Grab More Customers

The success of your ad, letter, or email depends on the headline—or in the case of an email, the subject line. The headline’s job is to grab the reader and compel her to read your ad or open the email.

The headline should catch the eye immediately, so use words that accurately refer to the content of the letter or email. Some marketers try to trick readers by coming up with a catchy headline that has nothing to do with what they’re selling. Don’t do it. Not only will you annoy your reader, you don’t gain his trust and definitely won’t sell anything.

People are busy and read just the headline, then decide if they want to finish reading the ad. Thus, the headline should do one of two things: speak to a pain the reader has and wants to get rid of, or speak to something the reader wants…now. Strong emotions like greed and envy are often used to craft a headline because they grab attention and hit the reader on a basic level.

What’s in it for ME and who cares about you?

Remember that the reader is only interested in what your product will do for him. He doesn’t care who you are or what your company does. He’s tuned to that old radio station WIIFM–What’s In It For Me? So the headline should focus on the product and its benefits. Make the customer feel like you are addressing him directly. Speak in the second person—“you”, not “we”. Put your product name in the headline—even if the reader does not purchase today, she’s seen your product name.

Benefits, benefits, benefits.

If you do nothing else, write down your main benefit and create a headline from that. What will your product DO? The customer doesn’t care that your lip balm has menthol in it. Talk about how it will soothe those dry lips, or perk up the reader with that cool tingle.

Write!

Don’t worry about it being wonderful now—just get your thoughts down. Write those benefits and add to them. Remember the pain you’re trying to soothe, the want you’re trying to fill. Think about the 5Ws and an H: who, what, where, when, why, and how. Can you use any of those in your headline?

Write three or four headlines and just play with them. Don’t stifle your creativity by trying to do it perfectly right now.

Short and sweet, keep it neat

If you find that a headline is too long, try taking out each word or group of words and see if it still flows. You’re probably not going to get a perfect headline on your first try. Take out words like “that”, “really”, and “just”. See where you can shorten your text. Instead of saying “decrease the length of”, try “shorten”. Use action verbs wherever you can.

Don’t try to be too clever. A little bit is cute and makes people laugh. It also helps them remember your product, but too much sounds fake and insincere. People can spot insincerity a mile away. Remember, while they don’t really care about you, they need to feel they can trust you to buy from you.

No false promises, please—and be positive!

Misleading promises or incorrect information should never be connected with anything you do. While you might fool some of the people some of the time, the ones you don’t fool will never trust you again. And they’re usually the ones who talk. Just one mistrustful person can suddenly become 10, 20, or more.

The headline should give the reader a positive feeling and make him want to learn more. Your headline should be confident and sure. If you’re confident, the reader will be too. You want to pack a wallop with your headline and make sure the reader knows what she will gain by reading the ad or email.

Let it simmer

When you think you have a good headline, walk away from it for at least 8 hours. When you go back to it, you’ll see it with fresh eyes and know if it’s good or if you need to tweak it. You’ll be amazed at what will come to mind after you’ve let it sit for a while. You’ll know when it’s “done” and ready to go.

If you have any tricks or ideas to pass along about writing better headlines, let me know!

Happy Writing!

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