Why your headline must sing for your supper

If your headline doesn’t work, you don’t eat. You don’t even get to sit at the table. Because a headline without a solid reward, relevance or suitable intrigue won’t inspire readers to read on. And in this age of ride-the-lightning comms and nano-attention spans, a well-crafted signpost is more valuable than ever.

What is often known as the 80/20 rule has long been a go-to marketing maxim – proven through copy testing, eye tracking and the findings of such advertising giants as David Ogilvy. It states that on average, 8 out of 10 people will read a headline, but only 20% will read the rest.

So if your headline doesn’t whisk readers away from their daydreams – prompting them to gobble the rest of your advert, article, web or print copy – you’re sunk. You could have the most amazing product or service, sure-fire reasons why prospects should choose you, a compelling stockpile of what sets you apart, pain and guilt-free calls to action…

But nobody will ever know. Because your heading says ‘Our thinking’ and not something like ‘7 time-bomb investments you must sell now’. (An example, not plucked from fiction.)

More importantly, feeble headlines cost money. Time after time, week after week, without you even knowing it.  You may have deployed a snappy set of ads, tricksy and cutesy, marvels of wordplay (sometimes known as creative twaddle) – but if they don’t make people read on and act, they’ll knock the stuffing out of your business. Your ad-spend at the very least.

The rule of creating headlines that work is not just for the hard sell, it’s for anyone who wants to be read. It doesn’t matter what sector, media or audience. Whether for emails, adverts, posters or web pages. Some of the best headlines are on Twitter, for example. And also, unfortunately, on the click-bait ads beneath many web articles.

But an irresistible headline is also a contract. And you must deliver on your promise.

Because creating powerful headlines demands skill, knowledge and time, there is not enough space here to conjure up a comprehensive tip-list. Yet you can avoid some mistakes by making sure you:

Don’t make your heading the name of your firm. Sounds improbable, but seeing the name of a company as the most prominent text happens surprisingly often.

Attract attention. Shout something worthwhile from the rooftops, in a way that cuts through the clutter.

 

Deliver a benefit. Or news, curiosity or offer useful information. Or pose a thoughtful question or make a strong statement.

Avoid wordplay for the sake of it. A common flaw is to say something like ‘Get in the driving seat’ when selling cars. But it’s easy to neglect to say why a reader should pop in for a test drive, whether you have any offers, or if you’re the only fund manager who invests in a lunar Helium-3 mining operation.

And don’t forget to... study what works. Copy winning formulas, adapt and redeploy. And study, again and again. There really are no shortcuts to the graft of testing and rewriting.

Or you can always hire someone who writes headlines for a living.