Carol Bentley

Having a good headline is not enough. It has to be a compelling ‘grab-them-by-the-throat’ attention holding headline if you are going to get the undivided attention of your prospect.

Let’s face it - whether we are talking letter, advert or presentation headlines - your reader is unlikely to be concentrating absolutely 100% on what he (or she) is reading - unless it strikes a resounding chord with him. Unless you get him to say “How the heck did you know that?” when you ask the question that’s been bugging him for ages. Or “This solution is so what I want - it’s almost uncanny!” then your chances of keeping his interest may slip away.

It’s a challenge we all have no matter what our line of business or how we go about our marketing.

Is there an easy way to come up with the most effective headline? Not really - there are techniques; there are attention words that help to make your headline stand out; but it still takes practice, experience and skill to find the one that pulls no punches, hits the mark dead on and delivers the best measurable results.

Having said that, let me give you a few pointers to get you started…

Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

One of the biggest mistakes I see people making is writing one or two headlines and thinking “That’s it!”

It rarely is.

When you start crafting your headlines you are only just getting warmed up - your creative performance is still in first gear. As you write more - allowing each headline to act as a catalyst for the next - they begin to flow, like sliding into the higher gears in a performance car.

That’s why I encourage people to write as many headlines as possible before deciding which ones to test. Personally I aim to write at least 100, if not more.

Study Successful Headlines

Find successful headlines. How can you recognise a successful headline? Look for these attributes:

1. It’s a headline for a direct response advert or sales letter. You can tell if it’s a direct response marketing campaign because there is a reference code. You are asked to quote it or it is printed on the response form or in the advert.
2. You see the same headline frequently. If it is used in a direct response campaign, which means it is measurable and is being monitored, it is unlikely to be continually used if it isn’t proving to be successful.

Study the headline.

Is it specific? (Being specific makes your headline more believable)

Does it contain the promise of a result or benefit that appeals? (People are only interested in results; ‘What’s In It For Me?’)
Does it intrigue without being obscure? (Curiosity can hold your reader’s attention provided your first paragraph is strong).

What is it appealing to; envy; greed; pride or status; generosity; well-being or health; peace of mind or something else? (You need to know what appeals to your target market - and you may have to test different appeals to see which is the stronger motivator).

Is it short or long? (Your headline should be long enough to put your message across).

Is it using any of the attention words that magnetically draw your eye and catch your attention? (See the list of words following the headline examples below).

Example Headlines

How many of these common gardening mistakes are causing you to work harder than you really have to?

Introducing the plain paper copier that’s so low in price you can’t afford not to own it

Here are 9 reasons why you should claim your ‘The Dangers of Handling Asbestos’ report today

Now You Can Get a Business Loan - Even if Your Bank Has Turned You Down

Who Else Wants To Lose 10lbs In 28 Days?

Your Investment in Pinesuites Development Could Be Worth Up To £12,960 per Year in Income

Five Familiar Skin Troubles - Which Do You Want to Overcome?

Vinegar… Nature’s Secret Weapon

I’ve shown the attention words used in these headlines in bold.

Attention Words

Using specifics, identifying a benefit or result your reader can expect or a problem they have that you can solve makes your headline more attractive. Include one or more attention words increases the attraction because certain words are proven to draw the eye - just like a magnet.

Here’s 15 you can use:

You / Your
Amazing
These
Proof
How / How to
Here’s
Find Out
Announcing
Breakthrough
Free
Who Else?
Last Chance
Advice
Easy
Secret

The Secret of How To Make Writing 30 Headlines Easy

When I said to aim at writing 100 headlines to give you the best chance of finding the winner, did you think “No Way!” or something similar? It seems like an insurmountable task - doesn’t it?

Try this:

Grab a pen and paper

Look at the first word/phrase in the list above

Write a descriptive headline about your product or service; the result you can deliver or the problem you can solve, using that word. Follow the headline advice I’ve given you earlier in this post.

Now write a second one, using the same attention word.

Move onto the second word and do the same again; two sentences using the attention word.

Continue down the list - by the time you’ve used each word you have 30 headlines. They won’t all be fantastic - some may even be ridiculous, but the point is your creative juices are starting to flow and…

You’ve written almost 1 third of 100 headlines.

Think you could repeat the exercise another 2 times? Do it and you’ve written 90 headlines! Not bad going eh?

Now you’ve got your headlines start working on your letter or advert. And remember the advice I gave you on 7 November in the post Here’s 8 elements for a powerful sales letter (did you notice the attention words and specifics in that post headline?)

~Carol Bentley

P.S.   You’ll get an opportunity to put some of this advice I’ve been sharing into effect tomorrow.  Keep a look out for the post entitled How persuasive are you?

technorati tags: headlines sales letters copywriting

Date: Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 10:00 am | Category: General | RSS Feed: RSS 2.0 feed.
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