The 3 Biggest Headline Blunders And How To Easily Avoid Making These Costly Mistakes!

Copyright © by Robert D. Boduch
behappy@total.net

The next time you read a newspaper or browse through a magazine, carefully observe what it is that “grabs” your focus. Pay particular attention to the articles and advertisements that command more of your time by drawing you in.

You’ll probably notice that certain headlines pull you inside with a gravity-like force, while others send you scurrying in the opposite direction. Some headlines have an almost irresistible appeal – others have none at all.

If you want to create headlines that attract the attention and interest of more prospects and customers, be sure to avoid making the following mistakes.

Headline Mistake #1: Using a company name as a headline.

This one really pushes me over the edge, so it’s a great place to start.

Company names as headlines are far too common. You can see evidence of it everywhere. Take any daily or community newspaper and I guarantee you’ll find proof of this glaring error more than once.

Flip through any Yellow Pages directory -- from any city -- and the evidence is even more obvious. In fact, on almost every page of a typical Yellow Pages directory, you’ll find display ads that begin with a company name and logo. Big mistake!

Web sites aren’t immune to the problem either. Many companies, for reasons unknown, use their name and/or logo, at the top of their index page as though it were a powerful headline designed to woo prospects inside. In effect, what these businesses are doing is wasting their most valuable marketing space on a “me-centered” statement. Such a strategy can never be as effective -- or as profitable -- as even the most simple benefit-oriented headline!

The appeal of benefits is universal, as it suggests some kind of helpful advantage to a particular niche of prospects.

Headlines that speak directly to prospects about something they’re interested in -- a benefit they want to enjoy, or a problem they’d like to solve -- is the kind of headline that attracts huge numbers of interested prospects.

What does a name or company logo do for a prospect? Absolutely nothing! The only exception would be a name that delivers some semblance of a benefit like “Jiffy Lube” or “Half-Price Books”.

See, most business names look and sound great -- to those who originated them. We all like to hear our own names, or see them in print. But the price of a little ego-gratification is extremely costly to any business choosing this path in its’ marketing communications.

Your prospects want to know what you can do for them. Convey this key information right up front in your headline in the most alluring way possible. This kind of opening beats the name and logo approach 100% of the time!