These headlines have helped sell billions of dollars worth of products and services. Use them to sell your own goods successfully.
Direct Headlines
These state your selling proposition directly, without hidden meaning or use of clever words.
Pure Silk Ties – 50 Percent Off
Children’s Multivitamins – Buy One Get One Free
These are as direct as you can get. Retailers often mail ads with direct headlines to announce sales and get customers to their stores.
News
You can also use the headline to announce news about your product. News such as the introduction of a new product, an improvement to an existing product, or a new application of an old product.
Introducing The New Solar-Powered Oven
New, Improved Car Polish
The First Transportable Stereo System Worth Taking Anywhere
How To
The words “how to” work wonders in advertising headlines, magazine articles, and book titles. Use them to promise solid information, sound advice, and solutions to problems.
This headline is so common that there are over 7,000 books with “how to” in their titles. A classic example is Dale Carnegie’s bestseller, “How to Win Friends & Influence People,” which has sold more than 15 million copies.
Who doesn’t want more friends, and to be able to persuade them?
Other examples include:
How to Feed a Family of Four For Only $30 a Week
How to Double Your Reading Speed in 2 Days
How to Lose 8 Pounds in 30 Days . . . Naturally
Question
To get your prospect’s attention, this headline must ask a question that the reader would like answered.
Is Your Fridge Costing You More to Operate Than It Should?
Paying Too Much For Auto Insurance?
Having Problems Passing the Bar Exam?
Hate Your Job? Want to Find More Fulfilling Work?
Question headlines should focus on your prospect’s self-interest or needs – NOT your company’s. A bad example is a self-serving headline, such as
Know What ABC Company is Up to These Days?
No one cares what you’re up to!
Command
These headlines get sales by telling your customers what to do.
Try Our Vacuum Cleaner Risk-Free for 90 Days
Add This Exercise To Your Workout For A Flatter Stomach
Increase Your Vertical Leap With Our Strength Shoes
The first word in the command headline is a strong verb that demands the reader to take action.
Reason-Why
An easy and effective way to write your advertisement is to list the features and benefits of your product using a 1-2-3 method. Then you can use a reason-why headline to introduce the list.
Nine Reasons Why You Should Join the Peace Corps
Eleven Reasons Why You Should Finish Your Taxes Early
These headlines don’t always need to have the phrase “reasons why.” Other phrases such as “8 Ways” or “7 Steps” work just as well.
8 Ways to Increase Your Income
7 Steps to A Successful Retirement
Testimonial
In this advertisement, your customers do the selling for you. Publisher’s Clearing House used this method by having past winners tell us how they won big money through their sweepstakes.
Testimonials work because they offer proof that your product satisfies your customers.
The copy is written as if spoken by the customer, who’s usually pictured in the ad. Quotation marks around the headline and body copy tell the prospect that the ad is a testimonial.
When writing a testimonial, use the customer’s own words as much as possible. A conversational tone will add believability to your testimonial.
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