For any promotional message, the headline is incredibly important. You have just a few seconds to make an impact, to get that reader to continue reading!

The headline must be relevant to the reader and it must contain a benefit to them, otherwise there is no point in them reading the rest of the copy, whether it’s a direct mail piece, email newsletter or news article.

Here are our top tips to guide you with headlines:

1. Be smart, but not creative. Tricky headlines such as double meanings and puns don’t always work.
2. Know your audience, who are you targeting? Is your headline and copy appealing to the target market?
3. Stress the benefits of your products/service and how it can bring value. Don’t stress its features.
4. Include news in your headline – ads with news in the headlines, generally pull about a 20% better response.
5. Be specific! Add in the facts; general and vague headlines can reduce impact by up to 12% on average.
6. Never write a headline in capitals. The reason is it’s far easier to read in lower case, after all we all learn to read in lower case.
7. As with any copy that is trying to sell, emotion is very powerful. Don’t be afraid of using emotive words.
8. Offer a solution to a problem in your headline.
9. Don’t make the headline difficult to interpret, no one has time to work it out!
10. Make sure your headlines add a bit of energy and passion to the product/service you are selling. If you don’t have confidence in your product, neither will your reader.

The customers you are targeting with your copy/headline are really only interested in the benefits and value it brings to them – this is the main point to consider.

So next time, take a little time to think about what your headline might be!

Written by Sally Nightingale