The Difference Between A Good Headline and A Bad One
Can Spell The Difference Between Profit and Loss. 5 Tips:
1. Make it conversational. Learn how people talk, and even how you talk when you’re not being self-conscious or trying to sound “professional.” Strive to put that in your copywriting – especially your headlines. The more it sounds like real conversation, the more engaging it will be for your reader.
2. Enter the conversation already going on in the customer’s mind. This famous piece of advice from 1930’s copywriting legend Robert Collier may be the single most important thing to remember when you start writing copy. It’s a more specific version of my rule: Start where the reader is, not where you are.
3. Remember “V.E.R.V.E” – Visceral, Emotional, Resounding, Visual, Empathic. It’s a memory-jogger to help you build the kind of headlines that get results. Point-by-point:
· Visceral literally means having to do with your intestines – your guts. A visceral headline is very physical and immediate.
· Emotional means, the headline appeals to your reader’s feelings.
· Resounding means it sounds like someone talking. Your reader can “hear” you saying the headline, because it comes across as conversational language.
· Visual means the reader can picture what your headline is about
· Empathic means the reader feels you understand how he or she feels
4. Walk the fine line between fact and hype. A timid headline won’t do you any good, but neither will one that is so over-the-top that no one will believe it. Make the biggest claim you can make, and still prove in your copy.
5. Understand the ultimate purpose of your headline is to get your reader to read the next line of copy. Don’t sum up everything you’re about to say later in your headline. Create intrigue, curiosity and desire. Leave ‘em hungry for more!
David Garfinkel
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