Studies show that the first thing a reader scans in your ad is the headline, and the second thing is subheads. Your headline is probably the most important part of anything you write, especially when we are talking about advertisements.
Your headline has one purpose - to grab the reader's attention and get them to read the rest of your ad.
What should never be in your headline? The name of your clinic or the doctor's name. That is not attention grabbing. That is not getting your prospect so curious that they HAVE to read the article.
Many of us write articles or post to blogs to grow our business. The headline for these purposes should grab attention with a benefit or arousing curiosity. In these instances the headline should also tie the reader right back into the story you are telling.
As a copywriting coach and teacher it's been interesting critiquing other people’s writing. It's definitely a very different experience from critiquing your own. One of the most common things I see when doing critiques is a lot of weak headlines. I think this is because the writers are writing their headlines first, before they write the article. I do this as well sometimes.
But while I may go through and edit this article five times (or 30 times) before it's done, I don't think these writers are doing this with their headlines. They write the headline, play with the article a lot - meanwhile the original intent changes along the way - but then never go back to evaluate the headline. So there's a huge disconnect between the headline and the article.
What can you do to stop this problem? When you are done with the article, ask yourself if the headline is still relevant to the article. Oftentimes it is not.
That's why I recommend you write the headline last. And if you HAVE to write the headline first (and some of us do), brainstorm 10 or more headlines and put them off to the side. Decide on a headline when your article is done.
Here are a few samples of great, attention grabbing headlines.
"Have you got these symptoms of (degenerative disks or deviated septum)"
"When doctors are in pain, this is what they do"
"Health secrets that drug companies don't want you to know about"
"5 Ways to get rid of pain”
If you use a headline like this, be sure to answer the question or address the issue you bring up right away in your article. When I say right away I mean in the first or second sentence. This is important because if you don't address the claim you are making (which is big enough to grab the reader’s attention) you will lose both the readers interest and your credibility.
My last tip on headlines...
Tests show that headlines within quotes, like I showed you above, increase response by 25%. I can't tell you where I read that, but I did. The best way to know if this is true for you is to test this for yourself.
About the author
Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, "5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits" at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.
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