Great headlines are the key to getting attention. While the definition of a headline differs between media you really need to know what they are and how to use them effectively.
What does a headline do?
The job of a headline is simple. It gets people to listen to your message... that's it. You want to grab the readers attention so they desire to know more.
Headlines are used in newspapers and magazines to get you to read articles but that's not all. Headlines in one form or another are used across all kinds of media. It's that one interest grabbing statement that precedes your message.
Answering the one question of all prospects
Everyone walks around with one question in their head:
"What's in it for me?"
Whenever they see a new piece of information they want to answer that one question. They want to know how your business is going to improve their life. And that's what a great headline tells them.
The first step to a successful headline
The big secret that most people miss is... you must first have a headline! You'd be amazed how much marketing and advertising misses this key fact. And these are the ones supposedly done by experts.
Whatever marketing you do you must always have a headline that grabs attention. Now this doesn't need to be big, bold and screaming at the prospect... but it does need to exist. Without it your message will be dismissed instantly.
Creating your winning headlines
The second secret to a great headline is testing. Even the best copywriting geniuses on earth don't know for sure if they have the best headline until the test results come back. That means running two headlines back-to-back and picking the winner.
Many professional copywriters will spend half their time on a project just writing the headline. This means churning out hundreds of options and working from there. They realise just how important getting attention is for making sales.
What you do next
If you don't currently use headlines... starting using them now. And remember to spend time on your headline creation... that's the way great headlines are born.
So Craig are you saying that every headline gets a chance at being read, but your main message only gets a chance if your headline is great?
Yes you could put it that way Sheldon. Your headline is your first impression and if your first impression sucks you’ll get ignored instantly. It’s amazing how many buying decisions are made on the strength of the headline alone.
It’s like the guy in the bar who radiates loserdom before he even crosses the floor to talk to the girl. It doesn’t matter how charming he is as she’s already prepared herself to ignore him. His “headline” didn’t grab her attention like the fun-looking guy joking around with other women close by.
Now of course there are people that are so anti-advertising that they’ll ignore your headline even if it speaks directly to them. But why bother focusing on those people anyway… they’re obviously a much harder sale than most people. Plus it’s a much smaller part of the population than most people realise.
We also want to make our headline specific – for example – if I’m driving along and see a billboard that says “Potty train your child in 3 days or your money back” I’m going to ignore it. However the person who has a child and is currently trying to potty train them is going to swerve to the side of the road to jot down the contact details.
Why? Because the headline spoke specifically to a desire they have right now. And that’s what any great headline will do – encapsulate your message so it can be easily scanned, digested and acted upon.
[End of waffle]