Who else skim-reads the news, magazines, emails, or blog these days? And, if you do, what do your eyeballs head to first? Yes, it’s the humble headlines (or subject lines in the case of emails)…and the pictures, but let’s save that conversation for another day.
Headlines and subheadings matter – in PR, as well as content marketing. Whether you’re writing a media release, a pitch, a contributed piece, or an email (the list goes on), having a well-written headline is one of the most important steps to ensuring you get the outcomes you want with your content.
Your headline is what journalists, editors and your ideal target audiences use to immediately judge whether your content is worth their time.
Copyblogger says 80 per cent of your audiences will read your headline – but only 20 per cent will read until the end of the article.
Imagine spending hours writing incredibly valuable content, giving the best of your expertise away as a key part of your marketing funnel – only to have no one read it because the headline was completely off track.
So, knowing how to write stellar headlines right on the money is pretty darn important. Here are my five steps to writing stellar headlines.
1) Use your headline to clearly show your content’s purpose
Whether you’re writing a media release, a contributed piece or a content piece for your website or email – make sure your headline directly ties back to your core purpose for the piece. The headline should sum up who it’s for, what they need to know, why should they care – as well as other important facts like your when, where and how.
While it may be tough to sum this all up in a short headline, making sure you include some of these is key. Get clear on what you want your audiences to know, feel and do in relation to the content piece, and use your headline to sum this up.
2) Write how you’d see your headline in your ideal media or content target
Before you start writing, do your research. Google, read, listen to, and consume examples of similar content and the types of headlines they write.
If it’s to pitch a media release or story to your ideal media target or podcast, scan the headlines they craft and have a go at writing your headline in the same way.
If you’re thinking of a great email subject line, scan through your inbox for examples of great subject lines that’s made you click it open, and practice writing similar pieces.
But, make sure your headline’s unique. Media will immediately delete a cookie-cutter approach if they’ve seen the headline before, or it’s easily google-able!
Plus, it’s just plain lazy and poor form to copy!
3) Give it the four “Cs”
Once you’re up to the writing stage, give it the four “Cs” once over – make it clear, clever, ensure it connects to your audience, and is clickable.
By clear I mean keep it straight to the point. Keep it short and active. Include a verb and lose those superfluous words. And don’t over promise – make sure it’s realistic and accurately shares what you’re offering in the content.
You can get clever by including words with some personality, quirk, impact or buzz to get more cut-through.
We used a playful headline for Salt Meats Cheese’s breast cancer awareness month media release: “It’s a pink-tober party at Salt Meats Cheese”, and then went into more detail in the subheading, “Salt Meats Cheese partners with McGrath Foundation for a dedicated Pink Menu” .
Also make sure it connects to your audience and is actually relevant to their needs. In emails, you may write “you” or in media content, including the person or community impacted, like “Brisbane’s north”.
And finally make it “clickable“. Make sure it’s enticing enough to you audiences – so they’re dying to open and read on.
4) Some top performing headline hacks
And because I know you want them, here are some extra smart and stellar hacks for headline copywriting:
Numbers do well. From an SEO perspective, numerals are favoured, but when writing for media, write out your numbers from one to nine, but 10 and over use numerals.
Some key kinds of headlines that work particularly well include “how to”, “tips”, “ways”, “facts”, and “secrets”.
5) Practice makes perfect
And finally, it’s that old saying back again – just start and you will get better and better at writing stellar headlines over time.
It also helps to try writing at least six versions of your headline each time. In my case, my best headlines usually come out in the last few and are rarely the first one I write. Then, get someone else to read and choose the best one. And even better, they may pick up on any errors.
So, over to you!
Katie Martel, Founder, Croft PR
