Compelling Headlines: The 2 Ways to Get Audience Attention
Episode 22 of Landscape Digital Show reveals the simple 2 part framework for writing compelling headlines that get the attention of your audience.
After literally thousands of blog posts, hundreds of podcasts, and who knows how many social media posts, I can honestly say that writing compelling headlines is getting easier.
But it’s never easy.
If you write a lot of headlines and study your analytics you will learn what gets the attention of your audience. It gets easier with experience.
In my opinion, you there are only two types of headlines. You may disagree, but go with me on this and you’ll have a simple framework for creating more headlines that work.
The Two Headline Types
#1. A promise to solve a problem
Headlines that educate and inform promise to solve a problem. That may not be what they call it, but that’s what it is.
This may be keeping up with the neighbors, impressing a date, getting out of trouble, or satisfying a desire. These are the problems that companies exist to solve.
Educational headlines offer tips and advice. You probably know these them best as “how–to” headlines. And for greater impact, the tips and advice are often numbered.
These are some of the most successful headlines because that is the most common type of search query.
#2. A promise to inspire or entertain
Some people may not yet be ready for a solution. Instead, they are looking for some guidance or inspiration. And that inspiration may be entertaining too.
Headlines that promise to inspire usually may also offer practical advice, but their true purpose is to bait people to click and discover something interesting.
Show Notes
In this episode, we examined the following headlines in detail.
- LinkedIn Publishing: Build Influence and Grow Your Network
- Subscription Relationships: How Wildly Successful Companies Do It
- How to Discover and Perfect Your Brand Story
We discussed:
- The headline formats
- Why keywords were included or excluded
- The rationale behind ordering okeywords
- Why ‘How-to’ was used or not used
- The purpose of titles and subtitles
- The magical power or words like ‘discover’
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Call to Action
How would you like to be a guest for an upcoming webinar?
I’m looking for volunteers that are willing to have their website content (and any other marketing materials) critiqued. Some people call this a hot-seat, but the intent is to help you and your peers by taking a critical look at real industry examples.
This is all free coaching and consulting BTW.
You’ll get honest feedback and your questions answered. Your peers in the audience will gain a lot of insights. I promise it will be fun too.
If you are interested fill out the Contact form at www.landscapedigitalinstitute.com and we’ll take it from there.