Get the Desired Eye Ball Hits on Your Article by Writing the ‘Right’ Headline
David MacKenzie Ogilvy, more popularly known as “the father of advertising”, quoted, “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as they read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar. ”Headlines possess the same qualities like money. They grab our attention; they make us stop and think twice. We have become so busy and limited with our time nowadays that we usually pick and choose what we read and that is mostly determined by the amount of interest the article’s title generates within us. We don’t need to be wizards; creative Gods or mind readers to discover great headlines create winning headlines. All we need is the right knowledge and a lot of hard work to get things rolling. It takes brainstorming all possible headline ideas until you come up with the right ONE. The headline has to grab the attention of your targeted prospect. A good headline ensures that your article does not get lost among the bundles of other articles with the same headline. It is almost imperative to stick to the following if you want your headline to be read.
- It has to generate utmost curiosity among the readers. It must answer the question “What’s In It for me” by giving your #1 Benefit Right Up Front.
- It needs to send a clear message about what your article has to offer.
- It needs to be specific and focused to attract your target market.
- It needs to instantly compel the reader to follow through and read the rest of the article.
One absolute essential for writing killer headlines that has been advocated by the best writers of all times is that one should spend half of the entire time it takes to write a piece of persuasive content on the headline. So, if you don’t want your article to miss even a single prospective reader, you should downright be obsessive over your headline.
DID YOU KNOW?
- On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of the headline and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece.
- The better the headline, the better your odds of beating the averages and getting what you’ve written read by a larger percentage of people.
- Writing a great headline doesn’t guarantee the success of your writing. The benefit conveyed in the headline still needs to be properly satisfied in the body copy.
- A great body content with a bad or even marginal headline is doomed to go largely unread.
An intelligent writer who knows the tricks of the trade also understands the power of headlines and how they almost determine the fate of the article. The 43rd American President, George W. Bush said, “I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what’s moving. I rarely read the stories and get briefed by people who probably read the news themselves.” You must constantly keep reminding yourself about the universally held notion that you do not get a second chance to make a first impression, which in your case will be created by the quality of your headline. It is an obvious truth that the significance of headlines can never be overemphasized.