By Mark Stoddard, author of Marketing Singers.
What’s in a Headline?
As I read magazines and newspapers I’m surprised at the number of weak headlines from advertisers. Most are tombstones. “Jones University” can be on a tombstone, but it isn’t a headline.
The old saying goes “you only have one chance to make a first impression.” In advertising and sales, that applies to the headline. Pictures and graphics are great for getting people’s attention, but they don’t make sales. Words make sales. You’ve got to have your graphics grab their attention and then your headline must capture their interest and lead them to a sale.
Some rules on headlines:
- Read On Reader: The purpose of a headline is to get the reader to read the first line of text. It’s not there to make the sale, but to lead the reader on to the point of action.
- Headlines Are Jealous: Headlines can’t fight with other text. Headlines must stand alone. Hand your ad to someone to read but don’t ask for their opinion. Instead, watch their eyes. If their eyes start at the headline and quickly leave it, bouncing to another image or to the bottom of the ad and then to the side… you have a poor ad layout and an ineffective headline. Too many things are fighting for their attention.
- It’s About Them, NOT You!: If you are bragging about yourself in the headline, you’ve lost them. Headlines must be about THEM, not you. It’s all about the benefits they’ll get from you. No one cares what your product is, only for what it does for them.
- Words Matter, Number of Words Doesn’t: Headlines can be short, medium or long. They can have sub-heads above or below that flow naturally from the large to the small. That then leads to text to close the sale. How long should a headline be: enough to make them read on and not one word more.
- EZ Read Best: Keep away from reverse lettering in headlines. Graphic artists love reverse lettering, but they are often hard to read. If the reverse helps the headline stand out, AND it is a large San Serif font, that can be a readable headline. But be careful and fire the graphic artist if they argue with this. This isn’t my opinion — it’s the result of hundreds of industry surveys.
- Evoke Emotions: Sales are made through the emotions, not the intellect. It’s tough to write a headline that evokes emotions, but, it is worth it. If you aren’t getting results, the problem is probably in your headline.
- Test and Retest Your Headline: Try new versions. This will mean that if it takes you an hour to write an ad you’ll likely spend at least that long rewriting the headline. Normally, however, the headline is the first thing written. It leads to the selling text that gives benefits and emotions. Then the headline is rewritten to make sure every word is salient, precise and unique — another word just won’t do.
Got a headline you’d like critiqued? I’ll do it. Just email it to mark@mjstoddard.com.
