Hopefully, you pay a lot of attention to writing your headlines.
I do.
I typically go through several drafts until I’m reasonably happy with a headline.
Headlines are important, because a good one captures attention and inspires people to start reading the body text. Bad headlines don’t.
Truth be told, I’m a bit of a headline nerd. I created an entire course on how to write them.
But… there’s more.
What about those subheads?
It doesn’t have to be a big, dramatic story.
It can be something simple.
Like how my wife cried when she walked to the local corner store to buy chips, but realized she didn’t have a mask with her. So she couldn’t go in.
Her tears weren’t about the chips.
We know that.
Her tears were about the relentless grind of living through a pandemic, where something as simple as buying chips is sometimes out of reach.
I’m writing this post for YOU.
We’ve probably never met. But I try to picture you in my mind as I sit at my computer, pecking away at the keyboard.
I might even imagine you here in my home, sitting across from me at the kitchen table.
I’m writing to you as if you’re the only person in the world on my mind right now.
This means I’ll always talk about you in the singular.
One-on-one. You and me.
I think you notice and appreciate it… the fact that I’m writing this just for you.
Shut up and listen to that radio ad.
Shut up and watch that TV commercial.
Shut up and read that magazine ad or direct mail promotion.
This is the nature of traditional advertising. It’s one-way. You’re broadcasting a sales message to an audience that can’t talk back, or write back.
No wonder advertising is such a hit or miss affair.
No wonder response rates are so low.
Think about it… Nobody likes being told to shut up and listen.
When I sing the praises of short-form copy, I often get pushback.
Particularly from some of my fellow copywriters.
I’m told that short copy isn’t up to the job.
For the tough jobs… the heavy lifting… only long copy works.
I’m not so sure.
I think short copy can also get the job done.
In fact, I think some of the most powerful copy is really, really, short.
Over the years I’ve written a lot about writing headlines.
I even teach a course on the subject.
But of all the tips I share, I have three favorites.
In fact, these are the tips – or filters – I use myself when trying to improve my own headlines.
Let’s get started…