I’ve seen it over and over again. Marketers who have fancy graphics on their website, a great product, and tons of credibility behind them.
Yet when you go to their website, the headline fails to grab people by the lapels and force them to keep reading!
Here are 3 common headline mistakes that could severely reduce response. I could practically guarantee if you keep from committing these mistakes the next time you write a headline, then you’ll be ahead of 95% of your competition.
1) Not including your Unique Selling Point.
Marketers go through months and years trying to figure out their unique selling point. This is what makes them stand out from their competition and convinces people to buy.
Yet when they create their web presence, their USP is buried in the “Contact Me” page or elsewhere in the site.
You need to make sure your unique selling point is in your headline. It’s a waste to go through all that effort to develop an USP and have it somewhere deep in your website where you’d need a magnifying glass to find it. You would be missing out reeling in tons of potential customers who would be attracted to your USP…and buy from you.
A good test to see if your headline is unique enough is to imagine placing your headline on another site in your niche. Would it still make sense?
If so, then your headline needs to be rewritten until it is specific enough to convey what makes you unique in your market.
2)Not having a specific in the headline.
Having a specific number in your headline can boost your response.
For example, if you have a product that can lengthen your golf drives and has been shown to shave 10 strokes off the average players game, you’ll want to put that specific number if your headline.
You see, “Amazing Secret Golf Swing Could Shave 10 Strokes from Your Game!” is more compelling than “Amazing Secret Golf Swing Could Shave Strokes from Your Game!” because of the specific number. Specifics get people’s attention, and it would be beneficial to you to put a specific in your next headline whether it’s a dollar amount, number of days in a guarantee, or a percentage.
3) Not giving the reader the “Big Promise”.
The Big Promise is the “big benefit” the product is going to give the customer.
In my golf example above, the Big Promise to the golfer is they could lower their golf score by 10 strokes if they purchase your product. Any golfer would be interested in discovering how to do this; hence, they’ll want to read on.
This may seem obvious, but due to lack of research or an interesting attempt to get “clever” or “cute”, some marketers totally miss the boat on this when they create their headlines.
Your customer’s attention span online is very small in this over-advertised online world and you have only seconds to grab their attention. And the best way is to ensure you convey the Big Promise of your product/service clearly and irresistibly in your headline.
So keep these potential mistakes in mind the next time you’re writing a headline because not committing them could lead to more sales for you!
Live, Love, and Laugh!