"8
Out Of 10 Readers
Will 'Scan' Your Headline"
"So Doesn't
It Make Sense To Spend
80% Of Your Effort Writing It?"
Yes,
you read it correctly.
Reliable
research has shown that 8 out of 10 of us scan the
headlines in a newspaper or sales letter, until we find a
headline interesting enough us enough to draw us into the
actual content. And when it comes to browsing Web pages, we
both know that scanning for the 'interesting bits' is the
norm.
We just don't
have the time, or the inclination, to search through long
blocks of text to discover what the writer is trying to tell
us. It's headlines that turn 'scanners' into prospects.
So doesn't it
make a heck of a lot of sense to spend a high proportion of
your Copywriting efforts coming up with a
'stop-em-in-their-tracks' headline? Why so much time?
Well, you can
write the most brilliant, motivating, and inspirational piece
of body copy that anyone has ever written. But if your
headline doesn't interest your prospects they sure won't read
the rest of your masterpiece. You've lost them. And
you'll never get a second chance.
It's a hard
cold world out there, so you'd better make absolutely sure
your headline hits the reader right between the eyes and
shouts;
"Hey
Read This-
It Concerns YOU"
But a good
headline must do more than just grab attention. It also needs
to identify those who are the best prospects for your
product. And then guide them to the benefits of buying it.
A headline
saying " World Will Crash On December 31st."
will catch the eye. But many readers will feel cheated enough
to stop reading when you go on to talk about a fix for the
Millennium Bug. But a headline reading "World Will
Crash For Computer Owners." will interest your
target audience - computer owners - enough to at least read
the first few lines of the body copy. Then you have a chance
to steer qualified prospects toward your fantastic offer.
So your
headline has to perform many tasks. It therefore makes much
sense to devote a lot of time and care in it's preparation.
After one of
my clients complimented me on a particular headline I had
just written for him I thought to myself, "I'm glad you
like it because it cost half my fee to create it".
"Where
do you start? How do you start?"
First of all
you need to know your product's Unique Selling Point, or
USPas it is known. You shouldn't attempt to write any
advertising until you determine the USP of your product or
service.
I have already
written about this extremely important subject, so I am going
to assume you already know what makes your product, service
or subject matter different or better than your
competitors. ( You have no competitors? Lucky you but you
still need a USP.) If you haven't yet identified your USP, I
have written a tutorial that will help you. To read it click
here.
Now this will
make make a lot of people sit up!
"Fire
Your Biggest Gun First!"
That's
correct. Write down the greatest possible benefit that your
prospect can gain by owning your product, AND HIT HER WITH IT
STRAIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES. And don't be shy about it! There
is absolutely no point in holding back your greatest benefit
until you get half way down the page. Because unless your
prospect is hooked right away she won't even make it past the
first couple of lines. So your headline should ideally shout
the greatest benefit your product will give to the reader.
Some
copywriters make the serious mistake of starting with a
lesser benefit (or no benefit at all) and gradually building
up the benefits within the copy. They do this in the mistaken
belief that this will build up a desire for the product until
the prospect is so fired up he will be eager to buy.
Wrong!
Fire up your
prospect right from the start, and keep him hooked by
piling on even more benefits with professional, motivating
copy.
Then close
the sale!
Let's assume
our world-beating product is a lightweight, compact device
called Speedy Iron. This amazing appliance enables anyone to
iron clothes 6 times faster than the conventional ironing
method.
You have
already determined your USP. Speedy Iron saves up to 3 hours
a week on ironing chores. Also, it only weighs 6 ounces,
folds flat in 3 seconds, and hangs on the wall. These are
it's features.
Now put
yourself in your prospects shoes. How will Speedy Iron help
me? How will I benefit by having this product? What
will it do to improve my life? Write down as many features
and benefits as you possibly can, in as many words as you
need, until you run out of ideas.
e.g. 'Saving 3
hours a week' is not a benefit - it's a feature.
'Helping me spend more quality time with my kids' is a
benefit.
"Now
translate each feature into a benefit"
For example
"Folds flat" (feature) "will save me storage
space" (benefit). Then reduce each of these benefits
down to as few words as you can. Now list your benefits in
order of importance. Closely examine each sentence and pick
out Key Words that you think will be powerful triggers in
your headline. For instance 'Affordable. Family. Leisure.
Chore-free. Kids. Easy storage. Relax. Handy. Lightweight.
Easy to use. Free Time. Envy (of the neighbors) and so on.
OK let's write
our first headline. How about;
"Speedy
Iron Cuts Your
Ironing Time By Over 80%"
Hmm, it
identifies your prospect, but it describes a feature
rather than a benefit. It doesn't exactly jump out at
you does it? Let's put some emotion into it. We buy when our emotions
are stirred, then we often justify the purchase with logic.
("I'm glad I chose that red 2 seater sports car, because
now I won't be asked to take the neighbors kids to
school.") Let's try;
"FREE To Every
Busy Mom,
3 Hours A Week To Spoil Yourself!"
Yes
that's much better, but No that's not the actual
headline I would use. I have used this to illustrate how the
headline can be structured. I am sure you could come up with
something much better.
First I have
used one of the many powerful words that are proven
'triggers'to excite and motivate readers. I have listed
some of the most commonly used 'power words' in the left hand
margin of the page. I cannot stress enough, the proven
power of these 'triggers.' Study them and others you will
come across in your readings, and refer to them every time
you sit down to write. They are gold dust.
The trigger
word I have used is 'Free' and it fits in nicely with
the message. And I have used the word we all love to hear 'You'.
Or in this instance 'Yourself'.
Next I have identified my target, or prospect,'Busy Mom.'
(Or I could have targeted 'Harassed Homemakers' or whatever.)
Then I have fired the main benefit, 'extra time to
spoil yourself.'
We now need a
subheading to expand on the headline. How about;
"FREE
To Every Harassed Mom,
3 Hours A Week All To Yourself"
"Because
When You Own
A Speedy Iron You Will
Hardly Ever Use It!"
Now that you
know how to create really powerful headlines, I'm sure you
can come up with a far superior 'knock-em-dead' eye-catcher
of your own. All it takes is knowledge of the basics and
PRACTICE, PRACTICE and even MORE PRACTICE. Yet once you
have the headline, a remarkable thing happens.
Because you
have examined every feature and every conceivable benefit of
your product, the writing of the Body Copy very often writes
itself! It just seems to pour itself out onto the paper.
Notice I said
paper. Unless you are an extremely speedy typist it's
better to let your pen flow fast and furious, without having
to break your train of thought with problems of grammar,
structure and the rest. That can be sorted later in a calm
and professional manner!
"For
the final professional touch"
NEVER USE
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IN YOUR HEADLINE.
It's very difficult to read and extremely off-putting. Just
read that first sentence again and notice how you slow right
down to read it, then speed up again to read the rest of the
paragraph.
"Always
Write Headlines In Quotation Marks".
It's psychological. Your headline is your personal
communication directly to your reader. And you should always
strive to achieve that one-to-one feeling.
Begin each
word in your headline with capitals. Sorry;
Begin Each Word In Your Headline With Capitals.
See the difference? It emphasizes the importance of your
message, and makes it stand out from the normal text of the
body copy. It's these, and other small but proven techniques,
that will help make your copy a winner. We'll discuss many
more of these as we explore the other areas of
sales-generating Copywriting.
For Your
Sub-Heading Use A Smaller Font Than Your Headline.
Otherwise you may lessen the impact of your main message.
Don't Put A
Period At The End Of Your Headline
Yes I know you probably think it's a small point (pun
definitely intended) but if some of the top copywriters in
the world believe it's important why argue? We'll discuss
many more of these as we explore the other areas of
sales-generating Copywriting.
"Just
one last thing"
I mentioned
earlier the valuable use of powerful trigger words - both for
headlines and throughout your copy itself. These are your
stock-in-trade. The experience of some of the world's most
successful copywriters has proved that changing just one
or two words in a headline can increase response by as much
as 300%. So if you are really serious about writing
sales-grabbing copy (and I'm sure by now you must be), buy
yourself a really good reference book of powerful 'trigger'
words'.
Strangely
enough good ones are hard to come across, but the one that I
have had on my desk for over 10 years is 'Words That Sell'
by Richard Bryan. I hardly ever fail to find the very word or
phrase I am looking for on those occasions when I seek
inspiration. It contains over 2500 trigger words, slogans and
phrases. And even better news is that it's cheap! Get it from
Barnes and Noble, or Amazon.
Now let's see
how to write your main Body
Copy
