There is one crucial element found in all forms of marketing, from digital to print – the headline. An attractive headline is arguably the most important part of any ad or content. It grabs attention, sets the tone, and makes the first impression.
Without a good headline, the audience will read no further. A headline’s job is to win attention and make people want to read on. Below are some tips on how to make your headline stand out.
Your Audience
To achieve a captivating headline, you need to know who it is you are captivating. A headline is super specific to your target audience and should show this. Highlight benefits you can offer, trigger strong emotions, make sure it demands their attention. Doing research on prospective readers is always a good idea, this way you can gauge what works and what doesn’t and really stand out from the crowd.
Popularity
If you are struggling to come up with a headline, go with one of the popular headline types, these include:
Questions: to create curiosity, engage with your audience and show empathy.
Testimonials: to show customers how important they are to the brand or company.
‘How to’: to draw people, who are looking for specific instructions, in. Be careful though as this can also limit the number of people that your content reaches.
‘Best of’ – This has the same effect as the above title but may attract a more varied audience. Any list type of headline is likely to succeed.
Puns
Everybody loves a good pun! A fun headline can show you are human, you enjoy a joke too and will really relate with a younger audience. Finding a way to include your business but also play on words can be quite tricky- but it will pay off if you can come up with a good one. If you can’t, try using a joke instead- these are much easier to think up. Have fun with it though, getting worked up while trying to think of a joke will be no pun!
The Power
According to online research, there are specific power words that will immediately draw a readers attention to your headline. The 12 most powerful words found to attract people are:
- Easy
- Guaranteed
- Health
- Discover
- Love
- Money
- New
- Proven
- Results
- Safety
- Save
- You
On the flip side of this though, there are also trigger words that drive people away; these are words like sell, cost, buy, decision and many more. Do your research on which power words will help your product to stand out.
What is in it for ME?
Anytime a reader starts to read your blog or article, they wont care what you are getting out of it. They want to know what reading it will do for them. The answer to this should jump of the page at them- in the headline. Include bonuses you offer, savings or freebies or even a ‘you’ve got to try this’ type of headline- anything that will really make them feel like they are benefiting from reading on.
On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of the headline, and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece. The better the headline, the better your odds of beating the averages and getting what you’ve written read by a larger percentage of people.
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