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How to write headlines that electrify and tantalize customers

Written by: Peter Geisheker

Article Overview: In print advertising, the headline is so important that it is considered to be 80% of the power of an ad. The reason for this is that five times as many people read a headline as read the body copy of an ad. Consider how you read a newspaper or a magazine. If you are like most people, you...

How to write headlines that electrify and tantalize customers

Did you notice the title for this article? Of course you did and that is why you clicked to read this article. As legendary advertising guru David Ogilvy said in his book, Confessions of an Advertising Man, “The wickedest of all sins is to run an advertisement without a headline.”

Yes, it is true that the most important tool in print advertising is the headline, be it for a space advertisement, a website, a sales letter, a billboard, or a press release. Headlines are the difference between success and failure in advertising.

In print advertising, the headline is so important that it is considered to be 80% of the power of an ad. The reason for this is that five times as many people read a headline as read the body copy of an ad. Consider how you read a newspaper or a magazine. If you are like most people, you scan headlines and you only read the news stories and advertisements that have a headline that catches your attention and interest. That is why writing an attention grabbing headline is so vitally important in advertising.

So, how do you write a good headline? Actually, it is not as hard as you think. In fact, decades of research has been done on advertisements to see which headlines generate the most leads and sales and here is a summary of what works.

1. Your headline should flag down readers who have a specific problem. For example, if you are selling cosmetics that help middle age women look younger, your headline should state that benefit. For example, "How women over 40 can look 10 years younger in 10 minutes with XYZ Cosmetics."

2. There are two words that work like magic in headlines – "How to." People are drawn to headlines that say "How To" like bees to honey. Why? People are curious and want to learn "how to" solve a problem. Therefore, always try to start your headline with the words "How to".

3. If possible, use the words "FREE" and/or "New" in your headline. Both words are magnets that draw in readers to read your advertisement.

4. Make your headline sound like news. A great way to learn how to do this is to buy a newspaper and read the headlines, particularly the headlines on the cover page. People want news, so make your headline sounds like a news headline from a newspaper and people will want to read your ad. Words that suggest news are "New", "Announcing", and "A Major Breakthrough".

5. Longer headlines sell more merchandise than short headlines. Try to make your headlines 6-12 words in length.

In summary, the headline is the most powerful tool in advertising. If you want to create successful advertising, become a master at writing attention grabbing headlines.

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Article Tags: 10 years, advertisement, advertisements, bees, billboard, confessions of an advertising man, cosmetics, david ogilvy, decades, guru, headlines, honey, magic, magnets, middle age women, news stories, press release, print advertising, success and failure, wickedest



Related Forum Posts
Re: When is your interest peaked by unsolicited mail? - I rarely ever read the headlines of unsolicited email. I know when it's something I haven't signed up for and delete it right away. I get so much crap it's sickening. I may browse over the headlines as I delete them, but that's it. I haven't really noticed any that have caught my interest. As many have already suggested, I'm so calloused when it comes to headlines because I see them all the time and know what to expect. As a marketer, it makes it easy to sniff out the sales pitches. Headlines such as "can you help me?" usually get my attention, but in the end I know they want me to buy something. At least that's the case for most of the newsletters I get. Case in point, even if it isn't unsolicited, it better have a headline that's going to get me to click on it. Otherwise it'll never get read.
Do headlines really sell ads? - Advertisements currently saturate our daily lives and no one cares enough even spend the time to click through an ad link anymore. But according to copywriter and author, Robert W. Bly, "the successful ad is one that is able to 'pop through the clutter'...getting attention is the job of the headline...On a Web site, it's the first screen of the home page...Good copywriters...put sales appeal-not cute, irrelevant gimmicks and wordplay-in their headlines. They know that when readers browse ad headlines, they want to know: 'What's in it for me?'...'The best headlines appeal to people's self-interest, or give news'" ("The Copywriter's Handbook" 13-15). Do any of you agree with Bly's comments? And what do you guys think is an effective headline?
test, test, test - Hi Sandy, The great thing about online marketing is that everything can be tested and you can quickly gauge if something is working or not. Run two tests, see if people respond better to the one option or the multiple options. Your customers will tell you which method they prefer and will vote with their wallets. Test your headlines, test your messaging, test your pricing, test your # of options - test everything! Good luck!
Re: Examples of Great Landing Pages - Kevin, been a while! hey I just reviewed the Landing Page - I like it! The structure is all there and I like how the testimonials are "related" to the business benefit of becoming a Partner - Nice work! Two points: 1. Have you tried other headlines or split tested other headlines? You can use google website optimizer to do it. I know you can come up with a slightly stronger headline unless this one came out on top. 2. I feel that when the page first loads it looks "incomplete". It's just a visual thing. I guess i was expecting a border around the content, a header image maybe... it's just the way i am wired to expect webpages to load. This point may be insignificant. Testing is the only way to know for sure.
Re: When is your interest peaked by unsolicited mail? - [quote="Kevin":1334md1s]However, I feel as if all of Bly's keywords are over-used and audiences have learned to ignore them in unsolicited email headlines.[/quote:1334md1s] Kevin, you are right. Internet marketers squeezed all the juice from these words. "Find the secret to..." When I see this one I know that I will see a sales page. Most of the words on the list are considered as spam. You can't write a normal email without thinking on your words and wonder if this email ever arrive to the inbox.


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