| |
| |
|
Copywriting Information |
|
|
|
Sales Headline Copywriting - Two Quick Steps to Success
Get a Good Start for Sales Success The headline to a sales letter is like the doorway to a store. The purpose of both is to draw people in. To get people in the store, a doorway has to be both attractive and inviting. To get people to read the letter, the headline has to both make the prospect take notice and make them want to know more. When you write a headline to sell something, make sure it does these two things: 1. Gets attention 2. Arouses curiosity How to Get the Prospect's Attention If you're out in the street and you want to get someone's attention, it's easy enough. Just yell at them, "Hey, YOU!" They'll turn and look at you to see what you want. A lot of headline writers think they can do the same thing in print. The sprinkle "you" and "your" and "you'll" around and figure that's all it takes. It's not that easy. What gets attention is something that truly interests the prospect - it solves a problem for them or meets a compelling need. For example, if you're addressing someone who wants to get rich quick and easy, a headline like this could work "You'll Make Millions Selling Our Christmas Cards Part-time." Now this headline has some problems that we'll address in a minute, but at least it would get attention if the prospect were interested in making millions. Remember though: Interest - like beauty - is in the eye of the beholder. If you were sending a sales letter to monks and nuns, an appeal to their greed probably would not get attention. That's why it's so important to know your prospect. One way to do that is to research your product. Often asking what the purpose of the product is will give you insight into the prospect's thinking. That's because the product's designers were trying to solve a problem or meet a need. Golf clubs designed with gigantic titanium heads appeal to golfers who want a tool to help them hit the ball farther. They could probably do better by spending the money on lessons but they want what they want the easy way. The headline can get their attention by acknowledging what they want: "With Our Big Pig Titanium Driver, You'll Hit The Ball At Least Fifty Yards Farther - Without Changing A Thing About Your Present Swing." This headline will get attention because it appeals to the prospects interest. But it shares a problem with the earlier headline. Maybe you already know what it is. The Missing Element - Curiosity The problem with both our headlines is that they don't arouse curiosity. In the first case, we're told how we can make the millions - by selling Christmas Cards for the company. There's no mystery. In fact, if I've had any experience selling Cards in the past, I'm liable to trash the letter because experience says it's not a good idea. Your sales letter will never get a chance to weave its magic spell. The same problem exists with the second headline. We're familiar with the Big Pig Titanium Driver. We actually had a friend that bought one and it didn't help him increase the distance of his drives at all. Again, rejected before we have time to make our pitch. How To Arouse Curiosity You arouse curiosity by hiding, obscuring, veiling, hinting but never revealing. Let's change the first headline to read: "Make Millions With A Joyful Product Everybody Needs - And LOVES!" Now we're going to want to read the letter to find out what the joyful product is. Our curiosity has been aroused. And our second headline could be changed to: "Hit The Ball Fifty, Even One Hundred Yards Farther - Without Changing Your Swing!" Wow, lousy golfer that I am, I'm going to read the letter and find out how I can do this! The important of arousing curiosity is the main reason for the old copywriter's adage: Never Mention the Brand in a Headline. Just Two Quick Steps to Headline Success If you'll just apply these two simple steps, you'll be able to write great headlines. They'll get the prospect's attention and they'll pique his curiosity and make him want to read more. That's the whole point of the headline - to make them want to read more. Ronald A Murphy is a Copywriter and Graphic Designer specializing in Direct Response, Internet and Multichannel Marketing. Murphy writes and designs sales letters, direct mail packages, inserts, web sales pages, direct email, newsletters for marketing, Internet articles, white papers, and other sales focused materials. He provides expertise to clients serving financial, business, technology, health, opportunity and fundraising markets. For more information on copywriting and marketing, visit his site at http://RAMurphy.com. At the site, you can subscribe to this newsletter, R A Murphy's Copywriting and Design Tips. Murphy also writes a Blog at http://RonaldAMurphy.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Copywriting - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Hooks, Lines & Sinkers Hands up if the title to this article made you think that you'd strayed into a fishing feature?Perhaps you didn't quite go that far, but hopefully you were puzzled or curious enough to wonder what on earth those three angling associated words have to do with writing. The answer of course is nothing at all if you are thinking of metal barbs, yards of tangled nylon and blobs of lead weights. Promote Your Business and Get Paid for Doing It! How can you gain credibility and exposure for you and your business, reach a motivated audience, develop a far-flung network, hone your presentation skills -- and get paid to do it?Many writers, artists, speakers and entrepreneurs have found an answer: they teach classes in adult education programs.Adult education is big business. Super Verbs Really Move Your Copy Run or hustle? Eat or devour? Move or scurry? You can boost the power of your copy by boosting the quality of verbs you use. Verbs show action, and the way you describe that action can have a dramatic bearing on your readers. Freelance Copywriters on the Internet: How to Tell the Difference Between Heaven-sent and Hack If you're hunting for a good freelance copywriter and have never done it before, or if you have but find yourself needing another for the first time in a while, I don't envy you. This "brave new" e-world has turned your once straightforward search of a neatly stacked file of brochures and introductory letters into a bothersome wade through a mucky world of half-baked online listings and search results which only seem to list those freelance copywriters who are experts in SEO, or at least know what the heck it means (search engine optimization). Who is Your Customer? When you want to sell something?anything? you need to first know who is going to buy it. Why? Because your ad copy has to be written to that person. Writing Great Website Sales Copy Many small businesses fail because their owners don't pay enough attention to marketing and sales. Part of the effectiveness of a marketing effort is directly related to the sales copy you produce. No-Holds-Barred Conversation with Dan Lok - Part 1 Question: If you were starting out and had no references or a substantial resume, how would you go about finding paying customers for your services?To answer your question, I'll assume you're a junior copywriter or marketing consultant.When I first started out and didn't know a soul, I'd open the yellow pages and cold-call the business owners. How You Can Become A Freelance Business Plan Writer As with any business, becoming a freelance business plan writer can be a challenge. The first challenges involve factors such as cash flow, getting clients, and maintaining some sort of order. When Panic Attacks Writers If you write for a living, you deal with deadlines. Sometimes you will have several jobs on your plate at the same time. 3 Ways to Increase Conversion Rates In a previous article I talked about a few similarities between writing direct mail packages and writing web sites. In short, I concluded that as online writers we could learn a lot from direct marketers. How To Really Connect With Your Customer In Your Copywriting One of the least talked-about areas in copywriting education is voice. This is probably because it's tough to set general rules for something that's so personal to each of us. How to Write Ad Copy that Sells When I write copy for my advertising clients, I always check to make sure the three key elements are in place. 1. 10 Things You Should Expect From Your IT Copywriter Anyone who's ever tried marketing IT products or services knows that it's a specialist field. Your customers in the IT industry have very unique and specific requirements, and that means you do too. Art Of Writing Profitable Classified Ads The art of writing profitable classified adsEverybody wants to make money. In fact most people would like to hit upon something that makes them instantly rich! And seemingly, one of the easiest to the fulfillment of these dreams of wealth is mail order or within the profession of the business, direct mail selling. The Power of Saying You Can If you have children, you will doubtless remember saying to them, "You can do it."It's what we say when our toddlers first struggle to their feet. Calls-To-Action: Making Them Fit Makes All the Difference It was going so well, so what happened? Many copywriters get off to a wonderful start: The headline is compelling, the body copy is benefit-filled, but then comes the call-to-action and the whole thing falls apart. Why? It could be a dozen different reasons, but one of the most common I've seen is that the call-to-action doesn't fit the target audience. Common Mistakes That Can Kill Your Web Copy Sometimes learning what not to do is as important as learning what to do. Copywriting is no exception. Top 7 Things To Do Before You Hire A Copywriter Now that you've decided to hire a copywriter, how do you go about finding one? Here are seven things to look for to make sure the match is a good one.#1 - Define your expectations. Writing for People and Search Engines Writing for the search engines is much different than writing in any other medium. Search engines are finicky, but they love text, so you're talking their language. Some Copy Tips From An Old Hand I have been in the ad game for a long, long time. I have trained hundreds of writers, and I've been responsible for moving of millions £ & $ in product worldwide.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
