David Ogilvy said that, on average, five times more people read the headline than the body of an article or email. And this is completely true. Maybe even fewer.
Any copywriter can confirm that headlines are an essential element in the success of your text. Most people do not go beyond the displayed headline, and when they do, it is due to a word or an element of the headline that particularly caught their attention.
Yes, often the difference is made by a single word. A study/test conducted by quicksprout.com demonstrated that changing one word in the subject of a sent email led to a 46% increase in the email's open rate. The difference is more than significant, and if we relate it to a number of 100,000 recipients, the benefit is more than substantial.
So, why is the headline so important? Because it is the first element any client comes into contact with. It can attract them or, on the contrary, make them completely indifferent to the content. The headline sets the tone for the rest of the content. Even if it is of very good quality, if no one reads it, it has no value. That is why an article, an advertisement message, announcement, or email can be easily canceled out by an uninspired headline.
The primary purpose of a headline is to get the reader to the first sentence of the text. From there, the second stage begins, to make them read until the end. After all, what interests us is obtaining conversions, whether it is simply reading the article, opening the email, viewing an image, an ad, accessing a page, or anything else.
The 4 "golden" rules of crafting a headline
Most people who create such texts have developed, over time, a set of 4 rules that a headline must follow to be attractive.
• Your headline must be unique
• Your headline must be very specific
• Your headline must convey a sense of urgency
• Your headline must be useful
It is rare that all these rules can be applied to the same headline. As much as possible, it is recommended to try to apply at least 1-2 of them. Slowly, it will become a routine and will no longer seem so complicated.
Let's take them one by one.
Your headline must be unique. It seems reasonable and self-evident. Or not? The headline must be unique, meaning it should stand out easily in the vast sea of messages transmitted across all media. It is not easy. But it is very important. If your headline does not differ from those of competitors, your business will not stand out, will not be noticed. And it will not give potential clients reasons to choose your business over any other with a similar message.
Studies show that the audience is already overwhelmed by messages of all kinds, so they no longer pay the attention these messages require. Therefore, you must stand out. And sometimes this involves a risk. But if we do not take risks and follow the beaten path, we will not achieve our proposed goals. Taking risks attracts attention and, at the same time, gives personality to the business and the respective brand. People have always appreciated and will always appreciate things with personality. And if people like you, they will certainly be more attracted to do business with you than with any other company that presents a pattern.
Your headline must be very specific. Beyond being unique, the headline must also be very specific, meaning it should present enough information for the reader to assess whether the content is of interest to them or not. Lack of information will lead to the announcement being ignored because clients will not know if what you are selling is necessary for them or not.
For example, a headline like "What Maria did last week" distributed on a social network does not give us any information. We do not know who Maria is, why we should be interested in her, or what benefit we get if we read the article.
The headline here is much more specific. It mentions your benefit (attracting visitors and traffic) to your site and, in addition, tells you that you don't know but can find out. It is a kind of call-to-action without actually being one. If it did not include "to your site," you would not be interested at all.
Your headline must convey a sense of urgency. This tip cannot be applied in all cases, but where it can be applied, it has real success. For example, in the case above, the tone of the headline urges you to think: what do they know that I don't? I need to find out now to fix the situation as soon as possible. Although it is not something threatening or that forces you to do something, the headline is attractive and captivating.
Nevertheless, this type of headline should not be overused, as it loses value and interest. On the other hand, we must also keep in mind that the article to which it refers must deliver what the headline promises.
Your headline must be useful. From the headline, it must be clear what benefit the reader will have if they read the respective text. People want to know what advantages they have if they spend 10 minutes reading, and they are no longer willing to waste time trying. In other words, in the rush for valuable information against limited time, people want to know from the start what to expect when they click.
This is where the most mistakes are made because people write interesting headlines that, however, do not attract because, as we said, people no longer have time to read everything that seems interesting to them, but what is useful to them.
Conclusions
Writing an attractive headline, a text that makes us click and read the entire article itself, seems, for many, a trivial matter and treated as such. Unfortunately, this is a major mistake because, as we have shown, the headline is what leads to the success or failure of an email, a promotional campaign, or simply your blog.
