Is there a formula for success and can anyone recreate it?
Yes, such a formula exists. It'll help you come up with a headline that won't just catch the readers' eyes, it'll make them want to read your whole ad.
As it is always the case with everything we do in life, there are First Steps to take before you write the headline. Foremost, keep your eyes peeled for examples of good headlines and ads wherever you see them.
Look out for competitors' ads and analyze those. Make a clipping file if you like it's important to keep in touch with what others in your space are doing. Next, decide exactly what product or service you'll be selling. Come up with an offer. Offering something free in your copy is a proven method of getting a response to your ad. Then you'll have to figure out who is in your "target market." These are the people who want what you're selling, and who really need what you have to offer. Take out your pen and paper and start listing your product or service's benefits.
Features are descriptive of your product while benefits tell your target market what your product will do for them make sure you focus on benefits, not features, in your headline.
You need to use short words and sentences and emphasize benefits (not features, remember?). Speak to your readers, not at them. Write to them the way you would talk with a close friend. Use a lot of "you" and "yours." The best ads appeal to the readers' emotions by telling them why they'll be a better people by purchasing the product.
Show readers how you can solve all their problems; make them better-looking, smarter, happier, etc. if they just take up your offer. Emotions sell. People don't care about you or your product/service; they only care about themselves and what's in it for them. Benefits are what they buy.
The AIDA Principle
The AIDA Principle is a proven outline to follow when writing your ad headline:
A = Attention
I = Interest
D = Desire
A = Action
Here's how it works:
The way to attract attention & interest is with a "bang up" headline. Desire and Action are then created by your ad copy.
Tips for Your Headline
Use Verbs
You'll want to use plenty of verbs so your words jump off the page and get the reader excited. Words like Go... Slash...Come...Click... you get the idea.
Benefits Sell
Your headline should convey your strongest benefit. Benefits play on the reader's emotions and that's what gets them to act. Tell the reader how your product/service will help them meet their goals, alleviate their fears, and help them save time or money. Become the solution to their problems. If your headline fails they'll never read the rest of the ad, which is why a good headline is the most important part of your copy.
Use Quotes
Another tip for writing more effective headlines is to surround them with quotes. Like this:
"Free Report to the First 10 Visitors"
"Want to Sell More of Your Advertising Space?"
"Do You Need to Lose Weight?"
"No Time for Exercise?"
"Learn the SECRETS to Success Online"
Quotes have been proven to attract more attention to headlines, so use them to your advantage.
Ask a Question
Asking a question is another effective way to pull the reader in and get them emotionally involved with your ad. For example:
"Are You Ready for a Better Body?" "Do you Need a Better Job?" "Isn't it Time You Lost Weight?" "Are You Searching For a New Home?"
Include Facts and Figures
Using facts and figures instead of generalities in ad copy is another proven method that really works:
Don't say: Lose Weight Say: Lose 10 Lbs in Only 30 Days
Don't say: Money Back Guarantee Say: 100 percent Money Back Guarantee
"How To" create Headlines
"How to" is another great headline phrase to use. We love "how to" books and there's a reason why so many book titles start with these words. "How to" headlines pull the reader in by appealing to their interests. For example:
How to Write an E-book in Only 15 Days
How to Build Your Own Website
Make It Personal
Use a lot of the word "You" in your headlines. Also, the word FREE always attracts attention. If you're trying to appeal to a specific segment of the population you can use their name in your headlines. For example if you were trying to attract Moms who work from home you might say:
"Calling All Moms Who Work From Home"
And another... "Men: Improve your Sex Drive Today"
Presentation Counts!
To help add impact to our headlines you can use underlining and a combination of upper and lower case letters. Never use all caps in every word in the headline it makes the headline too difficult to read.
Bad: ANNOUNCING BREAKTHROUGH IN SKINCARE
Better: Announcing Breakthrough in Skincare
Practice Makes Perfect
The best way to get good at writing headlines is to practice writing them. Write pages and pages of them, and to make the process easier, keep a list of your benefits close by. Make sure you test your ads with different headlines until you find the best puller. And once you find it, stick with it.
How effective is your ad headline? Don't take my words, listen to the experts.
"In a print ad, 75 percent of the buying decisions are made at the headline alone."
Direct quote from Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples, the advertising industry's acknowledged forerunner of rigorously tested, measured, and verified advertising effectiveness.
"On the average, 5 times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that, unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90 percent of your money."
David Ogilvy, world famous advertising executive, best-selling author of the most influential books on advertising Confessions of an Advertising Man, and Ogilvy on Advertising, and founder of the renowned Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency.
By Chaalan H. Assi
ArabAd 2006
