“Tiger Woods Joins Mugabe’s Zanu PF Golf Team”
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“Tiger Woods speaks out against the Unity Government of Zimbabwe” o
or what about
“Nigel Chanakira Vows To Destroy Moxon…No Matter What”
Quick Test:
- Which one of the above headlines would most get your attention?
- Which one do you think is actually the truth?
Don’t know about #1, but I’m sure i can guess your answer to question #2.
Tiger Woods is probably too busy handling his own media scandals to concern himself with Zimbabwe’s issues and i really doubt he’s even met Zimbabwe’s president. So the first two idea are probably a little unrealistic and seriously lacking credibility.
Nigel Chanakira on the other hand, given his recent war with Moxon… that’s probably believable for most people. Problem is, there’s no truth in it (at all.) I just made it up. Why would i do that?
Well, to grab your attention of course!
See, I’ve been thinking a lot about headlines in marketing lately. In case you dont know, your headline is estimated to account for as much as 80% or more for your response in advertising.
That means you could have a ground breaking new product, a dirt cheap price with 5 years to pay and all that…yet STILL your advertising can fail…if you don’t grab the right kind of attention from the right kind of person.
A headline is not the place to show off your company name, or impress us with how clever you are. It’s where you grab attention. Not just anyone’s attention. The attention of the person whose most likely to respond and buy.
But attention isn’t enough…it’s also got to be believable, unlike “Tiger Woods Plays Robert Mugabe In Gold Game”. or ‘Max Soutter, Now Richer Than Richard Brandson!” (Though that’d be nice).
If your headline accounts for as much as 80% of your response, shouldn’t you put a heck of a lot more attention into it?
Surely it’s worth coming up with something true, something exciting and something believable that your market actually wants to find out more about?
“Computers for sale” is not a real headline. It would be if having Computers for Sale was a rare thing, but it’s not. “Big Sale Bonanza” is not a headline. It would be if people actually believed you had really reduced your prices significantly.
Tomorrow, I’ll post my own TOP 10 favorite tips on writing Killer Headlines that will get You results. Why not sign up below to get email notifications to make sure you don’t miss out?
Yours for smarter marketing
Max Soutter
Max Soutter 
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