Tips for Writing Eye-Catching Headlines

It's a known, proven fact that nearly all of us will only read the headlines of a newspaper or direct mail letter, only stopping to read the rest if the headline interests us. This should come as no surprise, as the Internet has become known for a place from which to "glean" information. In a world where time is money, most of us just don't have enough of either to spend reading information that's of no use to us. It's the headlines that make a prospective customer a real customer. You can write a brilliant piece of ad copy that will make people break down into tears and change their lives forever, but they'll never read it if they don't get past the headline.

A good headline not only arrests the reader's attention, it also pinpoints who the ideal prospects are for your service or product and convinces them of the benefits behind purchasing it. A headline that reads "This Article Will Save You $50,000 By Reading It" will certainly get attention, but many readers will be disappointed if the article is only about saving money if you're a Subaru owner. But by changing the headline to "This Article Will Save Subaru Drivers $50,000 By Reading It" you've effectively caught the attention of your target audience and guided them to your proposition. A headline is perhaps the most important part of writing a sales pitch, so a lot of thought needs to go into its preparation.

First, figure out what the selling aspect is of your product or service. All this means is, try to determine what about your product makes it more important or otherwise better than your competitor's and what makes it beneficial to consumers; then figure out how to promote that aspect.

Now, transform your selling aspect by writing down the best possible advantage your prospective customer will reap from buying your product. It's okay to brag a little-holding back won't make any sense when you're trying to sell someone on the benefits your product can give them. Your headline needs to tell the reader why they should continue to examine the ad copy, because if it doesn't you're going to lose that potential costumer.

A common misconception is that you should start with a smaller benefit in the headline and then hit them with your best shot closer to the middle of the copy, thinking this will build anticipation. The truth is you need to hook the prospect from the first word or two, and then supplement it with the other benefits to create a well-written, inspiring ad.

A few rules to keep in mind when writing headlines. First, don't put your headline in all capital letters, as it's difficult to read and the sure mark of an amateur. It's fine to capitalize each word in the paragraph, though; doing this denotes it as an actual headline and not the beginning of a paragraph. It helps to further distinguish the headline by placing quotation marks around the headline, making it seem more like a something being directly written for the reader (which, for all intents and purposes, it is.)

If you plan on using a sub-heading, use a slightly smaller font size than you did with the headline. Using the same font size will detract from the headline's message and lessen its importance. Also, try not to place any punctuation, like a period, at the end of the headline; this isn't as important as the other issues, but it's better to omit the period if you want a clean, flawless ad.

Lastly, don't forget to use "action words"-words that provoke a response in the reader, preferably an immediate one. Use these liberally throughout both your headlines and your copy body. You can buy books on using action words (or trigger words), or try it yourself using the trial-and-error method if you think you have the process down cold. Research has proven how important these action words are, often dramatically increasing the response rate of a particular ad.

Writing ad copy can be tricky, but frequently the hardest part is writing a headline that makes the potential customer stop to read the rest. If you can get past this hurdle, the copy body that follows should be a little easier.