I get it.
It’s difficult to be creative sometimes.
If you’re a small business and you’re dedicated to marketing your brand, you’ll know the value of getting your name out there through a variety of methods, including content creation through blogging or advertising online and in print.
Coming up with ideas on what to write is often the easy part because, well, if it’s your business, you know the pain points of your customers and you can write content that aims to solve those problems.
But what about creating effective headlines for that content, whether it’s a blog post or you’re submitting an ad to the local paper?
That is often much more difficult for many people.
Here are some ideas that I’ve taken from a variety of online sources to get your creative juices flowing.
The Simple and Direct Headline
https://www.copyblogger.com/proven-headline-formulas/
In this blog post, Dean Rieck suggests that direct headlines should be used as much as possible.
There’s no need for cutesy headlines, he says.
Just get right to the point.
The direct headline works well with strong offers, recognized brand names and products or services that are familiar to the reader, he adds.
Examples he cites include the following:
- Purse silk blouses……30% Off
- The Ultimate Tax Shelter
- Free Subscription to BlogMaster
The “How To” Headline
how to explore the world in a year by connollycolette5
https://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/headlines.htm
In this blog post, author Michele Pariza-Wacek explains why the “How To” headline works so well.
She says it works because it promises a solution to a customer’s problem right from the get-go. Headlines such as, “How to Quit Smoking in 30 Days or Your Money Back” or “How to Write a Novel in 30 Days” are all good examples, adds Pariza-Wacek.
In addition, if the how-to is addressing a specific need, there’s an immediate compulsion to purchase, or at the very least, opt in by offering one’s email address.
“The Best” Headline
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/types-of-blog-headlines
In this HubSpot blog post, author Ryan Scott lists a variety of headlines that have been proven to work. They include what he calls “The Best” headline.
Scott says such headlines are powerful for SEO and speak to the most common types of customer web searches. He adds that if people are searching for ways to save money, for example, wouldn’t they be intrigued by the “best” way to do that?
Examples of such a headline include: “Study Less, Study Smart: The Best Ways to Attain More in Less Time” and “The Best Ways to Do Market Research For Your Business Plan.”
The “It’s a Race” Headline
Race to Get there by connollycolette5
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/types-of-blog-headlines
In the same HubSpot blog post, Scott also mentions this clever headline strategy.
As Scott explains it, sometimes people don’t want the best or the easiest way to achieve things. They just want the solution that will allow them to do something fast. For conversion purposes, this type of headline works well because of the urgency of the copy – but only if you can prove the value of the product or service you are advertising, adds Scott.
Some examples include: “The Fastest Way to Learn Italian” or “The Fastest Way to Lose Weight.”
The “If I Were You” Headline
IF I WERE YOU, I WOULD….! by connollycolette5
Scott also highlights the headline that makes the reader what to be better.
Examples of this include: “Why You Should Forget Facebook”
Instead of telling someone how they should do something, this kind of headline gives the reader the option to change his or her current practice or create a new one. It’s not forcing the issue; it’s showing the reader that if he or she does something different, the outcome can be a lot better.
The “Giveaway” Headline
https://neilpatel.com/blog/write-irresistible-headlines/
In this post, marketing guru Neil Patel says that headlines that “give away the big benefit” are usually good for conversion.
In order for them to read it, though, they need to know exactly what’s in it for them, he adds. In addition, he says it’s important that you know your target audience when creating headlines like this.
A good example would be: “The Best Salmon Recipes for Quick and Easy Dinners,” which is a headline that gives the reader the benefit of knowing how to create quick and easy dinners without too much fuss.
“The List” Headline
In this Quicksprout blog post, the writer suggests that list-type headlines are really the most shared.
Why is that?
Because these headlines make a specific promise, the reader knows what to expect going into the article. Surveys conducted on these types of posts show that it’s the clarity of the headlines that resonate with readers. In addition, there’s some evidence to show that odd numbers in headlines do a lot better converting than whole numbers. There’s no real reason why this happens, however.
A few examples of list posts include: “63 Blogging Tools that Will Make You Insanely Productive” and “10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer.”
If you have a hard time coming up with a clever headline, consider using one of the above examples and see how they work.