Have you ever seen headlines like these?
Psychics Predict World Didn't End Yesterday. Soap and Water Still Cleans Well. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says. Astronaut Takes Blame For Gas in Spacecraft. New Housing For Elderly Not Yet Dead. Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half. Kids Make Nutritious Snacks. Two Sisters Reunited After 18 Years in Checkout Counter. Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim. If Strike Isn't settled quickly, it may last a while.
These actual headlines from newspapers around the United States prove that headlines really do make a difference (and can make you look like a fool if you're not careful...) Here's why . . .
As one of my favorite marketers, Dan Kennedy, frequently says, "the objective of a healine is to get people to read the first sentence. The objective of the first sentence is to get them to read the second sentence..." And you can imagine how he progresses from there.
Good headlines interrupt the train of thought for a moment to draw readers into the story. Good headlines can also:
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- Promise answers, or solutions
- Be laden with benefits for the reader
- Have an emotional appeal
- Reveal secret information.
Think back to the O.J. Simpson case. Every newspaper fought for the best information. Some sensationalized their headlines to show they had newly exposed information that others didn't. For those caught up in the drama of the case, these made all the difference.
Spend some time with two of the master headline writers in the world - the front page editors of Cosmopolitan and National Enquirer. Nobody can argue that they don't do a good job of pulling people into their editorial just through the words they run on the front cover.
One last word of advice . . . Have someone read your release before you actually release it, or you might find your headline saying something stupid like this:
Lack of Brains Hinders Research --The Columbus Dispatch
For dozens of more tips on how to create killer headlines for your press releases and articles, check out our
Special Report #39: Tips for Writing Eye Catching Headlines for Your News Releases and Articles
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