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Get Their Attention
© 2002
by Bob Osgoodby
Studies show that you have less than five seconds to get
the attention of a reader. Think about your daily newspaper.
Most people scan the paper. If the headline gets their
attention, they will probably read the rest of the article.
If it doesn't, they probably skip over that story, and
continue scanning until they see something of interest.
The first thing that should be seen is your headline. If you
look at your Newspaper, the headlines are usually short, in
a larger type, bold print, and give a good idea as to what
the article is all about.
The same holds true when writing an advertisement. If your
headline is weak, your ad probably won't get read. Your
headline can make or break your ad campaign.
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Probably the most difficult copy to write is for a
classified ad. You only have four or five lines to get your
message across including your headline. If you can put your
headline in bold print, that will make it stand out. If you
can't, consider adding special characters such as - ## your
headline ##. We are
conditioned to read letters and numbers, but not special
characters. This will help your headline to stand out.
Another trick is to use white space. A headline that is cantered
on the first line of the ad is more noticeable than one that
is buried in the rest of the text. If your headline is short
(3 or 4 words) consider using ALL CAPS. Notice I said -
consider.
Never put your entire ad in all caps as we are not
conditioned to read something written that way. Also, many
people take offence to something written in all caps. That
is considered as SHOUTING, at least on the Internet.
So how do you develop an effective headline?
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First - write your ad. Make it as long as you
want, and make sure you get all of your ideas included.
Then, without mercy, cut it to about 5 lines of 65
characters per line. "But", you might say, "I
can't get all of my points across in something that
short". Face it - you are not trying to sell your
entire program with this one ad. You are however, trying to
get someone's attention. If they respond, you can send them
all the follow-up information necessary.
After you have your ad written, then try to develop
some catchy headlines. Keep them short and try to grab your
readers attention. After you have written a few - test,
retest and test again. If your ad is in a place that is
normally read by your target market, such as an E-zine or
Newsletter, you should be able to determine which ads are
pulling. You should concentrate this initial advertising in
one or two well known publications, so as to keep your costs
to a minimum while you are experimenting.
When you find an ad that is working, then you can expand
your ad program. In the advertising programs we offer, we
see many people competing for the same customer base, with
the same product. Good headlines can increase the responses
you receive.
Great headlines can ensure that you are getting business
while others who are running basically the same ad copy, but
with a "blah" headline don't.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Did you know that subscribers to Bob Osgoodby's Free Ezine
the "Tip of the Day" get a Free Ad for their
Business at his Web Site? Great Business and Computer Tips -
Monday thru Friday. Instructions on how to place your ad are
in the Newsletter.
Subscribe at: http://adv-marketing.com/business/subscribe2.htm
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