You’ve worked hard to create a perfect product and have your email marketing campaign ready to go, or maybe you’re a blogger desperate to get your message out to the world.
If you don’t have the right #headline and attract the right #reader, your product or #message won’t even make it off the shelf. Click To TweetYou need a formulaic approach to writing headlines that appeals and takes your reader straight to your email, blog or website. Such a thing does exist, and we look at several ways of creating that perfect headline.
Target your audience
By which we mean, target exactly the customer or audience you want reading your email or blog. Don’t make the mistake of carrying out a spray and pray kind of marketing campaign hoping just anyone will pay attention to you. This kind of action is, at best pointless and at worst, a complete waste of time and money and in fact detrimental to meeting your objectives.
Direct Headlines
These are probably the most straightforward to write and for social media ads where fewer characters are available, probably the most appropriate.
They simply state a fact, usually the most relevant news that you are trying to get across, eg. ‘25% off all bicycles, this week only.’ – It’s not clever, because it doesn’t have to be. It just states the offer with no whistles or bells.
Highlight The Benefit
To take this kind of headline writing one step further, consider concentrating on the main benefit of reading your email or blog. For example, if you get a free hat with every scarf and gloves purchased, then this will form the basis of your headline.
Putting your biggest selling point up front is a sure fire way of attracting people to your product. If you don’t really have a strong selling point such as a free offer or money off, then you should go away and seriously consider creating one.
Tell The Story
Giving the latest news is another method of creating attention-grabbing headlines. We instinctively love to be the first to know about the latest trends and stories, so hit your viewer with an up to date fact.
Tell them about your newest idea that is set to change the face of the fitness industry or how scientists have finally uncovered the secrets of eternal youth; anything that will give your reader a sense of being in an exclusive community.
Giving the appearance of news, rather than advertising also makes your reader feel less like they’re being sold to and more like you’re appealing to their natural curiosity.
Tell Them How
Next on the list is the ‘how-to’ method, a tried and tested way of attracting attention. Think about how your product, blog or advertisement can create a proactive outreach to your reader. What does your reader need that they can grasp themselves by simply opening your email, reading your blog and following your instructions?
Show them, for example: ‘How To Increase Your Revenue By 30%’. Be clear and precise about what you’re offering and lead with the benefit rather than the process. Also, make sure to follow up your offer of how-to in the body of the email.
If you’re considering using other marketing tools, then get some good advice from Gmapswidget on using SMS to back up email campaigns.
Language Of Command
Use an imperative to attract attention and issue a challenge to the reader. Are you telling your audience that you consistently offer cheaper pet food? Write a headline that challenges them to ‘stop wasting money on expensive pet food’.
Although some may see this type of headline as dictatorial, it has become a relatively normal method of advertising and has proven itself to be engaging and effective.
What Do Other People Say
A testimonial in your headline will work wonders, so get thinking about whom you can quote to give kudos to your project.
This formula works well because, by instinct, we are a species that likes to know what other people think and are happier knowing that someone else has tested it out before we jump right in. We feel it offers a virtual guarantee of authenticity and effectiveness.
If you don’t have a testimony, consider writing a headline and putting quotes around it. Be sure to reference any outside parties in the main body of your blog or email to add authenticity to the quote.
A Little Bit Extra
Just to make your headline really pop, add a little something eye-catching that might sound a little out there, but that has a ring of truth about it. For instance, if your blog is about golfing, you might create a headline stating: ‘One Executive Has Discovered The Secret Of A Hole In One, Every Time’.
It will be enough to pique your reader’s interest and get them clicking on your link, every time.