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Copy formulas for short and long copy — ABC, wheel of persuasion, story bridge, 4 C's

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).

Updated 2026-10-24·1 source·copywritingframeworkslanding-pagesales-pageemailads

Copy formulas for short and long copy

All formulas below are Alex Cattoni’s (Alex Cattoni). For framework choice by hook type (PAS, DOS, AIDA, PCPO), see Headline hooks and choosing a copy framework.

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%+12.
  • 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”34.
  • 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”56.
  • 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% ROAS78.

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)349

  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 a problem mechanism and a solution mechanism).
  6. Product: only now introduce the offer.

Email conversion story 56

  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 78

  • 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% (Testing landing-page hooks — opt-in rate vs revenue per lead).
  • The wheel of persuasion runs close to PAS plus a mechanism step. Its distinct contribution is the “prescription before product” step.

See also

Footnotes

  1. 5 Copywriting Formulas That Sell Anything (Steal These) @ 00:00 — Alex Cattoni ↩

  2. 5 Copywriting Formulas That Sell Anything (Steal These) @ 01:33 — Alex Cattoni ↩ ↩2

  3. 5 Copywriting Formulas That Sell Anything (Steal These) @ 03:05 — Alex Cattoni ↩ ↩2

  4. 5 Copywriting Formulas That Sell Anything (Steal These) @ 05:29 — Alex Cattoni ↩ ↩2

  5. 5 Copywriting Formulas That Sell Anything (Steal These) @ 06:34 — Alex Cattoni ↩ ↩2

  6. 5 Copywriting Formulas That Sell Anything (Steal These) @ 07:42 — Alex Cattoni ↩ ↩2

  7. 5 Copywriting Formulas That Sell Anything (Steal These) @ 12:17 — Alex Cattoni ↩ ↩2

  8. 5 Copywriting Formulas That Sell Anything (Steal These) @ 13:28 — Alex Cattoni ↩ ↩2

  9. 5 Copywriting Formulas That Sell Anything (Steal These) @ 04:39 — Alex Cattoni ↩