Let us create a 3D eBook for you!
Let us create a 3d Digital eBook for you! DigyCat.com

 

Testing Headlines


A correspondent to AdBriefing, my monthly newsletter, has posed a very sticky question. How, she asks, can you tell whether a headline you have written is a good one?or not? What she means by this, I imagine, is whether the headline will actually help to make sales, rather than just act as a passing amusement to its readers.

The latter precept, that a headline should actually try to sell something, is not as universally known as it might be. The vast proportion of headlines actually say nothing whatsoever about the product and the benefits of owning it. And the reason for this is that good, selling headlines are not easy to write. So the majority of so-called copywriters take the easy route and produce something which they think is humorous or eye-catching and hope that this will do the job. That it won't and doesn't can be witnessed day in and day out in press ads, brochures and websites worldwide.

But I digress.

There is sadly no absolute test that a headline will do the job it is paid to do. If there were, we benighted copywriters would be earning ten times what we are earning now, on the grounds that our work would be foolproof. Every headline we conceived would be irresistible; and products would move off shelves like Spring snow off a dyke.

But there is a test - a very good and worthwhile test - that you can apply to any headline you create. I call it the 'So What?' test.

Allow me to give you an example of 'So What?' in action. If you produce a headline that says: Our Widget works twice as fast as any other Widget, and then ask yourself 'So What?', it immediately becomes clear that the line is bereft of a sales proposition. Because there is no obvious benefit to the potential customer.

On the other hand, if you write: Our Widget works twice as fast, so you do the job in half the time, then the 'So What?' has been answered. Your customer can cut his production time by 50%.

Likewise, were you to write: Our Widget is so small, it fits into the palm of your hand, you simply invoke 'So What?'. Which results in: Our Widget fits into the palm of your hand, so it goes wherever you go. In this case, the benefit is portability. You can use it anywhere.

Over the years, I have found the 'So What?' test to be invaluable. You might care to give it a try yourself.

And on the subject of headlines consider this.

When trying to write a headline many people tend to go off half-cocked. They consider the marketing brief, then bash down a headline or two to satisfy it. After that, they write the body copy.

Experience shows, however, that if you write the body copy first, the odds are that there will be the makings of a headline within it struggling to get out.

Body copy is, or should be, a carefully worked and logical encapsulation of the marketing brief. In other words, the whys, the wherefores and the benefits of owning the product or service. It makes sense, then, that if it is properly written, there is a very real chance of finding an embryo headline lurking within it.

Why not give it a whirl? You may be agreeably surprised.

About The Author

Patrick Quinn is an award winning copywriter with 40 years' experience of the advertising business in London, Miami, Dublin and Edinburgh.

He publishes a FREE monthly newsletter, AdBriefing. Subscriptions are available at: http://www.adbriefing.com

j.p@markethillpublishing.co.uk


MORE RESOURCES:

Advertising- Marketing - Google News

Get Noticed Get Found Releases Internet Marketing Book For Small And Solo Law ... - TopWireNews (press release)


Get Noticed Get Found Releases Internet Marketing Book For Small And Solo Law ...
TopWireNews (press release)
“There is so much misinformation out there, our book cuts through the clutter and offers straightforward tips for attorneys who want to better use the Internet as a marketing and sales tool.” According to Get Noticed Get Found, there are more than ...

and more »

“Ann Wood Partners with Internet Marketing Experts Aaron and Sophia Rashkin” - PR Web (press release)


“Ann Wood Partners with Internet Marketing Experts Aaron and Sophia Rashkin”
PR Web (press release)
Ann Wood, marketing consultant, recently teamed up with Aaron and Sophia Rashkin who are well known in internet marketing circles as top producers. This partnership will successfully leverage each of their businesses. After investing tremendous time, ...

Internet marketing class offered - The Union of Grass Valley


Internet marketing class offered
The Union of Grass Valley
An Internet marketing class for beginners on Wednesday will teach you these tools, including how to pick the right keywords for your business and market locally. In the intermediate internet marketing class on Feb. 22, you will learn how to set up an ...

Protect Our Data! A Digital Consumer Bill of Rights - PCWorld


Protect Our Data! A Digital Consumer Bill of Rights
PCWorld
A social network or other Internet company should be required to inform me if it intends to collect, store, and aggregate my data with that of other Netizens to support the company's advertising efforts on or off its network, or for the benefit of ...

and more »

Old Milwaukee's End Run Around Super Bowl Advertising - BusinessWeek


BusinessWeek

Old Milwaukee's End Run Around Super Bowl Advertising
BusinessWeek
The ad has since been viewed 760000 times. By comparison, Budweiser's slickly produced Eternal Optimism Super Bowl spot has been viewed on YouTube some 320000 times. All this means that Old Milwaukee managed to piggyback on the wave of Internet ...

and more »

An Animated Ad With a Plot Line and a Moral - New York Times


New York Times

An Animated Ad With a Plot Line and a Moral
New York Times
Chipotle said that Zeta Interactive, a digital agency that tracks the impact of commercials, rated “Back to the Start” one of the top 10 advertisements in Internet buzz in 2011. It was one of only two ads on the list that did not make its debut during ...

and more »

Internet Patents Corporation Announces Ex-Dividend Date of March 12, 2012 for ... - Marketwire (press release)


Internet Patents Corporation Announces Ex-Dividend Date of March 12, 2012 for ...
Marketwire (press release)
The special distribution follows the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of InsWeb Corporation relating to its insurance lead generation and marketing business by Bankrate, Inc., via a transaction that closed on December 21, 2011.

and more »

Google's Foray Into Hardware Will Be A Total Disaster - Here's Why (GOOG) - San Francisco Chronicle


Google's Foray Into Hardware Will Be A Total Disaster - Here's Why (GOOG)
San Francisco Chronicle
Google is really good at building fast, useful, responsive software that runs at Internet scale, and at hooking up the users of that software with advertisers to make gobs of money. That's a great business. Google utterly dominates it.

and more »

Top Email Marketing Firms 2012 - International Business Times


International Business Times

Top Email Marketing Firms 2012
International Business Times
By Surojit Chatterjee: Subscribe to Surojit Chatterjee's RSS feed Email marketing is one of the oldest tools of Internet marketing and one of the most economically viable methods of increasing sales conversion. However, over the years, ...

and more »

Internet Broadcasting and Exact Drive to Provide Comprehensive Digital ... - Sacramento Bee


Internet Broadcasting and Exact Drive to Provide Comprehensive Digital ...
Sacramento Bee
By Internet Broadcasting WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Internet Broadcasting and Exact Drive announced today an agreement to provide political and issue advocacy campaign advertisers with digital advertising offerings that will combine ...

and more »

Click here for Best Buy In-Store Pickup

StreetSideAuto.com

Looking For Royalty Free Photos for your Website, Business or Advertising?

My Life Through The Lens

YourFree.biz Domain Is For Sale - $5,000 For Enquiries eMail Us

© www.YourFree.biz 2009

home | site map | links

 

eXTReMe Tracker