Thursday, April 18th, 2024
When it comes to selling a product, nothing is more important than the quality of the product itself. If you have a good product, pitching it and attracting word-of-mouth advertising will be easy.
Customers will recognize that it has intrinsic value as a product; and they will purchase it and spread the word to their friends.
However, when it comes to selling that same product, the next most important thing is the quality of your sales pitch.
Even if your product is excellent, you won?t get a lot of word-of-mouth advertising unless at least a few brave souls are willing to purchase the product initially to kick things off.
And the only way that will happen is if you persuade them to. That?s where copywriting comes in.
Copywriting, for the uninitiated, is the art of using sales copy to persuade readers to become buyers.
Crafting A Winning Headline
There are five important components to any winning headline.
1.) Speak to Your Audience
If you ever hire a top-notch copywriter (i.e. the ones who charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars per page), one of the first things they?ll ask you to do is market research about your segment, or help them to conduct that research.
The purpose of this research is simple.
In order to write good copy, a copywriter needs to speak directly to their readers not to ?readers in general.?
This means you must know something about your prospective buyers: their ages, their tastes and preferences, and their demographics, for instance.
You will want to know where they come from, what they want, and most importantly why your product would be a good solution to a problem or problems they have.
Without having this information, your chances of writing compelling copy will be poor.
With this in mind, think hard before you start hammering out your first headline.
Think about your target group, their desires, and the particular problem your product solves.
Make sure you address it succinctly and clearly in your headline.
2.) – Use Psychological Trigger Words
When it comes to writing a winning headline, few things are more important than psychological triggers.
These are words that evoke a positive psychological response in your readers, independently of whatever is said about your product.
For example, ?free? is a psychological trigger word.
So, if you?re planning to give a product or service for free, include the actual word in your headline. It will catch the visitors? eyes and lure them to read further.
Another powerful trigger word is ?tested.?
For instance, you might say something like ?This book contains dozens of tested and proven strategies that I have used for years.?
This will convey to the reader that your product isn?t just any product; it is one that has been evaluated?tested?by many trials over time.
Other powerful triggers include words like pioneering, surefire, crammed, soar, growth, explosive, secret, scientific, research, breakthrough, truth, unlimited, and special.
So, the next time to you write a headline, or even fill in a headline template, remember to employ some of these psychological trigger words.
This way you can be sure to draw the greatest possible emotional response from your readers.
3.) – Read “Other” News Headlines for Inspiration
At first, you might not see a clear analogy between sales letter headlines and news headlines, but in fact, it is there.
Many of the greatest copywriters use elements of news headlines in their copy; and sometimes even write headlines as if they were news headlines.
To get a better idea of how this works, go to http://www.cnn.com or http://www.bbc.com, where you can find hundreds of different news headlines each day.
What you?ll find is that the ?newsworthy? portion of the story is always captured in the headline.
Why is this important?
And how does it reflect on your own efforts?
It suggests that if you want your headlines to have a newsworthy appeal, then you should craft them in the same way.
For instance, instead of citing a good feature of your product in the headline, cite the thing that is most different.
Say if a blogger were to announce that your product was finally released, they might say something like:
?Internet marketer revolutionizes the net with product that optimizes a site for search engine traffic in ways never seen previously.?
In general, focus on the most important benefit, the one that is newsworthy.
4.) – Use a Good Headline Formula
It might sound formulaic and trite, but it works.
Start your headline with something like:
• Who Else Wants to Make $700 in the next 3 days?? or
• Who Else Wants to Learn the Secrets of a Reclusive Millionaire?? or
• Who Else Wants to Become Wealthy Beyond Your Wildest Dreams??
All of these different approaches will work; and they will work because you started with ?Who Else Wants to??
Alternatively, consider starting with something like:
“What Everyone Should Know About”
This will draw readers in, by playing on their lack of knowledge about what you are going to say.
They will think ?Well, I don?t know that secret, so maybe I should read on.?
When it comes to headline formulas, you have a lot of options.
Pick a good one and put it to use.
5.) – State a Major Benefit or Propose a Puzzling Question
When writing headlines, your goal should always be to hook the reader.
You don?t have to provide useful information, tell them something new, or offer them the world.
All you have to do is to give them a very, very good reason to keep reading.
And if they stick around to do that, they might just learn something about your product and could even buy it as a result.
So how can you do this?
There are several ways.
1. State a Benefit Your Product Provides that Others Can’t
When it comes to drawing a reader in, few things work better than clearly differentiating your products from all others.
If you do this successfully, your readers will have an ?ah-ha? moment, where they realize why your product is so much better than the other options available.
If you can get them to do this while they?re reading the headline, rather than later, this is always good.
2. Suggest a Benefit by Issuing a Brash Order
Rather than asking a question or softly stating a benefit, forcefully order your reader to do something.
For instance ?Become a millionaire in just two years!? or ?Live an extra 20 years by applying these 7 secrets of longevity.?
By commanding your readers to do something, rather than suggesting it, you will subconsciously push them to take action.
3. Propose a Question
For instance, ask your readers what they would do if they suddenly became rich overnight.
• How would they spend that money?
• What charities would they donate to?
Use this as a way to make them think about how their lives will change after using your product.
And then specifically say that your product will make it happen.
4. Frame Your Product?s Primary Benefit as a Newsworthy Item
An excellent way to hook people with your headline is to make it newsworthy.
Consider writing it in the third person, talking about the newsworthy features of your product, and framing it as an important development in your niche.
If your product is indeed innovative and good, then there?s nothing wrong with using this method.
In short, use your headline to communicate at least one major benefit of your product; or to propose at least one thought-provoking question.
47 Headline Templates Just Fill In The [Blanks]
Here are the ?fill-in-the-blanks? headlines.
Pick a headline from the correct category, fill in the blanks, and add it to the top of your blog post or squeeze page.
Shape the rest of your copy around your chosen headline.
11 News-Style Headlines
1. Reclusive Internet Tycoon Finally Reveals Secret to Success in [Name of Niche] Niche
2. [Your Business] Launches Powerful New Product that Promises to Change the Market for [Product Niche]
3. After [# of Years] Years, [Product Niche] Will Finally Witness a Major Innovation
4. New Product Shakes Up Market for [Product Niche]
5. Age-Old Secret Helps People to Become More Successful in Their [Profession/Hobby]
6. Getting Rich Doesn?t Always Have to be Hard, Says [Your Name]
7. Pioneer, [Your Business Name], Offers Solutions Where Other Businesses Cannot
8. Shocking Developments are on the Horizon, says Internet Mogul
9. [Your Business] Unveils Master Plan to Revolutionize the Market for [Product Niche]
10. Internet Mogul Claims that She Knows Why You?ll Never Succeed a [Task/Hobby/Profession]
11. News Flash: This Innovative New Idea Might Just Change How You Do Business? for Good
10 Question-Style Headlines
1. Are You Ready to Get Serious About [Job/Product/Task]?
2. What Would You Do If You Became a Millionaire in Just One Year? If You Get [Your Product], You Might Just Have to Answer that Question
3. Do You Know the Secrets to [Hobby/Profession/Task]? Find Out What You?ve Been Missing
4. Your Co-Workers Know Something You Don?t. Are You Ready to Learn the Truth?
5. Is Your Business Living Up to Its Potential? Find Out Why It Might Not Be
6. Are You Ready to Transform Your Hum-Drum Life into a More Positive, Successful, Worthwhile One?
7. Are You Sick and Tired of [Problem #1] and [Problem #2] Preventing You From Achieving [Goal]?
8. Do You Feel Like Progress is Elusive? Like You?re Running on a Hamster?s Wheel? Find Out How to Move Forward in
[Profession/Business/Hobby]
9. Are You Prepared to Take Your Future into Your Own Hands?
10. Do You Know that Two Tiny Problems Could Be Killing Your [Business/Love-Life/Career]?
10 Benefit-Style Headlines
1. Learn the Top Five Things that Science Suggests You Should Do to Become Successful at [Career/Business]
2. Use My Tested Methods for [Achieving Goal #1] and [Achieving Goal #2] in Just Days!
3. Finally Experience the Benefits of Using a Real, Effective, Authentic [Type of Product]
4. There?s an Important Difference Between [Your Product] and All Others: [State Biggest Benefit of Your Product]
5. Change Your Life Overnight with [Name of Your Product]!
6. Improve Your Energy-Levels, Get Healthier, and Enjoy Your Life to its Fullest Using My Proven Strategies
7. Steal My Ideas to Make Your Business More Powerful, Effective, and Better-Monetized
8. It Took Me [# of Years] Years to Learn This. But You Can Learn It In as Little as [# of Days] Days
9. Sick of the Rat Race? Find Out How to Get Out of Your Cage Using My Patented Strategies for Being Successful in [Name of Niche]
10. Tired of Your Lackluster Ability to [What Product Does]? Make the Switch to [Your Product] and Change Everything in Just Days!
8 How-To Style Headlines
1. Learn How to Change Your Life and Your Career in Just [# of Days] Days Using My Proven System
2. Don?t Despair. Find Out How to Explode Your Profits in Just [# of Steps] Simple Steps
3. Find Out How Other, Ordinary People Just Like You Become Wildly Successful at [Career/Hobby/Task]
4. Learn How to Triple The Amount of Traffic That Comes to Your Site in Just [# of Days] Days
5. Learn How to Transform Your [Career/Hobby/Relationship] in Just [# of Days] Days and [# of Steps] Steps!
6. Learn How the Experts Do Things. Adopt My Proven System to Change How You Do [Whatever Your Product Promises]
7. How to Build an Empire from the Ashes of Your Failed Business Venture
8. How to Improve Your Relationship with Your [Spouse/Kids/Family] without Hurting Your [Career/Other Goal]
8 Trigger Word Style Headlines
1. Seven Explosive Secrets that are Guaranteed to [Product?s Promise]
2. Sick of Paying Outrageous Amounts for [Niche Product]? Download Your Copy for Free
3. You Might Be Shocked to Learn What Science Has to Say About [Niche]
4. Warning: If You Think Your Business Practices Are ?Good Enough,? You Might be in For an Unpleasant Surprise
5. The Fast Win Big and the Slow Fade Over Time. Learn Why The Coming Revolution in [Your Niche] Might Render Your Business [Slow]
6. The World is Changing Around You. Adjust to the Times or Face Extinction. Read On to Learn How [Your Business/Your Career/Your Family Life] Will Change? Forever
7. Learn the 10 Dangerous Secrets that Every Successful Person in [Your Niche/Career] Knows, But You Don?t
8. Generate a Hurricane of Revenue in [Niche] Using These Secret Strategies that Even Some of the Best [People in Your Niche/Business] Don?t Know
It’s All In The Headline
Writing good copy is never an easy task. And perhaps the hardest of all is writing a good headline.
Striking the right balance between enticing the reader with language and hooking them with a benefit or a question, can often be very difficult.
To start, craft a few of your own, think about how you would react to them, and ask a friend, neighbor, or fellow marketer to evaluate the quality of your copy.
Once you have gotten the hang of writing headlines in general, think harder about your niche in particular.
Do market research if needed; and think long and hard about what the average buyer thinks like and what that average buyer wants from a product like yours.
After you have answered these questions, grab a headline from one of the templates above; and then tailor it to your particular needs.
Start by filling in the blanks, but if needed, go further and make alterations to the rest of the headline.
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