Why should I be thinking about making headline news, you ask? After all, I make soaps, candles, toiletries and lotions. You have to write descriptions for your products, right? Well if you write them as though you are writing a headline, you’ll be able to capture the attention of the visitor to your site.
Whether they are on emails, web pages or articles or any other source of online information, your headlines should be compelling. Each headline should attract the readers to try and read more or even contact you. People are notoriously impatient when reading things online. If you don’t grab them from the start or within the first few seconds of them starting to read, you won’t get them at all and they won’t bother to read on or answer any of your calls to action. That will mean you lose out on business.
But how do you do that? How do you make readers read on? Here are a few ideas to get you started on making your headlines compelling.
Reverse psychology is always good. Tell people not to bother read on. Eg. Forget all about this email if your future is financially secure’.
That also links in with the second point:
Relate your headline to a common fear in people, or a need that many of us have. It may seem underhand but it’s really not if you are going to be meeting that particular need or assuaging that particular fear in what your business does.
Give some kind of offer – a free product, a discount etc. People like to get something cheaper and they love t get something for nothing; offer it to them in your headline and people will read on, wanting to find out more and how they can get their hands on such a bargain.
Use compelling words like ‘power’, ‘ultimate’, ‘complete’, etc. Your words must relate to the particular offer or article etc, but highlight its main advantage and make it sound as good as possible with these compelling words.
Mention well known gurus in your field. Compare what you offer to them, or, if you know these people personally support your business offer, tell people in your headline. It’s good to have important friends in business. Ride on the back of their success a bit but never lie about any testimonials. Only say you’re endorsed by people who really have endorsed you! If the testimonial or quote is from a famous person, that is even better. People will confer the trust they have in this famous expert over to you.
Give a guarantee as a headline, especially in banner ads. This is very effective.
Tell people what to do – click here, read on, etc. People may not know they need to click on your link, for example, especially if they are new to viewing banner ads over the internet. Even if that’s not the case, a little psychological prompt to do what you want them to do can be very powerful. It can be a very simple and direct phrase.
In fact, headlines should be simple. They can be funny and they can be thought provoking but they should be concise. If your headline of an article is long-winded, people will think the article will also be that way and they won’t bother to try reading on. Try to make your headline point to the main advantage of what you’re trying to promote.
In this way, you will create powerful, compelling headlines that people will feel obliged to act on. They will also know how you want them to act, and your communication will be so much better.
How do you make headline news? Write a headline that will capture the attention of your reader.
To Your Success,
Robert & Juliette
juliette@beautybusinessblueprint.com
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