Writing Effective Headlines for Ads

An old but gold resource I compiled for writing persuasive ad headlines:

1. Numbers

Several research studies have shown that headlines with numbers tend to generate 73% more social shares and engagement.

2. Colons

Including a hyphen or colon in the headline increases the click-through rate by 9%.

3. Number of Words In Title

A title with eight words performed best. These titles received a 21% higher click-through rate than average.

4. Use Emotionally Charged Words

• Amazing
• Audacity
• Backbone
• Belief
• Breathtaking
• Conquer
• Courage
• Daring
• Eye-opening
• Happy
• Hero
• Triumph
• Uplifting
• Spirit
• Stunning
• Sensational
• Spectacular

5. Use adjectives

• Fun
• Painstaking
• Free
• Strange
• Incredible
• Effortless
• Absolute
• Essential

6. Questions

Titles that ended with a question mark had a higher click-through rate than those that ended with exclamation marks or periods.

7. Urgency

Unless you infuse your headline with urgency, your readers are likely to put off reading your content or will possibly bookmark it and never come back to it again. The purpose is to get readers to click your headline now.

8. Benefits

Not only do benefit-driven headlines get more clicks, they also get readers to buy. In one A/B test of landing pages by Ion Interactive, the headline that explained the benefits increased conversion rates by 28%.

9.Rationale for Clicking

To avoid wasting time on content, give people a strong reason why they should click, read and share your content. Some of the rationales that you can include in headlines are:

• Tips
• Reasons
• Lessons
• Tricks
• Ideas
• Ways
• Principles
• Facts
• Secrets
• Strategies

10. Headline Formulas and Templates

10.1 Orbit’s Formula

Target Keyphrase + Colon + Number or Trigger Word + Promise

10.2 Templates

• Here is a Method That is Helping [world class example]
• [blank] Hacking With [world class example]
• Savvy/Smart/Sexy People Do XYZ
• Why I [blank] (And Maybe You Should Too)
• [Do something] like [world-class example]
• The [desired result] That [world class example] Is Talking About
• Join [impressive number] of Your Peers that [take desired action]
• [desired result] Like A [desired group or person]
• How [impressive number] Got [desired result] in [time period]
• Like [world class example] You Can [desired result]
• [world class example] Reveals Ways To [desired result]
• Why [impressive number] of People are [taking desired action]
• A Simple Way To [desired result] That Works For [desired group/person] • How to [desired result] Like [world class example]

10.3 Beginning Words Ideas

• Begin Your Headline with the Word “How”
• Begin Your Headline With the Word “Why”
• Begin Your Headline with the Word “Which”
• Begin Your Headline with the Words “Who Else”
• Begin Your Headline with the Word “Wanted”
• Begin Your Headline with the Word “This”
• Begin Your Headline with the Word “Because”
• Begin Your Headline with the Word “Introducing”
• Begin Your Headline with the Word “Announcing”
• Use Words that Have an Announcement Quality (Finally, Presenting, Just Released) • Begin Your Headline With the Word “New”
• Begin Your Headline With the Word “Now”
• Begin Your Headlines With the Words “At Last”
• Begin Your Headline with the Word “If”
• Begin Your Headline with the Word “Advice”

10.4 Benefits Focussed Headline Ideas

• Use a Testimonial Headline
• Offer the Reader a Test (Can Your Kitchen Pass the Guest Test?)
• Offer Information in Value
• Tell a Story
• Warn the Reader to Delay Buying
• Let the Advertiser Speak Directly to the Reader (Write the entire ad in the first person and speak directly to the reader)
• Address Your Headline to Specific Person or Group (address your target market)
• Have Your Headline Ask a Question
• Offer Benefits Through Facts and Figures
• Begin Your Headlines With the Words “At Last”
• Put a Date Into Your Headline

11. Position in the Buyer’s Funnel

Ideally, tailor the message based on where the customers are in the decision process.

12. News Headlines Ideas

• Use Words that Have an Announcement Quality (Finally, Presenting, Just Released, etc)
• Begin Your Headline With the Word “New”
• Begin Your Headline With the Word “Now”

13. Other Tips

• Get people excited to click on your search listing.
• Write a headline that no one else has.
• Be ultra specific:

14. Combinations

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References

Crestodina, A. (n.d.) How to Write a Headline That Won’t Get Ignored: 7-Point Checklist.

Lofgren, L. (n.d.) The 35 Headline Formulas of John Caples.

Patel, N. (n.d.) The Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Powerful Headlines.

Reeves, K. (2011) 5 Tips to Improve Your Headline Click-through Rate.