Posted by: Daniel Levis
March 25, 2009
Issue #637

10 Winning Headline Formulas …

Dear Web Business-Builder:

Every winning headline raises a question.

The target market is curious about something. And the headline focuses their attention on it and implies an answer is forthcoming in the running copy.

To come up with a great headline for your next promotion, all you have to do is look at your product and ask yourself: What’s the big who, where, when, what, why, and how of this story?

Brainstorm a bunch of headlines around these questions, and you’re almost certain to find a great hook on which to build your promotion. They’re wonderful little idea starters.

Let’s look at a couple of examples. Say you’re selling something that helps people avoid the flu.

1. The “How To” headline: How to Avoid the Flu this Year, Guaranteed!
2. The “How” headline: How This 57-Year-Old Nurse Works With Coughing, Wheezing, Sneezing People all Day Long and Never gets Sick — Not Even During Flu Season …
3. The “Why” headline: Why Flu Shots Are a Bad Idea for Most People …
4. The “What” headline: What Never to Eat When You Have The Flu …
5. The “Where” headline: Where Flu Germs Cluster And How to Avoid Them …
6. The “Question” headline: Are These Common Flu Medicines Safe for Your Family? TIP: Never ask a yes or no question. Make it impossible to answer the question without reading the copy.
7. The “Numbered” headline: Three Delicious Veggies That Boost Your Immune System and Keep The Flu Bug Away …
8. The “One and Only” headline: The Easiest Way to Stay Flu-Free This Winter …
9. The “Irony” headline: Respected Doctor Says “Leave Your Hat and Mitts at Home and You’ll Never Catch the Flu”
10. The “Who” headline: Who Can You Trust When It Comes to Flu Fighting Vitamins?

Do you see how each one of these headline ideas propels the reader down into the running copy to find an answer to the question posed? And how each one can take your promotion in a totally different direction?

I like to playfully run through all 10 of these little formulas and resist the urge to get committed to any one concept too quickly. Even if I stumble upon something I really like, I keep going. Get married to an idea, and divergent thinking shuts down.

The really cool thing about these formulas is they work for just about anything.

Here’s another example.

Recently here in Canada, the government introduced a new retirement savings vehicle: The Tax Free Savings Account.

So how could an accountant or financial planner tie into this news and use these 10 formulas to come with a great headline for a promotion.

1. The “How To” headline: How to Use Ottawa’s New Tax-Free Savings Accounts to Earn Double-Digit Returns Risk-Free This Year …
2. The “How” headline: How Savvy Investors Will Be Using Ottawa’s New Tax-Free Savings Accounts to Make an Absolute Killing!
3. The “Why” headline: Why Ottawa Hopes You Don’t Use the New Tax-Free Savings Accounts Unveiled in its Latest Budget …
4. The “What” headline: What Ottawa Doesn’t Want You To Know About Its Newly Unveiled Tax-Free Savings Accounts …
5. The “Where” headline: Where Ottawa’s New Tax-Free Savings Accounts Make Sense, and Where They Don’t …
6. The “Question” headline: Why Haven’t Canadians Been Told These Facts about Ottawa’s New Tax-Free Savings Accounts?
7. The “Numbered” headline: Three Innovative Ways to Use Ottawa’s New Tax-Free Savings Accounts to Grow Your Wealth …
8. The “One and Only” headline: The Safest Way to Earn Juicy Double-Digit Returns With Ottawa’s New Tax-Free Savings Accounts …
9. The “Irony” headline: Low Risk Investing Now High Reward — Thanks to Ottawa’s New Tax-Free Savings Accounts …
10. The “Who” headline: “Who Else Wants Double-Digit Real Growth — Risk-Free?”

Now let’s look at some ways to build on these ideas. Once you’ve got your core concept, how can you increase its attention getting power?

One of the best ways is to turn your headline into a sub-head. Brainstorm a much shorter encapsulation of your idea (usually this means using a metaphor) and use that as your main headline. Make it provocative, like this:

For conservative investors:

A Retirement Planning Wet Dream

Low Risk Investing Now High Reward — Thanks to Ottawa’s New Tax-Free Savings Accounts …

Then you might add some bullets to build on the momentum.

Bullets are like mini-headlines. Just apply the 10 formulas to your product again and you’ll come up with some nice little ticklers, like this:

In this report:

• Eight reasons why a tax-free savings account is a better choice for building retirement wealth than an RRSP —  and two specific situations where it isn’t …
• A sneaky way to use these new accounts to slash your tax bill by up to 15% — while creating a systematic plan for covering future health care costs …
• How to use a secret “income-splitting” technique to supercharge your tax-free savings and multiply your purchasing power …
• And more innovative and little known ways to use what promises to be the most significant savings incentive for Canadians since the RRSP!

Read on for the full scoop …

If you’ve been paying attention, you’re noticing that almost everything I’ve written here hinges on two things: Curiosity and self-interest.

If you study all these headlines and bullets you’ll see they all promise a desirable “what,” but they don’t reveal the “how.” The pursuit of “how” is what motivates your reader to keep reading.

What else can you add to the recipe? How about a dash of proof?

Show experts in agreement:

• Eight reasons why Canada’s top tax-planners say a tax-free savings account is a better choice for building retirement wealth than an RRSP —  and two specific situations where it isn’t …

Counter potential objections that may cause your prospect to reject your appeal:

• A sneaky (totally cool with Revenue Canada) way to use these new accounts to slash your tax bill by up to 15% — while creating a systematic plan for covering future health care costs …

Qualify statements to make them more believable:

• How to use a secret “income-splitting” technique (available to nine out of 10 Canadian families) to supercharge your tax-free savings and multiply your purchasing power …

So there you have it, 10 winning headline formulas and idea starters. Now go out there and use them to stir up some trouble.

Until next time, Good Selling!

Daniel Levis
Editor, The Web Marketing Advisor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE

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21 Comments »

1. Comment by Beau Smith — March 25, 2009 @ 11:03 am

   Great as always, Daniel. I particularly like the part about making a shorter headline and using the long headline as a subhead. And then using other headlines as bullets. Beautiful.

   Beau Smith

2. Comment by Omar — March 25, 2009 @ 11:33 am

   Great post Daniel. I always follow what you right with interest… I’ll be using this technique today. I’ll definitely be sure to let you know how it turns out.

   Thanks for sharing that!

3. Comment by Scott — March 25, 2009 @ 11:43 am

   Nifty…people always think my headlines are too long - some good ways in here to use the material but make them shorter.

4. Comment by Tia Dobi — March 25, 2009 @ 11:56 am

   Hi Daniel,

   Do you suggest using these headlines for press releases as well?

   Thank you,
   Tia Dobi, Los Angeles

   http://www.twitter.com/tiadobi

5. Comment by Daniel Levis — March 25, 2009 @ 12:49 pm

   Hi Tia,

   Yes, certainly.

   Daniel

6. Comment by Todd — March 25, 2009 @ 1:00 pm

   You’re Genius - God I love ya!

7. Comment by Rich — March 25, 2009 @ 1:21 pm

   Daniel,

   Another one bites the dust!

   Taking out the competition with bullets…

   More ammuminition for my copywriting cannon!

   Thanks,

   Rich

8. Comment by Glenn — March 25, 2009 @ 1:51 pm

   Hi Daniel,

   This is the # 1 reason why I read TTP everyday. The articles are “dine-0-myte”. Thanks for the ‘meat and taters” you provided. I am sure this material will benefit many new and seasoned copywriters. Talk about “ready, fire, aim”, you provided the ammo to get the keyboards fired-up!

   Thanks,

   Glenn

9. Comment by Ron — March 25, 2009 @ 3:11 pm

   Great post Daniel. I am working on new copy now. This is great timing.

   THANKS A BUNCH

10. Comment by Len — March 25, 2009 @ 3:31 pm

    Thanks for another great article, Daniel!

    Len

11. Comment by Rod Newbound, RN — March 25, 2009 @ 4:30 pm

    Very well done Daniel.

    Thanks.

    I love the way you’ve illustrated this simple formula for headlines. I especially appreciate you revealing the tactic you use to force your mind to consider each type.

12. Comment by Fred Black — March 25, 2009 @ 10:09 pm

    Daniel;
    Printed out your article and rewrote a bunch of headlines that I was less than happy with… we’ll see how they do in a few days!

    Thanks,
    Fred

13. Comment by T.F. Savings — March 26, 2009 @ 2:45 am

    Thanks Daniel for a super informative article as always. Question, would this strategy work for blog posts as well? thanks for laying out the groundwork for upping our game!

14. Comment by Daniel — March 26, 2009 @ 8:53 am

    Hi T.F.,

    Well sure. You see it being used all the time in the TOTAL PACKAGE, don’t you?

    Study some of the titles.

    Cheers!
    Daniel

15. Comment by Corinne — March 26, 2009 @ 11:40 am

    Thanks for a great post Daniel. The information and examples are invaluable.

16. Comment by Solomon — March 26, 2009 @ 12:23 pm

    Hi Daniel,
    This article throws light on headline writing which is very difficult to every copywriter. The examples you mentioned are worth trying. Thanks for the great insights!
    Solomon

17. Comment by Steve Newdell — March 26, 2009 @ 3:23 pm

    Yes, Daniel, I like this. However — what do you do if you’re doing a LOCAL promotion and you DO NOT want to look like a professional promoter? I produced a one page sales letter that attempts to grab attention without a headline. It’s very folksy “I’m just keeping in touch” and then sells and sells some more. I’d like your words about that.

    steveN

18. Comment by Daniel — March 26, 2009 @ 7:25 pm

    I see where you’re coming from Steve, and those kind of pieces can work extremely well, as long as they’re engaging and communcate benefits in a compelling way. You still might try using a headline of some kind. Doesn’t have to be large font. Can be integrated into the look and feel of the piece and still act as a stopper that draws the reader into the body copy.

    For example:

    From: Steve Newdell
    RE: Why Flu Shots Are a Bad Idea for Most People …

    Daniel

19. Comment by Elizabeth Double — March 28, 2009 @ 9:56 am

    With all due respect and with the full knowledge that I may be “vaporized” I have to say that I find the headline A Retirement Planning Wet Dream offensive. The ideas about the types of headlines are good, the idea about using the longer headline as a sub-head is good. Why would you go and ruin it with such an offensive teen aged boy themed headline? Adolescents have nocturnal emmissions. Are adolescents worried about retirement planning? Consider the audience when writing headlines. The headline is labled for conservative investors; Conservative investors are likely to be conservative people offended by references to sex. Try instead something like “Dreams Finally Coming True” Or “Canadians Realizing Dreams”. “Nightmares no Longer”- perhaps not as “provocative” but certainly not offensive.

20. Pingback by Single Step Toward A Journey Of Thousand Blog Posts — Practice This — June 11, 2009 @ 2:52 am

    [...] of the Title that should be both SEO and human friendly. Daniel Levis offers 10 Winning Headline Formulas … [...]

21. Comment by Theraisa K — April 24, 2010 @ 6:14 pm

    I’ve been reading lots of articles on how to write better headlines/titles lately, but most of them just tell you what you can do, but don’t actually SHOW you how to do it or provide examples of what they mean, so thanks for taking the extra step!