Copywriting Tips – Sensational Headline Tips
This article is actually going to serve two purposes. The first is to give you some tips on writing sensational headlines. The second is to serve as a warning to new copywriters to be very careful about what you claim in your headlines. The FTC is starting to crack down on wild, unsubstantiated claims and the copywriters are going to be in just as much hot water as the product creators. So please take the following words to heart.
Let’s start with sensational headlines. What makes one? Well, the simple answer is, any headline that gets the prospect to move on to the next paragraph. Doing that is a whole different ball of wax. But let’s put ourselves into the shoes of our prospect. What would WE want to see if we were looking at a sales page headline? What would make us want to read on?
For me, it’s a powerful claim, an interesting question or something that makes me curious. A powerful claim would be something like, “Miracle Cream Will Clear Up Your Acne In 3 Days…Guaranteed.” An interesting question would be something like, “Would It Be Worth 5 Minutes Of Your Time To Discover How To Play Violin Like A Concert Violinist?” Something that would make me curious would be something like, “Keep Reading To Discover How An Out Of Work Truck Driver Banked $30,184 In 90 Days.” I’d certainly want to know how he did it.
Those are just three of the many ways to get people to keep on reading. The key is grabbing their attention. You don’t want a headline that just sits there. And you want something that is as specific as possible. Notice in the last headline, I used a specific dollar amount. If I had used words like “fortune” or something like that, it wouldn’t have been as effective. The fact that I used a specific amount makes the headline more credible.
have to be very careful about using headlines like these. You can’t make claims that aren’t true. If you say that so and so made $X in Y number of days, you better be able to show verifiable proof that this happened. Otherwise, you could find yourself in a boat load of trouble. For this reason, I tend to stay away from claims in the sales letters I now write. There are ways to still write a compelling headline without having to make actual claims. It just takes a little bit of thought.
Bottom your headline doesn’t grab the prospect by the throat and make him want to read on, you’re not going to get the sale.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
