BUSINESS COACH Master the Art of the Headline
Knowing the key attributes to a compelling headline will help retailers attract customers, and they don’t have to re-invent the wheel.
By Jim Ackerman
and advertising, and so it is. But there is another, nearly as important factor that can dramatically impact your success, perhaps even double it. When you master the art of the headline, you could double response to your advertising. Consider this. Every ad — every market- ing effort of any kind — must accomplish all four of the following objectives if it’s go- ing to be successful and drive sales:
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1. Capture attention 2. Convert attention into interest 3. Cultivate desire for the product or service
4. Inspire action — get the prospect to actually take the next step in the buying process.
Of these four marketing objectives, which is the sole responsibility of the headline? The first and second both cap- ture attention and convert attention into interest. The headline must accomplish these two objectives at least. If they con- tribute to either or both of the other two, it’s icing on the cake. Now think of this. The headline is doing a full 50 percent of the work of the entire ad, but it’s the first 50 percent. So, you
36 Mobile Electronics November 2012
n my last column, I discussed the power of the compelling offer and identified it as the single greatest fac- tor in the success of your marketing
can argue that the success of virtually any ad is up to 80 percent related to the effectiveness of the headline. Does this make you look at headlines in a whole new light? Do you see them as far more important than you thought? I hope so, because they obviously are. Most importantly, it is vital you spend more time creating a compelling head- line for your ad than you do on any other aspect of the ad.
THREE KEY ATTRIBUTES If you want your headlines to first get
read, and then to drive readers (or lis- teners) into the rest of your copy, make sure the headlines incorporate at least one — and preferably more — of these important attributes. • News value. People are always look- ing for something “new.” • Self-interest. It’s the old “what’s in
it for me.” Your headline should let the audience know how this product, service, company or system will benefit them. • Curiosity. If you can pose a question to the collective mind of the audience, their individual minds will be compelled to seek an answer, as long as it’s seen as relevant to them.
A word of caution on curiosity. If it’s not seen as relevant or beneficial to the au- dience, it won’t work. Generally, curiosity needs to be combined with news or self- interest, or both, if it’s to be successful. For example “This Is For You, Cyndee…” is a curiosity headline designed to make the audience so curious about what is it that’s for Cyndee, they’ll feel compelled to check out the rest of the ad to find out. But unless your name is Cyndee (spelled that odd way) you’ll say to yourself, “Gee, my name’s not Cyndee. I’ve got other stuff to do,” and off you’ll go.
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