There’s a somewhat cliché quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln. No idea if he really said it, but let’s pretend:
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Abraham didn’t write many headlines. But if he did, he would have said:
“Give me six hours to come up with an ad and I will spend the first four coming up with the headline.”
Why?
Because the headline makes or breaks your ad. Let me explain:
BRILLIANT SUBHEAD 1
David Ogilvy founded the biggest advertising agency in the world. Man knew how to sell anything. His take on headlines was simple:
On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.
So what David is trying to say is:
If you mess up your headline your chances of selling a prospect are pretty close to zero.
That’s why we want to spend most of our time and thinking power on coming up with a rock-solid message for our headline. And then we’ll drive that message home in the rest of our ad, or article, or script or meme… basically any message to any prospect ever.
Which is why I’m happy to share with you my…
⠀
Ultimate Headline Formula
The good news is that this isn’t like some 3 star Michelin meal which consists of 412 ingredients and requires you to have a full science lab to even attempt the recipe.
It’s simple. Only three ingredients are required to create the ultimate headline for your next ad. But you have to get it exactly right.
Also - it doesn’t matter what you sell, be it services or products or convincing the world that they should pick you as their supreme leader, this stuff works.
(don’t use it to become supreme leader though. I’m gunning for that position.)
Here we go.
Ingredient 1: Right Bait For The Right Critter
Let’s say we gather all the best minds in advertising and marketing. We even bring some of the all time greats back from the dead. There’s a meeting and somehow we get them all to peak brilliance and out rolls the best advertising message for bikinis ever devised by man.
This thing is truly mind bogglingly good. It’s ridiculously good. So powerful it should be illegal. Anyone that has ever wanted to own a bikini would immediately start foaming at the mouth, grabbing their wallet, yelling: Please take my money.
And now we gather 1000 people in a ballroom to present this message to and see how many bikinis we sell.
Just one catch though.
The 1000 people in that ballroom are all biker gang members. Male. Big burly hairy dudes. Some chomping on a cigar. Wearing leather jackets. You get the picture.
You’re going to sell very few bikinis.
Not because your message sucks. Not because the ad isn’t good.
Because the message to market match is horrendous.
First ingredient in every headline and every marketing message: “speak the language of your audience”. Tailor that headline to their wants and desires. To their world.
Don’t sell bikinis to biker dudes.
Ingredient 2: The BBP
If there’s one thing that can punch up your marketing a couple notches, it’s a BBP. Don’t confuse this with a BBL. That’s something else.
(a BBL means Big Beautiful Lizard, everyone knows this)
A BBP is a:
BIG
BALLSY
PROMISE
And if you’re not comfortable promising anything -you should be comfortable promising things to your customers if you sell good stuff, but let’s say you want an alternative- you can also do a Big Ballsy Benefit.
Most advertising is ultra-mega-super boring. Like being on a date with a girl that is ONLY interested in astrology. Nothing else. I’ve been there, trust me, it’s truly dreadful.
You need to break through the clutter and the noise. Bring something awesome. Come up with a big honking BBP.
Here are three examples: <link to other blogpost>
3) Tune In To W.I.I.F.M.
Years ago, while sitting in a conference room in Chicago, a wildly enthusiastic American fellow yelled this question at me:
“WHAT’S THE MOST POPULAR RADIO STATION ON THE PLANET!?”
I don’t listen to radio. So I had no idea. He proudly said:
“IT’S WIIFM”
I didn’t get it. So, even more proud of himself, chest almost bursting from the built up anticipation, he yelled:
“THAT STANDS FOR WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME”
Despite everything… the guy was right.
Whatever you write, make sure it’s about your customer. Because we all care about ourselves. And ain’t nobody got time fo’ caring about your company or your message or whatever you’re trying to sell them.
Focus on THEM. THEIR needs. THEIR wants. THEIR desires. Not you. They don’t care about you. You care about you. It’s normal, it’s human, it’s all good.
So, what to do next?
If you want us to take a look at your ads for free, reach out using our contact form.
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