Eliminate Boring Headlines With These 5 Tips
By Michael StelznerWe all write to grab eyes, right?
Well headlines are the first impression.
If you get them wrong, your words will be very lonely.
What follows are some great tips I recently found from Michel Fortin:
- Identify the Gap Between the Problem and the Solution: “Usually, there is a gap between the prospect’s problem and its solution (or a gap between where a person happens to be at the moment and the future enjoyment of a product’s benefits). It works because many prospects either do not know there is in fact a gap or, because it is one, try to ignore it as a result. Therefore, a headline that either communicates the presence of such a gap or implies it can cause people to want to close the gap. For instance, rather than saying “Lose 40 Pounds In Just 6 Weeks,†you can say, “Lose 40 Pounds Of Ugly Fat In Just 6 Weeks.—
- Understand Pain-Pleasure Principle: “While your copy should focus on the solution rather than the problem, adding a negative (or a potentially negative) situation to the headline is often more effective because it appeals to stronger emotions and motives. In essence, it states that people want to either avoid pain or gain pleasure. In anything we do, we want to either move away from pain (i.e., solve a problem) or strive towards pleasure (i.e., gain an advantage). For example, when I work with plastic surgeons I tell them to use as a headline, “Suffering from wrinkles?—
- Direct with Action: “In other words, direct visitors and take them by the hand. Other examples include headlines that begin with the words “claim,†“discover,†“find,†“get,†“read,†“see,†“earn,†“visit,†“surf,†“join,†“sign up,†etc. But go a step beyond that. Don’t stick with mere verbs. Use action words that help paint vivid pictures in the mind. For example, a headline like “zoom past the confusion†will be better than “discover how to do it right.—
- Create Tension: “For example, to the headline “How to lose 30 pounds in 6 weeks,†you add “with these 7 tips,†it will push people to read further to find out what the heck those “7 tips†are. (That’s why the headline, “Do You Makes These Mistakes In English?†worked so well. People wanted to know, “What mistakes?â€)”
- Be Specific: “This tip may sound simple, but it is indeed very powerful. In fact, I have found that the best claims, benefits, or even headlines, are those that have any one of three components: (a) they are quantifiable, (b) they are measurable and (c) they are time-bound. For instance, if I can show you how to make “$784.22,†it may mean nothing. But if I tell you, “How I generated $784.22 in just 5 minutes,†that would be a lot more interesting.”
What are your thoughts? Have you applied these tips?
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