24 Ways to Create Compelling Headlines For Your Sales Letters

The headline is the most important part of your sales letter because it must capture attention instantly and also fuel interest. Headlines should concisely communicate the essence of your message and wet visitors' reading appetite. Without a strong compelling reason to read on, the visitor will leave your web page.

There are so many ways to create attention-grabbing headlines. For example, you could:

1 - Start with a question
"Is Google AdSense Driving Potential Customers Away from Your Site?"
"Hate exercise? Me too."

2 - Address your target market
"Attention Small Business Owners!"
"If You Are A Webmaster And Looking For Free Tools..."

3 - State a fact
"Your Competitor Could Be Your Best Friend."
"Marriage is the Biggest Investment In Your Life."

4 - Use a quotation
"I Lost 20 Kilos In 60 Days."
"I Made $8,397 Last Month With My Affiliate Program!"

5 - Arouse curiosity
"Did You Know That..."
"What Your Boss Doesn't Want You to Know..."

6 - Connect emotionally
"Do You Feel Tired When You Wake Up in the Morning?"
"Are You Frustrated Because Visitors Leave Your Site Without Buying?"

7 - Present your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
"Get your University Degree In 12 Months Even If You Have Not Completed High School"
"Combine AdWords and ClickBank for Huge Online Profits and Make $1000 Per Month Without Having A Website Or A Product To Sell."

8 - Create dreams
"What Will You Do With That Extra $1,000 A Week?"
"If You Could Convert 80% Of Your Website Visitors To Customers, How Much Money Would You Be Making?"

9 - Provide newsworthy information
"New Study Founds That 8 Out of 10 Websites Could Be Damaging Business' Credibility."
"Drink Two Glasses Of Red Wine Every Day And You Will Live Longer, Reveals...(name of Study)"

10- Explain 'How To'
"How to Promote Your Ebook And Become a Celebrity."
"How to Choose Your Wedding Diamond Ring."

11- Give reasons
"12 Good Reasons For Drinking Red Wine."
"24 Reasons To Form Strategic Alliances."

12- Start by 'why'
"Why You Should Not Use 'Click Here.'"
"Why Potential Customers Are Abandoning Their Shopping Carts."

13- Guide Step-by-Step
"Five Easy Steps To Win Customers."
"Three Critical Steps To Gain Customer Loyalty"

14- Instil fear
"Did You Realise That You Could Be Sued If..."
"What Will You Do If Your Computer Crashes?"

15- Command
"Lose Weight While Sitting At Your Computer"
"Create Ads That Will Boost Your Sales."

16- Use Comparisons
"Organic Search Engine Marketing Versus Pay-Per-Click."
"Should You Give Away Or Sell Your Ebook?"

17- Add Secrecy
"Insiders' Secrets For Instant Online Profits"
"Psst! For Your Eyes Only...Expert (name of Expert) Shares How He Earns $25,000 Per Month With EBay."

18- Educate
"Learn To Promote Your Website On A Shoestring Budget."
"What's Blogging? Is It For You?"

19- Provoke
"Women Over 35 Are Better Lovers."
"Buying Shares Is A Waste Of Money."
Provocative and controversial statements can attract attention but they can also infuriated your readers. Use with caution.

20- Start with negatives
"Don't Make Your Sales Page Look Like An Advert."
"12 Reasons Not To Buy A Web Cam."

21- Offer expert advice
"All You Should Know About..."
"Doctor (name of Doctor) Recommends..."

22- Give a new perspective
"The Art (or Science) of Writing Headlines."
"The Language of Success."

23- Exaggerate (if you can justify it)
"The Revolutionary Formula Of..."
"The Best Recipe to Cure Hangovers."

24- Give away incentives
"Free pedometer."
"Win A Holiday In Paris."

Now that you know how to make headlines, let your own creativity take the lead.

How To Write A Catchy Headline

Knowing how to write a catchy headline is an essential skill of a copywriter. You are competing for the attention of your market and you must stand out, hopefully this article will enable you to do so.

The content of your headline depends on several factors which are:

Audience
Do you have a rapport with the audience? If so, it may be advantageous to personalise the email.
   
Product / Service you are promoting
A professional product should be represented professionally. If your product is inexpensive, be sure to    play on that within your headline
   
Writing format
The length of your headline will be a function of your format. Formats included are blog posts, articles, sales pages, reports, emails etc.

I'm of the opinion that the headline should reflect the content, however that is because this is what works within my market. If you browse over your spam emails you notice that a lot of them try to personalise to headline by incorporating your name in it. This is obviously something that works for that market. A professional product or service should be represented by an honest headline. You will lose and upset many people if your headline is misleading or irrelevant to the content. I've made a quick list of what I consider to be good and bad headline themes with respect to a professional product or service.

GOOD
Benefit headlines (eg Amazing new course shows you how to skyrocket your loan pipeline by 300% in 30 days! ).
Summary headlines (eg Scientists grow human ear on back of a mouse )
Question headlines (eg Is the Zune any better than the iPod?' )
Mention Keywords (eg Al Jazeera International chooses Apple Technology )

BAD
False promises
Irrelevant headline

OTHER
Shocking headlines (These can be good and bad. Use them wisely.)

Words that are used commonly in good headlines


Instant
Free
Guarantee
Easy
Superlatives (i.e. 'Easiest way' instead of 'a way')


You should test your headlines and find out what works best within your market. If you stumble upon a great headline, write it down and figure out why it was so good and incorporate that into your next headline.

Article Writing Secret: Hyped-Up Headlines Help Boost Your Article Marketing Success

My clients often want to know how to make their articles stand out from the thousands that already exist in their marketplace. I encourage them to consider using alliteration in their headlines. What's alliteration you say? It's when you use words that all have the same sound. Check out the headline for this story as an example.

Here are a few tips I created to make headline writing a bit easier for you:

Don't force it.
Hey, if it's not there, it's not there. Look for a way to use words that begin with the same sound for a few minutes. If it doesn't come, then go with the old standby, "How to" or "3 Ways to" and move on.

Accompany the headline with an equally clever article.
You finally have a great alliterative headline, now what? You'd better have a funny, amusing or interesting article to back it up. The reader's curiosity is piqued, give him the information you promised in that great headline of yours.

Have a look at other alliterative headlines for inspiration.
Let's face it, these kinds of headlines can be a challenge. To make it easier, consider reading the work of others. Keep your eyes open because these headlines are used everywhere, magazines, newspapers, brochures - keep a file of these gems. It's worth it.

Here are a few from the undisputed kings (and queens) of clever headlines - The New York Post - for more inspiration:

PAYBACK'S A PITCH

MANIC MOB TRACKS THE TIGER [TIGER WOODS]

GANGLAND GALA AT GOTTI GRAVE

SALE SURVIVORS


Alliterate every word? Not so.
Not every word in your headline has to begin with the same sound. Conjunctions and prepositions such as: of, and, or, from get a pass. (Note: There are exceptions to this rule. Sometimes the first few or last few words in a headline have alliteration and all others don't.)

NICOTINE NAZIS ARE ASH-KING FOR IT THIS TIME!

BUGGED BRASS ORDERS JACKO COPS TO HUSH

TIGER BAGS HIS BABE


Don't forget your subheds.
It can be a risky move to use alliteration in your main headline. If it's too much for you, save your creativity for your subheds. This will move your readers through your copy swiftly and effortlessly - with a little flair.

Secondary headlines help, too.
Keep in mind these headlines don't offer a bevy of information. To connect the reader to the article, build a bridge with a secondary headline that clearly spells out what you're going to say. And it's a good idea not to use alliteration in the secondary headline either. Just tell it like it is.

There you have alliteration basics. Spice up your headlines with this bit of writing and watch response rates soar.