Creating A Powerful Headline
Today you are going to learn the four essential strategies you need to be using to create powerful attention grabbing headlines.
The headline is the most important part of the sales letter because it is the first thing your prospect reads to determine these three things about you.
Number one, you’re intelligent; number two, your excited about what you’re doing, and number three, you actually know what you’re talking about.
By the way, it takes the average person four seconds to make that decision.
Basically, if you don’t get their attention with the first couple words of the headline, its game over. They will move on, and you lose a sale. Are you starting to understand how important getting the headline right can be.
Here are four things you need to include in your headline starting today.
Number one is to understand your audience. Who are they exactly? What pain are they feeling right now? Why are they on your website. You need to understand their specific need. Did you notice how I underlined, ,bolded, and italicized the word specific? Using general terms to try to reach as broad of an audience does not work. You need to dig deep, and speak to the specific pain of your prospect.
Every person on the planet has a pain of some sort. It may be emotional, financial, physical, spiritual or whatever. Your job is to figure out what that pain is, and how you can fix it.
Next, your headline should include an obvious benefit. Show them how you can turn their pain into pleasure. Be specific and use numbers.
Here’s an example, my headline could say ‘Find out what it takes to close more leads in less time’. Or I could say “Find out the four things you should be asking to close fifty percent more leads starting today’. Do you see the difference in framing? By including specific numbers in the headline, it makes the results more specific, and easier for a prospect to visualize.
Next comes the offer. An example of a good offer could look like this ‘sign up now for these 7 free videos and in a few short minutes you’ll have access to information that took years to acquire’. Once again you’re being specific with numbers. Notice how I didn’t say, ‘sign up and you can have access to some cool stuff that took me a long time to get.’ Be specific with the offer. What exactly are they going to get, when are they getting it, what pain did it cause you to get it. I hope you are understanding what I am saying, because its very important.
Number three, make sure your headline is clear and direct. Use power words that have some emotional triggers to them. This will get your prospect to relate to what you are saying, and create more of a bond between you and the prospect. Make sure it flows together smoothly. Read it out loud a few times and if you start to get tripped up on the language or flow of the words, you probably need to rewrite it. You don’t want the reader to get stuck, and interrupt the flow.
Your headline should be the first thing that you write. It is the foundation of the rest of the sales letter. The headline is the sales message, it’s the hook. The sales letter is just there to support your headline. It’s just like a news paper. The headline tells the feature of the story, it’s the attention grabber. If I see a good headline, I will pick up a paper or magazine just to see what the real story is. Your headline should have the same impact. That is why it needs to be the first thing you write.
Here is an overview of what should be included in you headline.
Number one, understand your audience especially their pain, and specific need. Do not be vague.
Number two, include a irresistible offer , use numbers if it applies and show them how they can turn their pain into pleasure.
Third make sure the headline is clear and concise, and that it flows smoothly. If it’s a tongue twister you need to rewrite it.
Fourth, write the headline first. Think of a magazine or front-page story in the paper.
Ok, that’s it for this topic. The next article will cover the lead in to your sales letter.
