More about Headlines
In the last segment we shared our list of things you’ll want to consider as you write your headline. In this segment, we’re going to share a bunch of types of headlines (they’re also lead types) that you might consider with examples. If you choose to use one of these headline types for your copy, run through the 12 questions we shared in the last segment to make sure they are as compelling as possible.
As always when writing, consider your customer, their problem, their stage of awareness and what you need to do to keep them reading to the next line.
Here is our incomplete list of headline types:
#1. The Direct Headline. This headline states your product and the reason why you should buy directly. There’s nothing clever here… no word play or puns (other than the double entendre in the Labour headline). Just the reason someone should buy your product. This type of headline is most appropriate for customers who are in the Most Aware Stage.
Double Your Closet Space in Minutes.
Labor isnt’ working.
Stop paying your landlord’s mortgage. Get pre-approved in 12 minutes.
#2. The Indirect Headline. This is the opposite of the direct headline, it makes its point in a roundabout way, arousing curiosity and intriguing your prospect to keep on reading the copy.
They laughed when I sat down at the piano—but when I started to play!
I never read The Economist. Management trainee. Aged 42.
Find your perfect pair.
These take a little bit more thought to understand and that keeps your reader going.
#3 The News Headline. This headline is usually an announcement of a discovery or improvement to your product.
Revolutionary new kind of drain opener unclogs drains in seconds.
A new approach to content marketing.
Introducing a better way to cook.
#4 The Benefit Headline. This headline features the most important benefit the customer will experience with the product. Even better when you contextualize the benefit to show how they experience it in their life.
Imagine holding an audience spell-bound for 30 minutes!
Get your custom content strategy in 5 days or less.
Win a trip for two to Italy.
#5 The How-to Headline. Just like it says, this headline shares how to do, get or achieve, something. The words “how to” are powerful because they directly answer a question or problem your reader has.
How to Sit Back and Collect HUGE Checks on Your Great Product Idea
How to Know When a Slot Machine is Ready to Pay Off
How to Get the IRS to “Forget” to Audit You
#6 The Curiosity Headline. This headline is all about piqueing the interest of the reader. It doesnt’ give away the secret or punchline and instead keeps the customer reading in order to find out more.
What Every Wife Wishes Her Husband Knew About Estate Planning … and the IRS Hopes You Never Find Out
What to Never Eat on an Airplane
How Doctors Stay Well While Treating Sick People All Day
#7 The Alarm Headline. This headline taps into deeply held fears of your customer. You are not trying to manipulate them, but rather raise their awareness of a potential danger. These work well when combined with prediction leads.
The Big Blood Pressure Blunder Almost All Doctors Make
Are you dead? Did You Die in a House Fire? If so, we’d like to hear from you.
Do you regret not spending $5 on a fire alarm?
Home buyer alert: The latest Mortgage Scam to Avoid.
#8 The Question Headline. This headline simply asks a question. However, you need to be careful with the sort of questions you ask using this technique. If your prospect can easily answer “no” they will stop reading. Your question needs to be something your reader wants answered or be something they can empathize with. Question headlines need to focus on your customer, not the product.
Do you make these mistakes in English?
Which of these best sellers do you want for $1 each?
Is your 401(k) holding you back?
Each of these questions doesn’t give away the answer in the headline so the reader needs to continue to find the answer.
#9 The List Headline. This headline is common in the content world. And while they are not all that original, we humans love reading compelling lists.
The top 10 movies of 2024.
10 good reasons to wear your safety goggles.
The 22 Best Headline Forumlas.
#10 The Command Headline. These lines tell your customer what to do next.
Army. Be all you can be.
Lower your insurance rates now.
Simplify your day with these time management principles.
#11 The Reason Why Headline. These headlines help the customer justify their action or purchase decision. They may also be an answer to a question your reader has. Done properly, they create intrigue and curiosity.
Why the way you show up on Zoom is losing you clients.
7 reasons why writing a book will grow your business.
13 Insider Secrets to Getting the Best Deal On Your Next Automobile
Car Dealers Do Not Want You to Know.
#12 The Testimonial Headline. These headlines are often pulled directly from something a customer has said about your product or the results they deliver. In other cases, they may not be the exact words, but are put in quotation marks to give the impression that this is something customers say. I personally like these headlines for sales pages because they often include the big promise your product promises to deliver in the words of your customer, which is a form of proof.
“The doctors said nothing could cure my cancer. But within two months, every tumor had shrunk, dried up, and fallen off.”
“I gave up smoking by eating prunes.”
A Miracle! “I could see again… My eye doctor was AMAZED!”
#13 The Contrarian Headline. This headline is all about interrupting expectations and surprising the reader with something unexpected. This is what copywriter Gary Bencivenga referred to as “selling against type.”
Get Rich Slowly.
The Great Vitamin Hoax.
The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches
How to Make Big Money from Small Lists
#14 The Concept Headline. These are far more common in print brand advertisements, billboards, or television commercials than sales copy or content. Occasionally we’ll see this kind of headline on a website. Often they are a clever play on the product. They can be fun, but also they can be too clever and lean into entertaining rather than educating or converting your customer.
Lemon.
Exactly how mad is she?
Absolut _______
This list is not all inclusive. There are dozens of other approaches to writing headlines. But you’ve got enough to get started. Keep in mind what we shared about having good ideas in a previous segment. The same thing applies here. To write good headlines, you need to write a lot of headlines. You should probably write at least 20-30 and if you’ve got time, a hundred is even better.