The Rainmaker Method
Build ads that resonate, persuade, stick, and earn trust.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 9
- Confidence
- 99%
RAINMAKER is a nine-part messaging audit covering Resonance and relevance, Articulation, Identifiability, Necessity, Memorability, Avoidance, Knowledge, Energy, and Reputation. First, match the message to whether buyers recognize symptoms, a problem, a category of solution, or the specific offer. Then deliver it in an authentic voice, explicitly identify the intended buyer, and use concrete details that make action feel necessary. Add a memorable phrase, arrange the copy around the buyer's payoff, and use language insiders recognize. Finally, protect the emotional energy conveyed through the creative and state the results or experience that make the claim credible. The same audit can strengthen ads, organic posts, emails, and destination pages, preventing paid traffic from merely amplifying a confusing message.
Origin
Ashley Brock developed the Rainmaker Method from her experience managing major advertising budgets and teaching small-business owners how to run effective campaigns. Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show.
Core principles
- 01Meet buyers at their current level of awareness.
- 02How you deliver a message matters as much as its words.
- 03Specificity makes a problem feel immediate and necessary.
- 04Memorable language gives the brain something to retain.
- 05Insider language and credible results establish trust.
- 06Protect the energy buyers will feel through the content.
How to run it
- 1
Establish resonance and relevance
Determine whether the buyer is symptom aware, problem aware, solution aware, or aware of your particular solution. Describe the reality they already recognize instead of assuming they understand the underlying problem.
Pro tip Helping someone connect a familiar symptom to a defined problem can earn trust before presenting the solution.
Watch out Do not assume the audience already understands why it needs help.
- 2
Improve articulation
Deliver the message with the cadence, tone, conviction, and personality you display naturally. Amplify genuine passion enough to translate through the recording without imitating someone else's energy.
Pro tip Review a recording for flat, nervous, or unnatural delivery even when the written message is correct.
Watch out High energy is not the standard; authentic and engaging delivery is.
- 3
Identify the buyer
Name the exact person being addressed and build separate 'who buckets' when one core offer serves multiple groups. Adapt the hook for each group while retaining the relevant core message.
Pro tip Combine the buyer identity with an immediate credibility cue in the opening line.
Watch out Content based only on what you want to discuss may fail to attract the people it should serve.
- 4
Create necessity through specificity
Replace abstract struggles with precise situations, numbers, people, times, and recurring frustrations. Make the buyer recognize a concrete moment from daily life.
Pro tip Describe a recent incident the buyer could almost quote from their calendar or messages.
Watch out Generality weakens urgency and allows the buyer to assume the message is for someone else.
- 5
Make the message memorable
Condense the central promise into a repeatable phrase using rhyme, alliteration, contrast, or another verbal pattern. Keep it simple enough for customers to recall and repeat.
Pro tip Give an AI writing assistant the offer, audience, differentiation, tone, and sample copy, then request multiple rhyming or alliterative taglines.
Watch out Wordplay must clarify the promise rather than merely sounding clever.
- 6
Avoid weakening language
Lead with the payoff before describing the program, speak to one viewer rather than a crowd, and use assumptive language where appropriate. Prefer connective language that preserves momentum.
Pro tip Test replacing 'if' with 'when' and 'but' with 'and' in calls to action.
Watch out Do not let assumptive wording become deceptive or pressure buyers into an unsuitable purchase.
- 7
Demonstrate audience knowledge
Use terminology that the intended audience naturally uses and outsiders may not recognize. Appropriate insider language signals that you understand their work and problems.
Pro tip Collect exact phrases from customer calls, communities, forms, and testimonials.
Watch out Avoid unexplained jargon when the intended buyer is still a beginner.
- 8
Protect your energy
Create enough physical and mental space to enter a focused state before recording. Reduce competing demands, and stop when distress would visibly undermine the message.
Pro tip Schedule recording away from client messages, demanding workouts, and rushed transitions.
Watch out Viewers can feel agitation, fatigue, or stress even when the script is polished.
- 9
State your reputation
Openly communicate the relevant experience, result, or proof that gives the audience a reason to listen. Frame credibility around the buyer's desired outcome rather than status alone.
Pro tip Use a concrete, relevant number instead of a vague claim whenever possible.
Watch out Do not confuse humility with withholding information buyers need to assess trustworthiness.
In the wild
A construction company's generic description was 'we renovate your basement.' Brock reframed it as renovating and elevating the basement to take the customer's bottom level to the next level. The rhyme and contrast preserved the service while making its transformation easier to remember.
→ The contractor gained a distinctive, repeatable explanation of the business.
A speech-language pathologist ran a simple pink ad asking SLPs whether they were tired of SOAP notes. Outsiders might not understand the terminology, but the intended professionals immediately recognized both the language and the recurring frustration.
→ The insider-specific creative became the client's best-performing ad.
When Brock began teaching a mastermind without explaining her background, attendees remained distracted. Her coach stopped the session and asked why they should listen. Brock disclosed that it was her third million-dollar launch in a row, immediately changing the room's attention.
→ A relevant result established trust and earned attention for the teaching that followed.
Common mistakes
Assuming problem awareness
Advertisers often presume buyers already understand the problem. Starting with recognizable symptoms can create a more credible bridge to the diagnosis and solution.
Writing one ad for your own buying style
People tend to sell the way they prefer to be sold, overlooking analytical, amiable, expressive, and driver buyers who require different evidence and emphasis.
Hiding credibility to appear humble
Withholding relevant achievements deprives unfamiliar buyers of the evidence needed to decide whether the message deserves attention.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for entrepreneurs creating ads, organic content, emails, or landing pages for a clearly defined audience.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for businesses that have not yet established a useful offer or identified whom they want to serve.
From the transcript
“That's why it's called the Rainmaker Framework. Okay. So that's how you can remember it. So the R is resonance and relevance.”
“specificity creates necessity.”
“credibility does not negate humility.”
From the episode
How to Build Unstoppable Ads: The Rainmaker Method with Ashley Brock
Ashley Brock