While headlines aren’t an exact science and we always suggest A/B testing them, especially when sending emails, here are a few tips and tricks to get your creative juices flowing and help spark new ideas on that catchy and click-worthy headline.
1. Shock with Stats
Numbers and stats are a great way to get people to open an email. Provide a staggering or shocking statistic about what’s inside your email or something contrary to what people believe. Plus, numbers and stats immediately build your credibility or give readers a heads up as to how many points/how much time they’ll need to invest in reading your article or email.
2. Include Primary Keywords
This tip might seem obvious, but adding your primary keywords to your article/blog can help in SEO, and is surprisingly overlooked by many brands.
3. Provide a Solution
People reading articles/blogs and opening emails usually are in need of something. So, provide your readers/followers with a reason they need to read further or open that email with a headline. It’s one of the reasons “how-to” content works so well. Followers are looking for a solution to the current problem they have.
4. Generate Curiosity
Aren’t you more likely to open an article or read an email if you’re curious about what it has to offer? So, why wouldn’t your followers? The best ways we find to generate curiosity are by asking a question, creating a cliffhanger, or making a controversial statement.
5. Use Action or Emotion-Evoking Words
Some examples of such action words include “learn,” “make,” “create,” “execute,” etc. You can always add some more drama by adding superlatives like “best” or “worst” and by using words like “always” and “never.”
For example, read the two headlines below:
X Ways to Write Good Headlines
Learn the X Secrets to Writing the Best Headlines Ever!
Which one attracts you more?
6. Keep it Short
Don’t get too wordy with your headline. People are likely to read the first few words before determining whether to open or continue reading. Taking too long to get to the bite can detract from your headline. Also, many sites, social posts, and emails limit the number of characters shown in the preview, so you’ll need to keep your headline short, sweet, and to the point.
7. Keep it Simple
Just like keeping it short, keep your headlines simple. Getting crazy with emojis, puns, and witty statements can sometimes detract from your main call-to-action which is getting that click-through.
8. A/B Test
We said this earlier in our blog that A/B testing, especially with emails and ads let’s you gather information and make better informed decisions about which headline is performing better. Use this strategy to gain insight into your followers' interests and solution needs.
9. Research Your Competition
Subscribe to your competition’s emails or take time to dig around their website and see what they’re doing. Have they already written a blog that you were about to write? How is it performing and how can you leverage your headline to perform better?
10. Leverage FOMO
The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a real thing. Use it to your advantage, especially with younger generations. Have your headline create a need for your followers to have to read or open the email to be “in the know.”
11. Use Tools
Headline analyzers and SEO research tools are always a great place to start when narrowing down which headline to use. You can easily see analytics and reasoning for why one copy works over another. It takes the guesswork out of the formula.
12. Build Your Experiences
Creating a headline from a personal experience, not only gives you that humanized touch, but it provides some credibility for the information you’re about to share with followers.
Ready to rock at creating that headline? Great! And, if you ever need a little extra help converting followers, just connect with us. We can work on digging into your SEO, creating blog content, or redesigning pages to get the best bang for your buck.
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