6 Hard Working Headlines That Keep On Working

From Dean Rieck via Melissa Data

6 Hardworking Headlines that Keep on Working
By Dean Rieck

Since the headline is responsible for about 80 percent of your response, it is vital to write one that works. So here are six headline flavors that have been proven over and over in millions of print ads.

1. Say it simply and directly. No cleverness. No jokes. No wordplay. Just get right to the point and say what you have to say. This works particularly well with strong offers, solutions to clear problems, recognized brand names, and product or service types that the reader is familiar with.
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2. State the big benefit. This helps select your ideal audience and relays your main selling point. If you’re offering a discount, say it. If you’re offering something free, scream it.

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3. Announce exciting news. Casting your headline in a way that suggests news, rather than just advertising, can have the same powerful appeal of a feature story in the morning paper. Key “news� words: New, Discover, Introducing, Announcing, Now, At last, Finally.

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4. Appeal to the how-to instinct. We all have an impulse to improve ourselves and our lives. The secret here is to focus on a need or want of the reader and promise to fulfill that need or want quickly and easily.

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5. Pose a provocative question. Asking a question directly involves your reader. However, your question cannot be random or clever. It must relate directly and clearly to the major benefit of the product. It must also prod the reader to answer “yes,� or at least “I’m not sure, but I want to know more.�

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6. Bark a command. Many ads fall flat because they fail to tell the reader what to do. Commands allow you to simultaneously be direct, relay a benefit, and take a commanding posture. It’s not conversational. It’s dictatorial, but in an acceptable way that readers have come to expect in clear writing.

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— Dean Rieck is president of Direct Creative, a full-service creative firm.
E-mail: DeanRieck@DirectCreative.com