---
title: Copy formulas for short and long copy — ABC, wheel of persuasion, story bridge, 4 C's
slug: copywriting-formulas-short-and-long
summary: Which formula to use by copy length — ABC (attention, big promise, CTA) for short opt-in pages (75%+ conversion for Alex Cattoni), the six-step wheel of persuasion for sales pages, a story-bridge formula for sales emails, and the 4 C's for ads (one ad at 1,432% ROAS).
domain: marketing
tags: [copywriting, frameworks, landing-page, sales-page, email, ads]
related: [headline-hooks-and-copy-frameworks, video-script-four-forces, name-the-unique-mechanism, funnel-stage-copy-triggers, psychological-triggers-in-copy, landing-page-hook-test-optin-vs-revenue]
sources: [yt:kyz9n_2En04]
updated: 2026-10-24
---

# Copy formulas for short and long copy

All formulas below are Alex Cattoni's ([[people/alex-cattoni]]). For framework choice by hook type (PAS, DOS, AIDA, PCPO), see [[headline-hooks-and-copy-frameworks]].

## TL;DR
- **Short copy that asks for one small action** (opt-in page, ad, DM): use **ABC**, which is Attention → Big promise → Call to action. Alex's short ABC opt-in page converts at 75%+[^1][^2].
- **Long copy or a bigger commitment** (sales page, multi-day workshop): use the **wheel of persuasion**, which is Problem → Pain → Prescription → Pivot → Positioning → Product. Never jump straight from "here's your problem" to "buy my stuff"[^3][^4].
- **Sales emails:** source a story, name one goal, and build a **story bridge** (a lesson, comparison or metaphor) to the CTA. Avoid the "cringey pivot"[^5][^6].
- **Ads:** use the **4 C's**, which are Call out the audience, Clarity of result, Credibility (mechanism or proof), CTA. Her one-sentence ad built this way returned 1,432% ROAS[^7][^8].

## Details
**ABC** [^2]
- *Attention:* the headline says "this is for you".
- *Big promise:* what's in it for them, meaning what the thing will *do* for them, not what it is.
- *CTA:* one crystal-clear action. In her words, confused people do not convert.

**Wheel of persuasion** (for when the reader needs belief, not just awareness)[^3][^4][^9]
1. *Problem:* the core problem. In her example, freelancers need a repeatable way to find clients without cold outreach, a website or constant posting.
2. *Pain:* how the problem shows up in their life. She lists real struggles her community shared with her.
3. *Prescription:* the believable *solution category* with the offer stripped away ("you're missing a system"). Get them to believe in the solution before you sell your version of it.
4. *Pivot:* switch from them to you. Why are you qualified?
5. *Positioning:* why your solution is different, easier, faster or better than what they've tried (this is where the mechanism goes: [[name-the-unique-mechanism]]).
6. *Product:* only now introduce the offer.

**Email conversion story** [^5][^6]
1. *Source a story.* It can be ordinary: something your kid said, a burnt dinner, a client win. Alex starts 99% of her emails with a story and keeps a "story inventory" (a spreadsheet or phone note) so she doesn't wait for inspiration.
2. *Name the goal.* One CTA per email: watch, reply, register or buy.
3. *Build the bridge.* Use a lesson, a comparison or contrast, or a metaphor. A bridge works even when the story has nothing to do with the offer.
Not every email should pitch, or people stop opening them.

**4 C's for ads** [^7][^8]
- *Call out:* name the specific audience.
- *Clarity:* the specific end result.
- *Credibility:* a mechanism, method, data, testimonials or authority.
- *CTA:* what to do next.
Her winning example did all four in one line: "A step-by-step system [credibility] for copywriters [call-out] to get clients and get paid on repeat [clarity]", with a "Learn more" button [CTA].

## Disagreements / caveats
- Her 75% opt-in rate and 1,432% ROAS are for her own warm-ish brand and a free or low-ticket event. A 75% opt-in usually means warm traffic, so don't use it as a cold-traffic benchmark. In her cold-traffic hook test the same kind of page averaged 20.3% ([[landing-page-hook-test-optin-vs-revenue]]).
- The wheel of persuasion runs close to PAS plus a mechanism step. Its distinct contribution is the "prescription before product" step.

## See also
- [[video-script-four-forces]] — her formula for spoken copy
- [[funnel-stage-copy-triggers]] — Joanna Wiebe's section-level triggers

[^1]: yt:kyz9n_2En04 @ 00:00 — Alex Cattoni
[^2]: yt:kyz9n_2En04 @ 01:33 — Alex Cattoni
[^3]: yt:kyz9n_2En04 @ 03:05 — Alex Cattoni
[^4]: yt:kyz9n_2En04 @ 05:29 — Alex Cattoni
[^5]: yt:kyz9n_2En04 @ 06:34 — Alex Cattoni
[^6]: yt:kyz9n_2En04 @ 07:42 — Alex Cattoni
[^7]: yt:kyz9n_2En04 @ 12:17 — Alex Cattoni
[^8]: yt:kyz9n_2En04 @ 13:28 — Alex Cattoni
[^9]: yt:kyz9n_2En04 @ 04:39 — Alex Cattoni