The What-Who-When Ad Framework
Three elements that make any paid ad work: what you offer, who it's for, and when to act
The What-Who-When framework simplifies paid ad creation into three essential components. WHAT describes what you're offering — the dream outcome using the Value Equation elements. WHO identifies the specific audience through callouts that make the right people feel like the ad is speaking directly to them. WHEN provides the reason to act now through scarcity, urgency, or any other reason.
Callouts are particularly important — they filter the audience by calling out specific demographics, pain points, or situations. Good callouts make the right prospects lean in and the wrong ones scroll past. The framework works on any advertising platform because these three elements are universal to human psychology.
- Every effective ad answers three questions: what's being offered, who is it for, and why act now.
- Callouts filter your audience — the right people lean in, the wrong people scroll past.
- A callout can target the person themselves, their situation, their results, or their products and services.
- The CTA should be clear and direct: call this number, click this button, enter your information.
- Any reason to act now beats no reason — even bad reasons increase response rates.
- Define What You're OfferingDescribe the dream outcome using Value Equation elements: what they'll achieve, how likely it is, how fast, and how easy. Focus on the transformation, not the mechanism. The 'what' should be compelling enough to stop someone mid-scroll.Pro tipLead with the dream outcome, not your product name. People don't care about your product — they care about their result.
- Identify Who It's For with CalloutsUse callouts to make the right audience feel the ad is for them. Four callout approaches: call out the person directly ('Attention spa owners'), reference their customers ('Do you work with busy professionals?'), mention their results ('To the heroes who heal stress'), or reference their products ('If you sell lotions or scented oils').Pro tipThe more specific your callout, the stronger the connection with the right audience and the better your conversion rate.
- Give a Reason to Act Now (When)Add scarcity (limited quantity), urgency (limited time), or any reason at all. Real scarcity is best — advertise actual limitations in your business. Even arbitrary reasons ('because it's my birthday') increase action rates based on the Harvard copy machine study.Pro tipDon't try to be clever — be clear. Say exactly what to do: 'Call this number now.' Then give reasons why.
- Place the Ad and TestSearch 'HOW TO PLACE A [PLATFORM] AD' and spend $100. Don't overthink it. Start with an acceptable amount you're willing to lose monthly. You won't be earning at first — you'll be learning.Pro tipPlatforms spend billions making ad placement easy so they can make more money. It's easier than you think.WarningNever say 'I'm not techy.' Hormozi said it for four years and it just kept him poorer. Four hours of focused effort reversed years of avoidance.
Four different callouts targeting the same audience: (1) 'ATTENTION SPA OWNERS' — calls out the business owner directly. (2) 'Do you work with busy professionals who spend all day in meetings?' — references their customers. (3) 'To the heroes who heal the stress of others' — references their mission. (4) 'If you sell lotions or scented oils, this is for you' — references their products.
Hormozi distilled this framework from years of running paid ads across multiple platforms and businesses. He noticed that despite platform differences, the same three elements determined ad performance everywhere. By simplifying ad creation to these three components, he made it accessible enough to teach to employees who had never created an ad before.