Copywriting basics headlines: sell them the benefits

Copywriting basics headlines-they are so important.I believe 50%-60% of the value of an ad is in the headline.These days people are bombard with information.You only have a few seconds to make an impression.

So the sole purpose of your headline, particularly in Google Ads, is to get attention and interrupt the reader in whatever he is doing at that moment.

With Google ads you don't get that many characters to work with,so you better get attention if you want the click.

Human being have two simple desires,to move towards that they desire and away from that they fear.So the headline must show how having the product will make their life better, or prevent it from getting worse.

So what are the words you should include in your headline?Here are some ideas.

1."The secret way to…" Think of the success of the movie "The Secret" the reader thinks " secret? what secret?" That curiosity will make him read the rest of the ad.

2."The mistake that could cost you thousands…" reader thinks "could I be making that mistake?"

3.A phrase with the word "how" in it,as in "How to win friends and influence people."

4."27 ways to lose weight"- this is an example of the attraction of the specific.The more specific you can be the more believable you are.

5.Offer them a guarantee- this will work or you get your money back.

6.Anticipate incredulity- " this works for nearly everybody"… don't say it works for everybody because no on will believe you.

7.Use colloquialism- "everybody is raving about this new shampoo" use these and they make the ad sound less formal.

8.Make sure you use the words " you,yours,or yourself " in the headline-everybody thinks about themselves first.

9.Don' be afraid to use a negative- "are you worried about the collapse of the stock market?"

10.Write the headline as if it is a news lead line " announcing the launch of a new range of laptop computers"- this works well because people are always interested in something new.

11."What you would have saved if you bought this product six months ago." an example of a back track-pointing to what the reader has missed out on by not having the product.

12.Use what, where,who,who else,when & why.These are words that make the ad promise to tell the reader what he wants to hear about your product.For example"why this man made $10000 in one day and you can too.."

13.Inject urgency into the ad by setting a deadline " get this now before it's too late"

So when you sit down to write your ad be always in your customer's mind-what are his aspirations and what are his fears and then offer a solution.

Next we move onto the ad's first paragraph

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