An Acid Test For Your Headlines

Well, the weather is definitely warming up here in Charlotte. This past week has been absolutely gorgeous and it’s been extremely difficult to stay focused on the work at hand. Fortunately, I have a little ‘down time’ scheduled for this weekend and I hope to be able to take advantage of this beautiful weather.

I hope for you the warmer weather means lots of new business! If you haven’t started your Spring marketing campaigns yet, don’t wait much longer because it could be too late by the time you get started. Today, I wanted to share a quick thought about headlines. If you’ve been on my email list for any length of time you’ve probably heard me talk about the importance of headlines in your marketing materials. Believe it or not, having a good headline can be the difference between a super-successful campaign and one that completely falls on its face.

You have mere seconds to convince your prospect that your message is worth reading and a good headline captivates your prospect and pulls them into the rest of your sales letter. It piques their curiosity and invites them to continue reading so they can get the full story on what it is you’re offering.

In other words, miss the mark on the headline and you miss the mark on the entire marketing campaign.

So what can be done to ensure every headline grabs your prospect by the throat and gets them to read the rest of your message?

Well, this is a trick I learned from the master of direct response marketing, Dan Kennedy. He has what he calls his ‘Headline Test’. In a nutshell, separate your headline and the response instructions from the rest of your ad or sales letter and treat it as a classified ad.

After you’ve done this, ask yourself if anyone would respond to just these 2 elements? If you think people would respond, it passes the test. If you don’t think they would, better head back to the drawing board.

To be honest, many of the ads I see wouldn’t pass this simple test. Why? Mostly because the ads use the company name as the headline instead of an attention grabbing opening statement.

Think about it for just a moment, which headline do you think would capture more prospect’s attention:

1. ‘Greenway Lawn Care, For More Information Call 333-4444.’
2. ‘A Beautiful Thick, Green Lawn With Zero Stress, Hassles, or Headaches - Your Satisfaction is Guaranteed. Call 333-4444.’

I’d like to think it goes without saying which one would do a better job of getting your phone to ring.  Now, take a look at your latest sales letter or marketing campaign and run it through this simple acid test. If the headline alone is enough to make your prospects pick up the phone, congratulations. If not, head back to the drawing board.

Use this simple test every time you create an ad or campaign and I guarantee you’ll see phenomenal results as a result.

Bookmark Me!