By Clayton Makepeace
Every part of your sales message is important. Your opening is
crucial. Your presentation of product benefits ... of proof and
credibility elements ... of the offer and premiums ... of your
guarantee ... and of your closing "ask-for-the-sale" copy are
all critical.
But of all the things you do to produce a sale, nothing equals
your headline when it comes to pushing response through the
roof. In my 33 years in this business, I've seen great new
headlines produce 25%, 35%, even 45% lifts in response and ROI.
Why are heads so important? Two reasons:
First, your headline is the demurely raised eyebrow ... the
whisper in the ear ... the tap on the shoulder ... or the
shrieking air raid horn (remember those?) that makes it
impossible for your prospect to look at anyone but you. (More
precisely, at anyone's ad but yours.)
Second, your headline is the gateway to your sales copy. It is
what persuades your prospect to read your sales message.
When you study the most effective headlines ever written, you
can't help but notice that they accomplish these twin tasks by
offering the reader a BRIBE - a strong benefit in exchange for
reading the sales message.
Whether explicit or implicit, shouted or whispered, the best
heads you'll ever read - or write - will be a proposed
transaction: "Read this ... and this very specific, very
wonderful thing will happen for you."
Allow me to show you three of the most powerful headline
techniques ever - approaches that have produced huge winners for
the big shots (and, yes, for me too).
1. Pure benefit headlines present only the
primary practical benefit offered by the product.
"Who else wants a whiter wash
- with no hard work?"
Once upon a time, pure benefit headlines were all the rage. And
they worked. But today's prospects are being offered identical
benefits by dozens, scores, or hundreds of competing
advertisers.
Unless the benefit you're offering is truly unique - or
presented in a very unique and intriguing way - you'll need to
do more than just present or imply a benefit.
Here's how John Carlton turned a benefit head into something
absolutely unique, and made his ad a must-read:
"Amazing Secret Discovered by One-Legged Golfer
Adds 50 Yards to Your Drives, Eliminates Hooks and
Slices
... and Can Slash Up to 10 Strokes From Your Game Almost
Overnight"
2. Pure emotion heads directly address the
emotional need, frustration, or fear that the product's primary
benefit addresses - only hinting at the practical benefit.
"Tell The 'Health Police' To Take A
Flying Leap –
And Return To Life's GUILTIEST
PLEASURES!"
Pure emotion heads have worked very well for me. But ONLY when
they are followed immediately with a strong presentation of the
benefits that are being promised.
3. Combined benefit/emotion heads present the
product's chief benefit and either imply or state the emotional
payoff for the reader.
"Laugh All The Way To The Gas Pump!
How rising gas prices can make you up to 307% richer in
2006"
Regardless of whether your headline is pure benefit, pure
emotion, or a combination of the two, there are dozens of ways
to give it greater selling power.
Here are a few ...
"For every
illness, there is a country
where it simply doesn't exist ..."
"Read This Now ...
Or Kiss Your Money GOODBYE!"
"1,384 'ENRONS' Are Now
Racing Toward BANKRUPTCY"
"How I Made a Fortune With a Fool Idea"
Try this. Sit down with a headline you're working on now and ask
yourself these six questions:
1. Does your headline offer the reader a reward for reading your
sales copy?
2. What specifics could you add to make your headline more
intriguing and believable?
3. Does your headline trigger a strong, actionable emotion the
reader already has about the subject at hand?
4. Does your headline present a proposition that will instantly
get your prospect nodding his or her head?
5. Could your headline benefit from the inclusion of a proposed
transaction?
6. Could you add an element of intrigue to drive the prospect
into your opening copy?
Spend 15 minutes on it ... and I'll bet you come up with
something great!
Clayton Makepeace offers help in reaping maximum profits through
the Internet, direct mail, and print advertising every week in
his e-zine The Total Package. Learn 177 of his
surprising secrets that have doubled his clients' profits in a
year and quadrupled them in 36 months in his newly published
e-book "Double Your Profits in 12 Months or Less!"
http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com