How to use storytelling in copywriting: A Bridgerton Story

What Bridgerton Season 3 can teach you about storytelling in copywriting

There’s no doubt that Bridgerton has taken the world by storm.

If you’re anything like me, you were glued to the telly to watch Penelope and Colin’s story through the show's third series.

And you knew it would be a BIG season:

Would Penelope be found out as Lady Whistledown?

Will Colin realise how much he loves her?

Will he accept that she’s Whistledown and forgive her for what she’s written about his family?

And just how hot and steamy is it going to get, anyway?

But as entertaining as Bridgerton is, it’s also a very technical case study in storytelling.

You see, every show or film you watch follows exactly the same structure and formula.

And sure, there are different themes: series one was the classic ‘fake relationship to true love’ theme, series two was the wildly popular ‘enemies to lovers’ theme, and series three is built on ‘friends to lovers.’

And we loooooove them all.

But once you see the structures and tools of a basic story, you’ll see them everywhere….despite the overarching theme.

And if you’re a smart copywriter (or business owner), you’ll use them in your sales copy.

There’s a reason storytelling is powerful: it’s been the most robust tool of human evolution, carrying messages, warnings, and teaching through centuries.

So when used in copy, it stirs a strong instinct. 

Here’s how to use storytelling in your copywriting to structure your landing page, sales emails, and opt-in pages... based on our fav Bridgerton story!

Ordinary World: The Status Quo

All stories start with a Hero in her everyday life.

This happens in the first 20 minutes of every film: we’re introduced to the Hero, the main characters, and the basic rules of her universe. 

We see what she’s used to and what she’s comfortable with.

We see what she can and can’t do. 

We see what she’s afraid of and what her basic talents are.

Then…

…something comes and disrupts her status quo.

And she’ll spend the rest of the story trying to get back to her Ordinary World.

For Penelope Featherington, her Ordinary World going into Season 3 is her comfortable life of standing on the wall at balls and secretly writing as Lady Whistledown at night.

She’s gotten used to this, and she’s comfortable with it.

She’s well hidden. 

Nobody notices her.

And she might want to be noticed, but only in a way that people will take her more seriously. To see her as more than the dowdy younger sister whom nobody seems to want to marry.

It’s not too much to ask.

She’s lovely and pliable. 

She’s more concerned about your comfort than her own.

She’s willing to tell everyone about your life, but she doesn’t want you to know hers.

She says to Colin that she’s jealous of his easy confidence—that she prays each year to feel that comfort in a crowd and on the marriage market, but it never comes.

Penelope’s Ordinary World is disrupted when her planned reconciliation with Eloise falls flat: Eloise has become friends with Cressida, so Penelope must enter into her third season on the marriage market alone.

And when Penelope tries to attend the season by herself, in a fancy dress and a play at confidence, she’s shot down quickly.

As she’s about to fail a third attempt at finding a husband, she realises that she’ll become a spinster.

The rest of society is going on without her.

As a copywriter, your first mission is to disrupt your reader’s Ordinary World. 

Catch her attention right away with a line or short paragraph that tickles her sense of comfort and makes her wonder if perhaps it’s time to make a change.

Call to Adventure

Once the Ordinary World is disrupted, the Hero only wants things to return to normal.

She’s not interested in a big journey or change at all. It’s too scary. 

But then she receives an invitation.

And it’s always obvious. 

Sometimes it’s when the Hero literally RSVPs ‘yes’ to an invitation or chooses between a red pill and a green pill. 

The choice to enter into the plot of the story is clear.

And right on cue, Collin presents Penelope with her Call to Action: he offers to help her find a husband.

Just as Penelope hesitates to take Colin up on his offer, every Hero will at first deny or be unwilling to take the Call to Adventure.

When she shakes his hand, she accepts the Call to Action.

And while Penelope’s adventure is to find a husband, your client’s adventure will be to buy your product.

So now it’s time to guide them through the Hero’s Journey…and by the end, they’ll have no choice but to say YES to your offer.

The Hero’s Guide

After a Hero accepts the Call to Action, they head out into a new world where the rules are different. They have a lot to learn.

They never go it alone, though.

Every Hero, once into the second act of her story, will receive a Hero’s Guide—a character with wisdom who pops in and out of the story to give the Hero the tools or advice she needs to make it through her trials.

But here’s the thing about the Hero’s Guide: they’re always a minor character with a major role… 

Let me explain: 

The Hero’s Guide has a big impact, and they’re memorable, but they don’t get as much screen time as other characters like love interests or sidekicks.

(Famous Hero’s Guides include Yoda from Star Wars, Morpheus from The Matrix, and Dory from Finding Nemo.)

Their role is to nudge the Hero in the right direction—to whisper into the Hero’s ear with wisdom and advice in a way that’s subtle and allows the Hero to figure out the answer on her own.

The Hero’s Guide trains the Hero. They give the Hero tools, and they shine light onto what the Hero refuses to see. 

They point out the difference between what the Hero wants and what the Hero needs. 

The Hero’s Guide highlights the bigger vision.

Penelope’s guide is The Modiste—the English dressmaker who pretends to be French.

Not only does The Modiste know Penelope’s secret, but she also represents the outcome that Penelope needs: she’s a financially independent woman with a business of her own.

The Modiste knows the world that Penelope is dipping her toes into, and the most important ‘training session’ they have takes place when Penelope comes into the shop late one night...

Penelope comes to tell The Modiste that she’s going to give up her column. She’s going to let Cressida take credit for Lady Whistledown, and she’s going to live her life with Colin as a normal woman of the Ton.

Penelope is getting everything she’s ever wanted: a loving husband, attention from her mother, to be part of the circle of wives who are accepted in society.

But The Modiste knows better.

As a copywriter, your role is to be the Hero’s Guide to your client.

You’re the expert here! You know the product you’re writing about, and you understand the benefits it will give to your client.

Nudge your Hero in the right direction.

What they want vs. what they need

One of the key tension devices in any story is the push and pull between what the Hero wants and what the Hero actually needs.

Season 3 of Bridgerton hinges on this tension as Penelope struggles with letting Lady Whistledown go and becoming accepted in the way she feels is safe—the way she’s always aspired to be accepted—

OR…

...stepping into her power as Lady Whistledown and recognising that her alias is actually her true self.

She must decide between a life of pretending to be a simple and compliant wife or a life of authentically being the powerful and clever columnist. 

As you write your copy, consider what your future clients think they want and what they actually need.

This can manifest in the form of features vs. benefits.

Sure, your client/Hero may think she wants the feature of a hair dryer that fits her budget and does the job it’s supposed to do…

…but the benefit is the story of those features—it’s the bigger picture of what she needs:

A styling tool that allows her to style her hair quickly, so she has more time with her kids, and also results in the big, shiny, bouncy strands that make her feel confident and unstoppable. 

It’s her bigger picture. Her end result. One that may cost her more (bad news) but that leads to a life of feeling great about herself (good news).

Good News, Bad News

Through Act 2 of any story—after the Hero decides to venture out of the Ordinary World, onto your sales page, and through the Call to Adventure—there’s a rhythmic building of good things that happen to her and bad things that happen.

Any show or film you watch will have this rhythm.

Each piece of Good News has Bad News right around the corner. And the Hero has to overcome every bit of Bad News.

It’s an up-and-down thing. A rollercoaster of emotions.

For Penelope, just one small example of good news is Colin admitting his love…which of course is followed by the bad news of him finding out she’s Whistledown.

Every time the Hero overcomes Bad News, she learns something about herself. She gets closer to what she thinks she wants.

And right as she’s about to get what she wants, the Bad News floods in so heavily and steadily that she thinks she’ll never recover.

Now, when it comes to copywriting, we don’t want to focus too much on the Bad News.

Traditionally, copywriters call the Bad News the Pain Points.

But why do we need more negativity in our world?

Instead, I like to point back to the Ordinary World here.

The Bad News, when done this way, reminds the reader that engaging with your product will help lift them out of their current paradigm—it will fast-track them to their goals and to that wider vision, which is what they need.

The ascent

Once the Hero hits rock bottom, she enters into The Abyss…and she must cross it, even if she doesn’t think she can or even wants to.

Penelope comes up to The Abyss when she’s backed into a corner.

Cressida does a terrible job of pretending to be Whistledown, Pen’s family is about to be thrown out of their home, and Penelope is about to be found out.

She’ll be ruined. 

Colin will marry her out of honour, but he won’t look at her the same anymore.

Nobody will trust her anymore.

The Queen will tarnish her reputation AND that of the Bridgerton family.

She will have brought shame on everyone she loves.

But…

…to cross The Abyss, the Hero must gather her strength.

She must decide that she won’t be taken down. She has too much to fight for. It’s worth it to try.

And her Hero’s Guide paints that picture for her.

The night before her wedding, Penelope visits her Guide (The Modiste), and The Modiste says:

‘There’s no such thing as true love without first embracing your true self.’

This key piece of advice—this nudge—is the catalyst that allows Penelope to cross The Abyss.

As you write your copy, think of what that subtle yet powerful nudge is.

What’s your final call to action? As the Hero’s Guide, what do you need to plant in your Hero/client’s mind that will allow them to make their final decision?

Accomplishing what they couldn’t before

The Hero’s story is only resolved when she’s able to do what she couldn’t do at the start of her journey.

For Penelope, that’s coming out and telling the whole Ton that she’s Whistledown—it’s coming off of the wall, stepping into the limelight, and showing people who she really is.

For your client/Hero, it’s clicking the button to buy.

As you’ve taken your client/Hero through your sales page, sales email or opt-in page, you’ve constructed a journey that paints a picture of the future she needs. 

You’ve shown her that her Ordinary World may be comfortable, but she’s meant for more.

You’ve given her a Call to Action—a push out of her Ordinary World, through the Good News and Bad News, and across the Abyss—and now she can never go back to the Ordinary World…because she’s changed.

It will never be the same.

And as much as she may want it to be the same, she’s come to realise that she needs it to be different now.

So make that final step easy for her with a simple ‘buy’ button. This part is simple, so write it simply.

She’s already gone through the journey and made up her mind.

Sell more with a good story

So, as you go forth into your own adventure writing copy, remember that you’re the guide to your potential client.

Your mission is to gently wander through a great adventure with your reader, showing her the bigger picture and presenting her with the trials that will help her to grow…

…ultimately leading her to make the decision to buy.

That’s her final step.

You’ll take her from her Ordinary World, give her a Call to Adventure, demonstrate what she needs instead of what she wants, and show her that her dreams sit beyond the one action she wasn’t ready for when she first landed on your copy:

To buy your product.

When you’re finished writing, book in for a Copy Power Hour with me so we can go through what you’ve created and get it ready to publish.