Most successful marketers spend the bulk of their time crafting the perfect headline. The headline is the huge, breathtaking promise of the article. It sets the bar for the content the post will deliver.
Some studies indicate that your headline is as much as 80% responsible for autoresponder open rates, opt-ins, offers, ad conversions, sales letter success, or the effectiveness of any written content.
And most people absolutely SUCK at writing headlines.
Why?
They think headlines need to be smart, clever, funny, different, or witty.
They don’t.
Headlines only serve to get your message read. They just need to work.
Thankfully, you don’t need to agonize too much over this. There are proven headline “formulas” that master copywriters have used for decades. Here are just a few examples:
- “How To” Headlines
A “How To” headline almost never fails if you make the subject juicy enough for your readers. Try these:
How to __________ (How to Build the Ultimate Sales Funnel that Sucks in Leads and Spits out Cash)
How to __________ — Even If _______________ (How to Build a Word Press Blog – Even If You Don’t Have a “Nerdy” Bone in Your Body)
How to be Smart in a World of Dumb ______________ (How to be Smart in a World of Dumb Network Marketers)
- “List” Headlines
On the Internet, where people tend to scan for information rather than read every word, the “List” Headline is your friend. It allows you to write content in short, easily-scanned “chunks” that are easier for your readers to digest.
5 Surprising Reasons ___________ (5 Surprising Reasons Your Website Visitors Don’t Opt In)
The 7 Laws of ____________ (The 7 Laws of Creating Video Blog Posts that Go Viral)
12 Things Your __________ Need to Hear You Say (12 Things your New Reps Need to Hear You Say)
- “Zen” Headlines
“Zen” Headlines appeal to your reader’s desire for a simpler, easier life. To make them appealing again requires you to know your prospects intimately. What are they looking for? What are their hopes? Their dreams? Their deepest desires? And what can you promise that makes it easy for them to achieve them? Here are some examples:
7 Shortcuts for ______________ in Record Time (7 Shortcuts for Building a Cash-Generating Blog in Record Time)
How to Finally Take Charge of Your _____________ (How to Finally Take Charge of Your Search Engine Ranking)
The Zen of ______________ (The Zen of Creating Unlimited Traffic)
- “Piggyback” Headlines
Take advantage of a well-known person, product, or brand, by “piggybacking” your product or service on top and creating “credibility by association.” For example:
_____________ Like _______________: 20 Ways to ________________________
(Write a Sales Letter Like Dan Kennedy: 20 Ways to Craft “Can’t Fail” Sales Letters)
What _______________ Can Teach You about ____________________
(What Wal-Mart Can Teach You about Building Your Brand)
The _____________ School of ________________ (The Rambo School of Sponsoring More Reps)
- “Mistake” Headlines
If you read some of the classics on advertising, you’ll see plenty of these “teasers” that play on our human desire to avoid looking stupid. Try some like these:
5 ____________ Mistakes that Make You Look Like a ______________ (5 Grammar Mistakes that Make You Look Like an Uneducated Loser)
13 __________ Mistakes You Don’t Even Know You’re Making (13 Blogging Mistakes You Don’t Even Know You’re Making)
Don’t do These ____ Things When ___________ (Don’t do These 3 Stupid Things when Talking to Your Prospects Over the Phone)
- “Threat” Headlines
To create a perfect “Threat Headline,” you’ve got to know your readers. What are their greatest fears? What do they worry about? What keeps them up at night? Here are some examples:
3 Warning Signs that ___________ (3 Warning Signs that Your Blog is a Dud)
Lies _____________ Like to Tell (Lies New MLM Companies Like to Tell)
How Safe is Your _______________ from ________________? (How Safe is Your 401K from the Current Banking Crisis?)
So the first part of completing your Landing Page Template is to come up with a working headline for your content.
Don’t worry just yet about whether it’s perfect.
As a matter of fact, go ahead and brainstorm several headlines and write them down. Some of the best marketers we know will brainstorm 10-25 Headlines before they choose the one they want to use.
Many of them find that once they’ve settled on the Headline, the copy almost writes itself!
As a final thought, while you ramp up your online marketing efforts, you’ll want to start building your own “swipe file” of effective headlines.
Start your swipe file by downloading these 5 Winning Headline Formulas.