Headlines – Write Attention Grabbing Headlines Fast!

So, you want to learn how to create attention-grabbing headlines that will motivate potential customers and close the deal?

If you’ve ever talked to copywriters, chances are you’ve heard about the power of a winning headline and its measurable effect on your bottom line. If you fail to capture your reader’s attention within the first few minutes of them reading your copy, you’ll likely lose them forever.

When creating Headlines - Keep It Simple

When you start to strip copy down so that it’s clear, targeted and direct, conversion rates go through the roof!

Readers will feel a connection to the copy because it speaks directly to them. In other words, Stop playing word games with your audience.

Your job is to create a headline that immediately captures attention and touches down on what is most important to your target audience. You don’t want to get too creative, crafty or clever with your headlines.

While you can create headlines that create curiosity, when it comes to your marketing message you want it to ring loud and clear.

This means you need to be very direct. No guessing. Stay away from wordplay. And no gimmicks.

Benefits Always Win

To create a winning headline, you need to truly understand the greatest benefit of the product or service you are selling or promoting. And use that within your copy.

You also need to make sure you know the difference between a benefit and a feature so you don’t make the common mistake of leading with the wrong message.

Give your visitor’s a reason to continue reading your sales page right away by showcasing the greatest advantage and the biggest benefit to the offer you are promoting.

Some people refer to this as “value-centric headlines” because the focal point of the headline is to highlight the tremendous value your reader receives by taking action.

Examples:

“Lose Weight Without Counting Calories Ever Again!”

Benefit: They will never have to worry about counting every calorie or staying within a calorie range. Huge benefit!

“Eliminate Debt With This Stress-Free Solution!”

Benefit: They will be able to transform their lifestyle immediately and get rid of all debt without the solution adding additional burden or stress to their life.

On the other hand, avoid using action-centric headlines that hard sell. They may come off as aggressive and pushy. You haven’t won them over yet so be careful with encouraging an action too soon.

Remember, your headline captures their attention and your sales copy closes the deal.

Remember, customers don’t buy features – they buy benefits.

You need to explain exactly how the product or service will offer fulfillment, improve their situation, make their lives better, or solve their problem.

Customers are looking to justify their decision to purchase. Give them one.

Speak their Language in Your Headlines

Proper grammar?

Formal sentence structure?

There is no such thing when creating compelling headlines that speak to your audience!

When it comes to successful headlines, it’s all about speaking the language of your target customer.

To do this, you need to know everything you can about your audience.

This involves a bit of investigative work, but it’ll pay off in the end.

Find out:

-What concerns them most?

-What are they most passionate about?

-The things that keep them up at night?

-Burning questions they have?

And then dig further into your market by reading forums, message boards and social media websites. Where consumers are discussing your topic openly.

You won’t believe how much information and insight you will garner from this strategy!

Find out:

-What kind of terminology they use?

-How would they describe the product/services they purchase?

-Ways they describe the problem?

-Their demographics?

The more you know about your target audience, the easier it will be for you to create headlines that speak directly to them.

Throw the “Grammar 101” handbook out the window; you won’t need it.

When it comes to headlines, all you care about is learning as much about your market as you can. So that you can speak their language and prove to them that you know how they are feeling, and that you have an answer to their problems.

The Headline’s Best Friend

A headline should never stand alone.

Regardless how compelling, exciting or targeted your headline is, you should always follow it up with a clear and direct sub-headline.

Sub headlines add more detail to your headline, provide clarity and reinforce value. And you don’t have to stop there. Consider using sub-headlines throughout your sales copy to further highlight important benefits.

The sub-headlines (otherwise known as sub-headers).

Are in bold, larger font, and stand out. They keep your eyes glued to the page as you scan the material and they break up chunky content.

Your sub-headlines should always feature additional benefits. You can load them up with power words just as you would your headline, but always focus on benefits.

Not only will this strengthen your sales copy.

But if you write your sub-headlines first, it can even help the flow of your material, while giving you ideas for your sales page!

Quick & Easy Tips to Ensure Your Headlines are Strong and Captivating

Here are a few simple ways to ensure your headlines are strong and captivating.

Ask a Question

What better way to get your readers attention than by asking them a burning question?

It’s a great way to make them sit up and pay attention, while making them feel as though you really understand how they are feeling.

Use Power Words

I’ve included a cheat sheet of power words below to help you get started. But I wanted to mention it in this section as well because it’s exceptionally important.

Words such as “Warning, Special, Uncover, Success and Winning” are all positive words that evoke emotion. Sprinkle them throughout your copy and make sure you use at least one power word in your headline and sub-headlines.

Be Controversial (if it suits your audience)

Your job is to elicit a response from your reader. So, if you know your target audience and what makes them tick (and you better), you can get away with using controversy to capture attention.

Want proof that this works?

The website ClickHereStupid.com has garnered thousands of clicks and visits due to the shock-value in their domain.

Cater to the “How-to” Crowd

How To styled headlines work extremely well, especially when they directly target a specific solution to a problem or task.

For example, “How to hit the New York Times bestsellers list with your first book!”. Targets the new author who is yearning to become a bestseller but doesn’t have a lengthy backlist (or any backlist at all). Be very direct and targeted with how-to headlines!

4 U’s in Creating Successful Headlines

The 4 U’s is a term you’ll hear throughout copywriting circles, so let me explain exactly what it means and how it will help you write better copy.

For your headlines to be engaging and effective, they should contain all of the following four points:

Provide a sense of URGENCY.

Be UNIQUE.

Should be USEFUL.

It should be ULTRA-SPECIFIC (direct).

Urgency

Persuades people to take immediate action because they know they need to respond promptly or lose an opportunity of some kind. The clock is ticking and they can’t twiddle their thumbs, debating whether to move on it or not. They need to act now.

Incorporating a sense of urgency into your headlines can definitely help motivate people. But be careful with this: You need to make sure that your headlines contain the other three U’s. In order for urgency to be effective and not come across as pushy.

Unique

Is a critical component of a successful headline because it will provide your reader with something fresh and new. Instead of the same thing they’ve seen countless times before (and likely become unresponsive to). Customers are bombarded by sales messages every single day.

So you need to work hard to capture their attention with a uniquely crafted headline that your readers haven’t seen before.

Don’t be afraid to be edgy, to take risks and to offer your customers something different. They’ll take notice!

Useful

Being useful in your headlines gives people a reason to read on. This is where you highlight the most important benefit of your product or service. And persuade them to continue reading. Of all the U’s, this is the most important one.

Ultra-Specific

Ensures that you are being direct when targeting your market. It guides you so that your headline is effectively communicating your message to your audience and clarifying its benefit.

Your job is to incorporate all four U’s into your headline, if possible. It’s not always easy to include them all, but even if you only include one or two your headline will be stronger than ever before.

Successful Headlines Cheat Sheet

To help you get started, here are some power words commonly used in successful headlines and ad copy.

Most high-converting headlines will incorporate at least one of the following words:

Mystery Words: Secrets, Insider, Proven, Expert, Revealing, Unlock, Uncover, Announcing, Rare, Unusual, Explore, Discover, Exclusive, Private.

Excitement Triggers: Savings, Save, Bonus, Instant, Lifetime, Special, Unleash, Ultimate, Maximum, Exceptional, Powerful.

Urgency Words: Rush, Immediately, Instant, Limited-Time, Temporary, Last Minute, Urgent.

Power Words: Boost, Grow, Succeed, Accelerate, Turbo Charge, Guaranteed, Tested, Profitable, Trusted, Amazing, Stunning, Phenomenal, Incredible, Unbelievable, Jaw-Dropping, Sensational.

Simplify Words: Easy, Simple, Fail Proof, Foolproof, Effortless, Child’s Play, Easier, Stress-Free, Easy Going, Laid Back.

Conclusion

Remember, practice makes perfect!

Work on your headlines every single day and study what is working for others. Keep a steady pulse on your market and learn to speak their language.

Consider creating an extended swipe file of collected phrases and words seen throughout your niche market and use that for inspiration when working on your ad copy.

Believe me, it will help!

To Your Success,

Joshua