Power Copywriting - the Attention-Grabbing Headline!

Imagine you are stranded on a rocky shoreline - the tide is coming in fast and your only hope is to attract the attention of a low-flying aircraft or a search helicopter.  You have to construct an attention-grabbing message in huge letters on the sand.  What would you write?

Something that would make it absolutely clear what you needed!  Something like "Help! Save Me!" might do the trick.

Would you write a joke, a pun or a clever play on words?   I don't think so!   You have just seconds to catch the attention of a potential rescuer.  Anything that failed to get your message across in the clearest possible way, would be a dreadful waste of that amazing opportunity.

Yet would you believe that this is a mistake made by more than 90 per cent of advertisers, when writing their all-important headline?  Just see for yourself - look through the ads in your newspaper or magazine, or visit a few web sites at random.  The headline may be clever, but it gives no clue as to what the ad is actually about or what it promises.

Just like your stranded victim, you have 5-10 seconds AT MOST to give your visitor a compelling reason why they should continue reading the rest of your copy.  If you fail to do this, YOU'VE LOST THEM!

And what is the promise that is most like to keep them reading?  The anwer is: THE MAJOR BENEFIT YOUR CUSTOMER WILL GET FROM YOUR PRODUCT.

The subject of benefits is a very important one and will be dealt with in the next post.  But meanwhile here is a collection of successful headlines to get you started!
http://www.bizwrite.co.uk/headlineideas.html
And don't forget to come and visit us at Bizwrite to learn more about writing compelling copy.