Secret Formulas for Winning Headlines

January 19, 2010

How to encourage trust by reinforcing relevancy and engagement with strong call to action using winning headlines…

John Mignano

Why take advantages of marketing online strategies?

We all know the importance of a powerful headline, right?

Now, writing a great headline isn’t as easy as it sounds.

However, effective and relevant headlines are key!

A winning news headline is designed to literally call out a target audience or prospective customers to learn more.

A relevant headline will instantly ignite a certain emotion and intrigue them to read on…

In order to write an effective headline, you must use headline images that allow your target audience to engage; how they think and their behavior.

How to use specific words to achieve a specific reaction?

Before writing your headline, you must learn about basic human motivation.

According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, human behavior is always the result of one or more of five basic needs.

Human needs are listed in a sequence that he refers to as “hierarchy of human needs” or (behavior human)

Abraham Maslow believes until a less important need is met there won’t be any desire to pursue a more important need.

Below are the five human motivations, beginning with the basic needs and continuing to the most important needs.

Physiological – Basic human needs include hunger, thirst, shelter, clothing and sex.

Safety (Security and physiological effects) – Human need for physical, emotional and financial security.

Social (Affiliation and physiological effects) – Human need for love, affection, companionship and acceptance.

Esteem (Self Esteem and physiological effects) – Human need for achievement, recognition, attention and respect.

Self-actualization (physiological effects) – Human need to reach their full potential.

When you are aware of the basic human needs, you can target specific thoughts and behavior by including human motivation into your headlines.

A winning headline will appeal to your prospective customers’ emotions.

You must understand their motivations and behavior to feel their needs, wants and desires and write your headlines with this passion and emotion.

When writing your headlines, keep in mind, you only have less than 3 to 5 seconds to grab your prospective customers’ attention.

If your headline doesn’t immediately catch their attention, they’ll simply move on and never return.

Below are several different formulas used by professional copywriters to write compelling headlines:

How to headline…

“How to Increase Your Sales Up to 500% by Using This One Simple Strategy”

Headlines beginning with ‘how to’ are very successful, as the Internet is all about information.

Internet users have a strong desire to learn.

A headline beginning with ‘how to’ immediately grabs your prospective customers’ attention and engages them to read on.

Question headline…

“Are You Sick and Tired of Working For Someone Else?”

Headlines written in the form of a question are very effective, as they appeal to your prospective customers’ emotions.

When they read a headline written as a question, they’ll answer the question in their mind; you’re entering into the conversation inside their mind.

If the question identifies a specific need, want or desire, they’ll read on.

Command headline…

“Double Your Income Within the Next 12 months –Guaranteed!”

A command headline focuses on the most important benefit your product or service has to offer.

It instantly demands your potential customers’ attention and intrigues them to read on.

News headline…

“Announcing a Brand New Breakthrough in E-Publishing”

News headlines are very effective and used to announce new products and services.

Headlines are written in the form of an announcement or introduction and create curiosity.

Testimonials headline…

“Internet Marketing Exclusive is Pure Genius — Our Sales Have Increased by 40%!”

Headlines written in the form of a testimonial are very effective, as they instantly begin building trust.

When writing your headlines, certain words, when combined together, will literally draw your readers’ attention to your ad.

Below are of few of these “Power Words” that consistently work:

Breakthrough
Discover
Discovery
Easy
Free
Guaranteed
Hidden
Incredible
Love
Master
Money
New
Powerful
Profits
Proven
Results
Revealed
Scientific
Secret
Shocked
Shocking
Ultimate
Uncovered
You
Your

According to a Yale University study, the following words are the most powerful words in the English language:

Money
Discovery
Save
Easy
New
Love
Health
Proven
You
Results
Guaranteed
Safety

Just as certain words ignite different emotions, certain subjects have a broader interest than others do.

Some of the most popular subjects include wealth, love, health and safety.

Do your market research and use specific headline formulas according to their needs.

By learning human motivation and human behavior, your headlines will focus on the basic human needs and emotions.

In reality, you can increase your sales and/or conversion rates considerably.

Use a combination of the power words and write a winning headline that encourage trust by reinforcing relevancy and engagement with strong call to action.

Sharing is Caring