Five strategies for creating compelling headlines
Here’s the number one reason why people won’t read your content
If you haven’t created a good headline, then your content is doomed! Good headlines are the main reason why people click through to read more. If you don’t have an interesting headline, potential readers will get no further.
This applies equally to blogs, social media posts, video content, white papers and much, much more. Good headline writing is an essential skill.
Here are five strategies for writing compelling headlines
Use Why or How
Tell a reader why they should do something, why something happens or how to do something. This is a simple way to make your headline much more compelling. For example:
Why your new employee may be bad for your company
This one also employs the fourth strategy
Use an interesting statistic
This is often a powerful way to make a point, particularly if the statistic appears scary or controversial. For example:
Most printing companies are on track to lose 15-20% of their customers in the next 12 months
That sounds scary! Don’t you want to find out more?
Use a phrase that no-one has heard of
Using unknown terms generate curiosity. If you are creating content about a subject that is of interest to someone, they are going to want to find out about this phrase or process that is new to them. For instance:
Why the CAR process is essential when quoting a prospect
What is the CAR process? Should estimators and sales people know about it?
Generate controversy
Challenge traditional views. Make statements that sound crazy! This generates debate gets people talking. Just be sure you can back up your claim. For example:
The printing industry wastes too much time on colour
Correct colour is the holy grail of print. This blog certainly generated a lot of debate on social media!
Use an unusual comparison
Put two things together that are not normally associated and you generate curiosity. For instance:
6 lessons about selling print learned from a visit to the pub
You don’t normally associate printing presses and pubs but pubs are certainly close to the hearts of many in the print industry!
Ask others what they think of your headline
Would they click through? It’s a powerful indicator of whether your blog will generate readers or not.
By the way, if you want to create more readable content check out my blog on 5 ways to make your content more readable.
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I write white papers, blogs, case studies and social media posts. I also read and review content and teach people how to write content. Contact me to find out more.