Copywriting Information

How To Write Headlines That Grab Your Prospects Attention


It doesn't matter if you're writing an article, a newspaper or magazine ad, a web page, or even a Yellow Page ad. If it has a headline, that headline is the most important component of the entire package. Waste it, and you've wasted your time.

Your headline is like an ad for your ad. It is responsible for getting the attention of your prospect and enticing her to read what you have to say. If it succeeds, your marketing has a chance. If it fails, your marketing is over before it ever began.

So how do you create that heart-stopping headline? First off, there's one thing you don't do: Use your company name all by itself. You've got one shot at grabbing your prospect, and shouting your own name at her isn't going to do it.

Think about it: as a living, breathing member of the human race, your prospect listens to one radio station: WIIFM (What's In It For Me?) Until you answer that question with a benefit that reaches down to her very core, your name just doesn't matter to her.

Start the conversation where your prospect lives. Get her attention by putting a knockout benefit in your headline, something you know she'll respond to. Make a list of the benefits (not features) of your product or service, and use the very best one (your USP if you can). Don't try to start small and build in intensity because unless you grab her, your prospect won't stick around to find out what's next.

To be successful, a headline needs four qualities: it must be Useful, Urgent, Unique and Ultra-specific (the four "U's"). It must contain Useful information. It must have a sense of Urgency - read the article now, not later. It should be Unique and not sound like every other headline on the page. And it must be Ultra-specific: full of detail.

"How To Win Friends And Influence People"

"Nevada Doctor Discovers Amazing Anti-Aging Serum"

"If You've Got 20 Minutes A Month, I Guarantee To Work A Financial Miracle In Your Life"

"How-To" headlines are very effective, as are headlines that look like news. But always remember to make your headline believable. Put some kind of proof into it - Nevada Doctor, for example. Another way is the "If? Then" headline, which asks for some kind of effort (however slight) on your prospect's behalf before she will achieve the benefit you promise. Effort makes the benefit seem more believable.

It takes practice. Good copywriters say they spend as much as half their writing time just on the headline. But when a change in headline alone can increase response by 300% or more, it's certainly time well spent!

Lisa Packer, author of "How To Dramatically Increase Your Business... Without A Blockbuster Budget" and "7 Ways To Get A Pay Raise From Your Web Site" is an independent Copywriter and Marketing Consultant. Find out how to get these two reports, plus more helpful articles like the one you just read at http://www.dramatic-copy.com/.

Dramatic Copy: Copywriting That Dramatically Increases Your Business.


MORE RESOURCES:

Learn How to Write Web Copy and Develop an Online Marketing ...
PR.com (press release), NY - 12 hours ago
As an accredited Better Business Bureau (http://tinyurl.com/5m8hpw) publisher of direct-response copywriting and graphic design home-study programs, ...


Michelle Salater Writing and Editorial, LLC Launches New Website ...
Newswire Today (press release), UK - 11 hours ago
As a leading copywriting and online marketing company located in the Charleston, South Carolina, metro area, Michelle Salater Writing and Editorial, LLC, ...


Briar Copywriting Announces the Launch of a New eBook
UKPRwire (press release), UK - Nov 20, 2008
The UK's leading copywriter, Briar Copywriting, announces the launch of their new eBook '5 Simple Steps to Sensational Marketing'. ...


Small Businesses: Keep Ad Budgets Intact During a Recession
PR-CANADA.net (press release), Montenegro - 9 hours ago
Businesses can still advertise and save money, however, by using less expensive marketing methods such as hiring a freelance copywriter to create online ads ...


Copywriting Grammar Ain't Perfect
MSNBC - Nov 10, 2008
The secret to copywriting success is adjusting your voice to match that of your target audience, and with that adjustment also comes changes in the grammar ...


Briar Copywriting Announces the Launch of a New eBook
Free press releases (press release), UK - Nov 20, 2008
The UK's leading freelance copywriter, Briar Copwyriting, has announced the launch of a new eBook, '5 Simple Steps to Sensational Marketing'. ...


AMV BBDO wins copywriting contest for Euston billboard
Brand Republic, UK - Nov 18, 2008
by Anne Cassidy, Campaign 18-Nov-08, 14:35 LONDON - A creative team from Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO has won Titan Outdoor's copywriting competition for the ...


Providence Journal

‘Mogul mom’ blogs on blending work, family
Providence Journal, RI - Nov 21, 2008
Allard said there are two basic kinds of mom-owned businesses, one selling a business service, such as copywriting or marketing, and the other trying to ...


International Business Times

VistaPrint Takes Creative Services Online With Website Design
MarketWatch - Nov 13, 2008
Website design integrates VistaPrint's renowned creative and copywriting services with the company's first electronic product. ...
A Timely New Book for the Recession - How to Get a Successful ... PR Web (press release)
all 14 news articles


Writing Great Web Copy: Copywriting for Search Engines
Multichannel Merchant, CT - Oct 31, 2008
When writing Website copy, thinking like a search engine is usually a good thing. Go too far with it, though, and you can end up with spam-flavored Web ...

Copywriting - Google News

home | site map
© 2008