One of the most important parts of a successful article, press release, sales letter or other type of communication is the headline. Your headline is the advertisement for your content with only one job: to force the reader to keep reading. If the headline fails, so does your article or message.
This isn’t to say that you should allow a headline get in the way of your article. Many people get so stuck on their headline that they give up on the article. This is even worse than a bad headline!
So what do you do? Below are two types of headlines to consider. Remember to always look closely at your Market and Message when choosing an appropriate headline. Just because you use a specific headline technique for one type of article or message doesn’t mean it’ll be appropriate for your next one.
The Question Headline:
“Would You Like to Meet One-Hundred Potential Clients for Dinner Next Week?” – Invitation to a Membership Meeting
The question headline creates an immediate bond between you and your target audience. You may already know the answer and that they should attend. By asking a question, you make your readers identify with you, and you get them involved by forcing them to answer the question in their head. (“Of course, I’d like to meet 100 potential clients or customers for dinner?”) This is a very important marketing strategy – identify with your audience: Point out their pain and rub some salt in it or point out their desire and enhance it. Then unveil your solution. A question headline will cause your reader to read the whole article, message or offer just to identify the solution.
Tip: Don’t use the question to point out the obvious. Also, using the question headline to talk about you is not effective. (“Want to Hear about Our New Classes?”) The audience doesn’t care about your “new service”, they care about how you can solve their problem(s). Make it all about them.
You and your staff probably spend a lot of time sending all kinds of communications to your members. Be it an email, a fax, a sales letter, or a request for sponsorship, one of the most important parts of successful communication is the headline.
We said in the last issue that the headline is the advertisement for your content with only one job: to force the reader to keep reading.
The How-To Headline:
“How to Remodel Green in just 7 Steps” – Article in the Newsletter
“How to Meet Six New Business Leads in just 2 Hours” – Invitation to a General Membership Meeting
“How to Get You Company Name, Products and Services in front of the most Influential Decision Makers in the Area – Fax for Golf Sponsorship Opportunity
Note the self-help/do-it-yourself section in your local book store. Now note how many titles begin with “How-to”. The reason: people like to feel smart and they like to do it all on their own. Your message will provide your readers with the tools they need to take matters into their own hands, to solve their problem themselves: “How to Get 97 clients in 97 minutes”. Identify their need and tell them “How-to” fix it.
Tip: Take a look at your Association and at the event, benefit or opportunity you are trying to communicate. What is the end result? What is the true benefit of the opportunity? Once you define that, you can create a “How-to” headline and give your reader the power to reach the solution themselves.
Remember: Always look closely at your Market (members) and Message when choosing the appropriate headline. Just because you used the Question headline successfully in one type of message doesn’t mean it is appropriate for the next one.