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How To Write Compelling Copy Lesson #3-Crafting Your Great Headline

Posted on 14. Jun, 2013 by Faye Bond in Blog, copywriting, Marketing, Traffic

In Lesson 2 we looked at the different categories of headlines that work. Now we’ll look at why you should take more time over your headline than your actual content.

Don’t under estimate how important headlines are.  David Ogilvy, advertising legend, knew the power of headlines. He understood that a powerful headline determined the success or failure of an advertising campaign.

According to the best copywriters of all time, you should spend half of the entire time it takes to write a piece of persuasive content on the headline. So if you have a blog post that is really important to  you or your business, one that you really want people to read you should apply the 50/50 rule.

Before you craft a single headline you want to do your research. Find out what the key problems, concerns and challenges are in your target market then use these concerns in your headline.

In business a common rule is the 80/20 rule. This rule can be applied to many aspects of your business such as spending 20% of your time on 80% of your revenue generating tasks. If you reversed this rule and spent 80% of your time on 20% of your revenue generating tasks, will you earn enough to live on… probably not!

You can apply this rule to crafting a great headline. On average, 8 out of 10 people will read a headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of the headline. The better the headline, the better your odds of beating the averages and getting what you’ve written read by a larger percentage of people.

Following on from Lesson 2 where we looked at the different categories of Direct , Indirect, News, How to Headline, Question, Command, Reason Why and Testimonial headlines using the Four Us in your headlines can also have a powerful impact on their success. The four U’s is taught by copywriters around the world and they are:
•    Be USEFUL to the reader
•    Provide the reader with a sense of URGENCY
•    Convey the idea that the main benefit is somehow UNIQUE and
•    Do all of the above in an ULTRA-SPECIFIC way?

Remember also in Lesson 2 the question you must ask yourself when you are crafting a headline “What’s in it for me” let’s delve deeper into that question by asking yourself these six questions. These six questions were developed by copywriter Clayton Makepeace
•    Does your headline offer the reader a reward for reading?
•    What specifics could you add to make our headline more intriguing and believable?
•    Does your headline trigger a strong, actionable emotion the reader already has about the subject at hand?
•    Does your headline present a proposition that will instantly get your prospect nodding his or her head?
•    Could your headline benefit from the inclusion of a proposed transaction?
•    Could you add an element of intrigue to drive the prospect into your opening copy.

These six questions were developed by copywriter Clayton Makepeace and when you combine these with the Four U’s and the 8 categories you have an excellent framework for writing spectacular headlines.

You now have an understanding of how to craft a powerful headline that draws people in and converts them from reader to buyer. So go get em.

In the next Lesson #4 the next step is structuring your copy that it’s easily read and understood.

Faye Bond

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Tags: copy, copywriting, headline

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