Your Headline Is Your Ad For Your Ad! The only purpose of a headline is to target the person you want to reach and to sell that person on wanting to read the rest of your ad. You have zero chance of closing the sale unless you get “a hearing” with your prospect. The name of your company is NOT a headline! The name of your company belongs in the signature (usually the bottom) of the ad. Remember how people read a newspaper: they look for headlines and illustrations that interest them. I could fill this entire edition of the (YOUR AREA/TOWN) with rules for writing good advertising headlines. I won’t. Instead, I’m going to make the case for how important your headline is in your ad. Five times as many people will read your headline (if you have one!) as will read the body copy of your ad. Your newspaper ad is not a Yellow Page ad. They are rarely interchangeable. People consult the Yellow Pages when they are motivated; people notice newspaper ads if the headline appeals to their self-interest. It’s important that you understand the difference. Yellow Page ads are all grouped in one category; newspaper ads are spread throughout the edition. An effective advertising headline is NOT just a word or a few words in bold type at the top of the ad. And it’s NOT the name of your company. Effective headlines are rarely set in ALL CAPS. Upper and lower case are much easier to read. Let’s examine a few real-life headline examples: “It’s National Safety month” Who cares except possibly you? No reason to read this ad. B-O-R-I-N-G! “Safety is Job #1 for all homeowners” Really? Who says so and why should I care? Page turned. Ad gone. “Is keeping your family safe worth 48 cents a day?” Now we’re getting somewhere. That’s an engaging question. I might give this ad some further attention. See the difference? “USED CAR BONANZA! EVERY CAR ON OUR LOT ON SALE!!! LOWEST PRICES WE’VE OFFERED ALL YEAR!!!” Have you ever wondered why 99.9% of auto ad headlines scream and shout? So have I! Somewhere there is an unknown auto ad college that teaches “auto-ad-ese.” Courses like “Cram it and Jam it 101!” “Is car bargaining worse than a root canal?” This headline is somewhat of an extreme departure, but given some compelling copy, I’d bet lunch that this one would attract more attention than the sky-rocket-lowest-price-ever-best-deal-on-the-planet headlines you see in every newspaper in every town. Your headline IS the advertisement for your advertisement. Don’t worry about whether your headline is long or short. Use the number of words you need to get the attention of your target audience. Write and re-write your headline several times. Here’s a case where you truly do not have a second chance to make a first impression. Marketing Emporium 636 Horizon Drive, Unit 604 Grand Junction, CO 81506 Direct telephone: 970-210-8648 |
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