Headlines - The Ad for Your Ad - The headline of your advertisement (whether it's a direct mail piece, newspaper, magazine, webpage, radio spot, or television ad) is the phrase or group of words that catches the reader's or listener's attention.
If your headline doesn't catch the reader's attention, it has failed... and so have you. The headline is the most important part of the ad. It is 80% of your outreach effort.
Your headline should illustrate a major benefit that the customer can expect from your product. It essentially sells the reader on your ad. It doesn't announce the product, but rather catches the reader's or listener's attention and convinces them to listen or read on.
The headline has one other function: it brings your reader or listener into your ad. A good headline reaches out and grabs readers by the collar and pulls them in. What is the biggest promise that you can put in your headlines? From your unique selling proposition (USP), you derive the words or small idea that sparks the interest of prospects and motivates them to learn more about your product.
As you read through newspapers, look at ads in magazines, or get direct mail offers, you will find that the ones you read and look at are the ones that grab you up front early and get your attention.
Attention comes because the headline illustrates a direct benefit for the prospect. This benefit is so powerful and unique, that the prospect is encouraged to continue listening to or reading the ad. If you are going to invest in any type of marketing to get your product sold, you must come up with a headline that is a description of your unique selling proposition or an aspect of it.
Your headline can be a few words or it can be a main headline with several sub-headlines. Its basic function is an appetiser, a tasty little something that will whet the reader's appetite for personal gain and take the reader's eyes from the headline on down into the copy of the ad or the letter (or in the case of radio and TV to get them watching and listening).
Headlines Are Everywhere
Headlines are hard workers and are useful everywhere. They can be utilised in all of the methods of direct marketing:
- Classified Ads
- Display Ads
- Magazine Ads
- Newspaper Ads
- Radio
- Television
- Postcard Inserts
- Inserts in Papers
- Coded Mailing List
- Ad Specialties
- Card Packs
- Yellow Page Ads
- Newsletter Reports
- Telemarketing Scripts
- Brochures
As you prioritise the elements of good copy, bear in mind that your headlines should receive 70%-80% of your attention in your content preparation. Don't forget, headlines not only appear at the top of an ad or letter, but can also be used to tremendous effect as teasers on the outside of envelopes.
Try to make the headline as tangible and specific as possible. Take time to list all of the benefits of the product and all of the ways it will solve your customer's problems.Great headlines simply excite the reader enough to get them to read the copy and see what the offer is about. The offer might be included in the headline and repeated throughout the ad. The headline should illustrate how people can save time and money, or benefit from your product.
Author Resource:-
Strategies like that can explode your small business quickly, that's why I'd suggest you go right now to http://www.freemarketingbook.org and request a copy of Jonathan Jay's new book "Marketing Secrets of a Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneur"
Copyright SuccessTrack 2009
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