Headlines and Subject Lines

Headlines and Subject Lines

“We all need to attract our audience into our content. We might call this session 'hooky headlines' as we attempt to cut through the noise and entice our audience into our messages and stories.”

Examples of Headlines

Email subject line

Advertising strap-lines

Brand statements

Blog titles

Social memes

et al

The Purpose of a Headline

To encourage a reader to pause for just long enough to gain their attention and entice them into an action: open post, click through, read further…

The Power of a Headline

Effective headlines must appeal to the head, the heart and the search engine

Satori Method of Headline Building

Step 1 - Identify the Pain, the Outcome, the Solution

Step 2 - Copy what others are doing for your persona

Step 3 - Call out your persona “Top Content Tips for Busy Marketers”

Step 4 - Use odd numbers “73% more….”

Step 5 - Promote Time, Money or Effort saving

Step 6 - Key words, “Tips, Tricks, Secret, Insider…”

Step 7 - Power words, “Free, Hurry, Effortless, Latest…”

Secret Headline Tip

“Including a single hyphen or colon in the headline increases click-through rate by 9%” Content Marketing Institute

What Do The Headline Pros Say?

http://wix.com/blog

Benefit from a title generator 

Know your target audience 

Be informative

Keep it simple

Implement keywords

Add interesting adjectives

Use the active voice

Make a specific promise

Provide accuracy 

Align it with your content

Inspire curiosity

Incorporate numbers 

Create urgency

Write diverse variations

Test it out

What Do The Headline Pros Say?

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/headline-writing-tips

Include Numbers

“Social Media Marketing Mistakes” becomes “9 Social Media Marketing Mistakes”

Add an Adjective

“Formulae to Write a Catchy Headline” becomes “Simple Formulae to Write a Catchy Headline”

Call to Action

“Formulae to Write a Catchy Headline” becomes “Try This Formula to Quickly Write a Catchy Headline”

What Do The Headline Pros Say?

https://mailchimp.com/en-gb/help/best-practices-for-email-subject-lines/

Be Descriptive not trendy and include a Call to Action

Keep it Short and no more than 9 words or 60 characters

Limit Punctuation to no more than 3 marks per headline to avoid spam filters

A/B Test your headlines

Emojis or Not?

“Use no more than 1 emoji at a time” 

http://mailchimp.com

Top Headline Tip

http://sproutsocial.com

“Answer the question of “Why bother?” or “So what?” with a compelling title that stops readers in their tracks. Remember: your audience's time is valuable. Your headlines should promise a payoff in exchange for their click or tap-through.” 

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