Photo compliments of: inju
I can’t read the text, but that newspaper must be pretty interesting if he wants to read it while swimming. If you’d like your readers to be as hooked as he is, you’ll need to write great headlines to start your sales copy.
Here are some secrets for writing attention-grabbling headlines for your posts, your ads, or your emails.
Make them curious
Curiosity is bad for cats, but good for people. Write something odd, or unexpected, and your readers will want to find out more about it.
One way to do this is to put two or three things together in a new way. Or, combine subjects that don’t seem to belong together at all.
The Yogi Berra Marketing Guide
The only way to find out what in the world Yogi Berra has to do with marketing is to read the post.
The Pajamas, The Lizard Brain, and the Employee Manual. Certainly a strange combination. The only way to find out what it’s about is to click the title.
Ask a question (without a clear answer)
Are You Reading These Blogs?
Do You Make This Common Marketing Mistake?
Why Are Clients Like Fish?
Asking a question that the reader can’t immediately answer arouses both interest and curiosity.
What are those common marketing mistakes anyway? If you don’t read the post, you’ll never know.
And what the heck do clients have in common with fish? There’s only one way to find out.
Make a big promise
The Number One Marketing Secret You Need to Know
What is this secret? And how will it help me earn more or grow my business? Tell people you’ve got secret, long-lost, or inside information about a topic of great interest. Appeal to their desire for knowledge that most people don’t have. This makes people curious, and they’ll click through to satisfy that curiosity.
Try This Timeless Copywriting Technique
This promises another secret. In this case, it’s a copywriting trick that you may not know, but that has been working for a long time. This lends credibility to the idea. If it’s timeless, it’s proven to work for others, and can work for you too.
Revealed: Why Clients Want to Make the Logo Big
Graphic designers and businesses have been fighting over logo size since the beginning of advertising. If you want your audience to read your article or post, use a headline that addresses something that really bothers them (and offer a solution).
Many marketers misunderstand the FTC CAN-SPAM rules. Getting it wrong can be an expensive mistake. This article has valuable information that will keep you from making those mistakes.
Appeal to self-interest
Earn More Money by Giving Free Gifts
This headline sets up what seems to be a big contradiction. How can giving something away for free lead to more money? The only way to find out is to click the link.
15 Tips for Writing Emails That Make Money
This one appeals to a strong, common desire. In this case, to earn more money from your marketing emails. Who wouldn’t want to earn more money, especially if it’s from something you’re already doing.
Get Record-Setting Results in a Recession
This headline appeals to the desire to beat the odds. We want to earn more, and we also want to know how we can do that when the economy is poor and it’s harder to get clients or sales.
Try these on your own posts. You’ll get headlines so good, your readers will want to take your work everywhere—even swimming.