BAB, 4U, 4P, FAB and QUEST

FAB moves from a feature to an advantage to a benefit. BAB builds “before, after, bridge”, the 4 U’s score a headline, and 4 Ps and QUEST build a page.

From order to content

The formulas of the last lesson answered the question “in what order do I speak”. The formulas of this one answer “what exactly do I say”. There are five tools: FAB turns a description into a benefit, the 4 U’s score a headline, BAB builds a contrast of “before and after”, and 4 Ps and QUEST assemble a page and an email. They all revolve around one question the reader asks: “what’s in it for me?”

A note for later. Benefit is the most tempting word in copywriting, because it is so easy to exaggerate. “You’ll be richer”, “you’ll be happier”, “you’ll win the case”: all of these are benefits, and all of them are promises you answer for. So under each formula below there is a line about the honest version. It isn’t a sermon but a matter of sobriety: a promise you can’t keep costs more than a click.

The diagram below lays the formulas of the lesson out on your brief. Open it after each section to see which facts of your project go into each block.

FABBAB4P: Picture, Promise, Prove, PushQUEST

FAB: feature, advantage, benefit

Where from. From sales practice and sales textbooks of the mid-twentieth century; no particular author can be named, and we won’t invent one. The idea is simple to the point of obvious: salespeople noticed that customers buy not the thing but what the thing does for them, while salespeople list specifications.

How it is built. Three steps for each item:

1. Feature. What it is: size, material, makeup, time, steps. A fact about the thing itself.
2. Advantage. What the feature allows, compared with the usual way.
3. Benefit. What this particular person gets. The test: a benefit can’t be answered with “so what?”.

An example with the default persona.

• Feature: “A boundary plan is drawn from coordinates measured on the lot itself.”
• Advantage: “The boundary is set by measurement, not by eye and not by the fence.”
• Benefit: “You have a document to lean on when you talk to your neighbor and to the county recorder.”

When it works. In describing services and products, especially when your text lists specifications: FAB quickly shows which of them are worth turning into a use.

Where it lets you down.

• Many stop at the advantage and take it for the benefit. “Modern equipment” is a feature, “faster than usual” an advantage, and it is a benefit only when it says what the person saves.
• A benefit must not turn into a promise. “You’ll win the dispute” is not allowed; “you’ll have a document to lean on” is.
• If you keep only benefits, the terms and limits vanish. The reader needs those too: for complex services an honest “what is not included” works for trust.

4U: urgent, unique, ultra-specific, useful

Where from. The rule of the four U’s is associated with the American copywriter Michael Masterson (real name Mark Ford), who taught it to the writers of the publisher American Writers & Artists. It isn’t a formula for a text but a way of scoring a headline: four questions, each answered from zero to three.

The four U’s.

1. Urgent. Is there a reason to read it right now?
2. Unique. Does the headline say something that all the others don’t?
3. Ultra-specific. Is there a number, a time, a name, a subject?
4. Useful. Is it clear what use it is to the reader?

The total is up to twelve. In the diagram below, on the “4 U’s” tab, there are three samples and a row for your own headline. The sample “The best bike repair in town, today only!” scores many points for urgency and uniqueness, and in fact is made up entirely. That is exactly why an honest version is needed.

The honest version of the 4 U’s.

• Specific and useful are safe: the text itself checks them. They are the most important U’s. The headline “A boundary plan in 14 days: what to prepare for the surveyor’s visit” scores on both.
• Urgent is allowed only if the deadline is real: “book a visit by Friday”, when you really do visit on Fridays. A made-up countdown, “only two places left” with no basis, is a false statement about terms. In the US the FTC treats false claims that an offer will end soon as deceptive, in the UK the CAP Code requires such claims to be true, and the EU’s list of always-banned practices names “falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time”.
• Unique is allowed only if you can show what sets you apart: “the only one in town” with no proof is a comparison with others and will have to be backed up. Honest uniqueness rests on a fact: “we visit within three days”, “we show the estimate before we start”.

For the headlines of the last part the formula serves as a “strict score”. Until now you chose the best of three by feel; now you can score it with a number.

Where it lets you down. Chasing the total pushes you to lie in two of the U’s. A total of 12 out of 12 can belong to a headline with made-up urgency and uniqueness, and it is worse than a modest 8. So don’t look at the total, look at what earned it.

FAB 4U

Say what each phrase is. A hint: ask “what’s in it for me?”; if the answer is still needed, it is not a benefit.

1. “Inner tube of butyl rubber, 1 mm wall”

   FeatureAdvantageBenefit

2. “The air stays in for weeks”

   FeatureAdvantageBenefit

3. “You don’t have to pump the tire before every ride”

   FeatureAdvantageBenefit

4. “The workshop is open until 8 p.m.”

   FeatureAdvantageBenefit

5. “You can bring your bike in after work”

   FeatureAdvantageBenefit

6. “You won’t need to take a day off for a repair”

   FeatureAdvantageBenefit

Right: 0 of 6.

Check yourself: which two of the four U’s are safe, and which two need checking?

Specific and useful are safe: they can be seen in the text itself. Urgent and unique are allowed only if real and provable.

BAB: before, after, bridge

Where from. An old scheme from advertising textbooks and direct-response letters; we name no particular author. It works on contrast: you are here, but you could be there.

How it is built.

1. Before. The reader’s position now, in their words.
2. After. The position when the task is solved. The reader’s result, not your product.
3. Bridge. How to get from “before” to “after”. This is your offer and the main action.

An example.

• Before: “You are building a fence or a house and aren’t sure the boundary runs where you think.”
• After: “The boundary is on record, and you build knowing where your land ends.”
• Bridge: “A boundary survey: a visit to the lot, a measured survey, a boundary plan ready to file. Book a consultation.”

When it works. In an email, in the first block of a page, for a reader at the third level (they know the result is achievable and need a picture).

Where it lets you down. The “after” is easy to inflate: “you’ll be calmer, richer, more confident”. That is a promise you answer for. An honest “after” is realistic and checkable: the person can tell whether they got there. A second risk: the “before” turns into mockery (“still struggling?”). Describe the reader’s position accurately and without reproach.

The copywriter’s 4P: picture, promise, prove, push

Where from. A structure from English-language direct-marketing textbooks: Picture, Promise, Prove, Push. Different sources credit different people, so we name nobody. An important caveat: these are not the 4 Ps of marketing (product, price, place, promotion): only the name coincides. We cover those in the seventh lesson.

How it is built.

1. Picture. A scene the reader recognizes as their own, before or after.
2. Promise. What you can honestly promise.
3. Prove. What backs it up.
4. Push. One step right now.

An example for a page.

• Picture: “You stand at the fence and don’t know whose yard of land this is.”
• Promise: “We’ll tell you what can be done, and name the order of work, the time and the price before we start.”
• Prove: “Surveyor’s license no. 00-00-00; association membership, reg. no. 00-00-00: check them in the registers.”
• Push: “Book a consultation.”

When it works. On a service page, when you need to gather conviction into one short sequence.

Where it lets you down. The promise must not be a guarantee: “we’ll tell you what can be done” is honest, “we’ll settle any dispute” is not. The proof must be checkable, not “people recommend us”. There is one push: if there are three, none works.

QUEST: qualify, understand, educate, stimulate, transition

Where from. A formula for long emails and landing pages; it is named by its first letters: Qualify, Understand, Educate, Stimulate, Transition. The author couldn’t be reliably established, because it lives in copywriters’ blogs and trainings without a reference to a source.

How it is built.

1. Qualify. The first lines say who the email is for. Whoever doesn’t need it drops out, and whoever does recognizes themselves.
2. Understand. You show that you understand their situation.
3. Educate. You give useful knowledge: how it works, what can be done. This is the part that is useful even to someone who never becomes a customer.
4. Stimulate. You show that the gain is real: proof, terms.
5. Transition. One step.

An email in five lines.

• Qualify: “This email is for people who want to confirm the boundary of their lot and don’t know where to start.”
• Understand: “We know it’s hard to find your way in such matters without preparation: the words are unfamiliar and the documents are scattered.”
• Educate: “Here are three steps: study the documents, visit the lot, prepare a boundary plan.”
• Stimulate: “Each step names its time, and a surveyor’s documents can be checked in the register.”
• Transition: “Book a consultation.”

When it works. For an email and for long service pages, where the reader needs to be led and informed.

Where it lets you down. If “qualify” turns into a game of the chosen few (“only for those ready for success”), it is manipulation. An honest qualification says plainly who it suits and who it doesn’t. If “educate” is disguised advertising, the reader will notice.

Where all five let you down

• Formulas are recipes, not brains. A benefit is needed not because the formula says so, but because that is how the reader thinks.
• Don’t mix without need. A page with FAB in one block, BAB in another and QUEST in a third can be good, but only if each block has its own reader. Otherwise it’s a muddle.
• Test. That a formula looks good proves nothing. In the part on metrics you’ll learn to compare headline versions on live people.

Practice

Build five things for your project. The labels of the blocks are already there: write after them.

1. A FAB table for each item of the brief. The benefit must speak about the reader (“you”).
2. Three headlines scored on the 4 U’s. Choose the best by number. At least one should have a number or a time.
3. BAB: before, after, bridge. The bridge is the main action from the brief, in the same words.
4. 4 Ps for a page: a proof from the brief in full, and the push is the main action.
5. QUEST for an email: five steps, the last one the main action.

If your project’s profession restricts advertising, the check will look for “guarantee”, “best” and “100%”. The rest is for you to decide: reread the benefits through the reader’s eyes and ask “so what?” of each.