the slow website example, your offer might be to take the problem off their plate. “For businesses without an in-house web team, the fastest path forward is partnering with a website optimization service. Companies like [Your Brand] handle the heavy lifting so you can focus on running the business.”

Now you’ve got a nice mix of vibe and logic in your offer and you’re ready to meet your target audience where they are.

Summary

In the real world, people don’t all start their journey at the same place.. As such, the intent of the PAIS framework is not to walk someone through from start to finish.It is to ensure you have the content that intersects each stage.

Its very easy to write a product page and then wonder why nobody comes to buy it. The real trick is content alignment to your audience. At VibeLogic we have a method for evaluating multiple different sets of problems, mapping them to our PAIS framework and identifying specific keywords, links and related content on your site.

We help guide you on producing content that matters and meets your audience's needs, every step of the way.

Come feel the Vibe and see the Logic.