“In 1982, Naura Hayden released a book called Astro-Logical Love. Looking at the title, what do you think this book is about? Does it grab you and demand your attention? Is it clear and specific as to what you’ll learn? Well, when they did the first print of 5,000 books, they sold just 2,000 copies. So Hayden sold the rest of her books to discount book stores and flea marketers.

It was there that a New York publisher stumbled across the book, bought it, read it, and thought, ‘This is a great book about how to seduce women. He called Naura Hayden and bought the rights to the book and republished it. He didn’t change one word inside the book. Exact same book… The product was the same. But he changed the title to this: How to Satisfy a Woman Every Time… and Have Her Beg for More! Well, the result was 2.3 million books sales in the first 18 months!” – Source: Sabri Suby, Sell Like Crazy.

“Writing headlines is a specialty – there are outstanding writers who will tell you they couldn’t write a headline to save their lives”. Bill Walsh

Well, now, you see how crucial headlines are in marketing.

Advertisers often focus on the visual creative—the video or the image, and the ad copy. Well, all these are very very important. But, there is, perhaps, the most important element — the headline.

Here are some timeless and throat-grabbing formulas you should adopt in your marketing now.

Formula 1
X ways to achieve [Desirable Thing] without doing [Undesirable Thing]
Example:
6 Ways to Keep Your Phone Screen Safe Without Taking it to a Repairer.

Formula 2
[Do Difficult Thing] in [Specific Period of Time] Even if [Shortcomings]
Example:
Pay Off Your Car Loan in 3 Years Even if You Have a Modest Income

Formula 3
Achieve [Desirable Thing] like [An Expert] Even Without [Something
Expected]
Example:
Driving School Training Masterclass Without Ever Sitting in a Classroom.

Formula 4
How to Eliminate [Biggest Problem] without doing [The Thing They Hate]
Within [Specific Timeframe]
Example:
How to Eliminate Belly Fat Without Giving Up on the Foods You Love –
Within 21 Days or Less!

These are all pretty good starting points for your value offer titles. They speak to your prospect’s needs in a clear and concise way.

A users’ decision to take action on your Ad will solely depend on the strength of your headline.

That said, you want it to be memorable, eye-catching, and above all, clear. To help you put together Ad headline that accomplishes all of the above, I have compiled some criteria and tips to guide your efforts.

More Tips to Write Better Headlines

1) Ask a question.

A headline in the form of a question is a great way to grab a Facebook user’s attention and draw them in to get the answer.

In fact, research from social influence about declarative-statement headlines found that headlines in the form of questions received 150% more clicks than statement headlines. Not to mention, these questioning headlines received 175% more clicks if the question included the word “you.”

Moral of the story? If you know what questions your target audience is asking, use those questions to encourage engagement with your Ads. For example, Winners Tech Institute asked a question — “Are you still struggling to start a digital career as a graphic designer?” — that makes their target audience (future brides and grooms) want to know more:

2) Give a command.

University of Texas Visual Communications lecturer Frances Ylana suggests employing commands in headlines when you have a strong verb to use to inspire interest.

When crafting an effective Ad headline, start by communicating the command or action you want people to take upfront. Then, rely on additional Ad elements — image, descriptions, and so on — to paint the rest of the picture. This will help you keep things clear, concise, and actionable, while still being compelling.

3) List a benefit.

Another strong technique for Ad headlines is showing users how the offer benefits them.

If you’ve been reading our blog for some time now, you know that the “always be closing” sales era has given way to “always be helping.” In other words, people don’t want to be sold too aggressively anymore, and according to experts, a headline that clearly states how your offer will benefit the audience is a better way to drive clicks and conversions than listing the features.

Example:

How to Eliminate Belly Fat Without Giving Up on the Foods You Love – Within 21 Days or Less!

4) Inspire curiosity.

Social media platforms and print newspapers alike are full of headlines that make you want to learn more, and these headlines take advantage of the curiosity gap. This concept refers to the gap between “what we know and what we don’t know.”

When we are exposed to a gap in our knowledge, we feel the urge to fill in that gap with new information. Also, curiosity activates the reward-seeking parts of our brain, making it an effective strategy to apply to headlines. Why? Because it’s almost painful for us to learn that there’s something we don’t know until we resolve it by learning new information.

The lesson? Choose a headline that teases the content you’re linking to on your website. This approach can help you inspire curiosity and earn your campaign clicks.

Example:

• Do these 6 Things if you Practice e-Commerce in Cameroon

5) Leverage lists.

People love lists. Listing has exploded into such a popular content medium due to the way our brains work: when we see information, our brains immediately try to process it, and numbers help break up the masses of written content we see every day.

Numbered lists make it easier for us to categorize and draw on differences between data, which ultimately helps us process it more quickly.

Example:

• The 10 Undisputable Elements of the Most Persuasive Copy

• 6 Key Techniques to make people Donate to your Nonprofit Organization, even if you are just starting out