Headlines are probably the most important part of your web creative.
It takes a fraction of a minute for a visitor to decide whether they want to read the rest of your copy. The engagement they have with your headline is critical to this unless you are selling something they cannot do without for living and you are the only outlet in the world! (If you have that can I have some too please?)
Your sales pages are your 24/7 face to the World. Like a good host or hostess, those pages must engage and encourage quick credibility with your visitors. The trust will come later.
The back button on web browsers is your biggest enemy and visitors know how to wield that weapon well. Your headline must grab them strongly enough to lead them into any sub headings and then into the first paragraph.
If they get past that point, you have a good chance they will at least skim through the rest of the creative and get to see your offer.
If you have done the rest half way well, you may make a sale, but the starting point is a strong headline.
What elements make for a good strong headline? You can engage with visitors by headlining their “want” for:
1. Saving or making money.
2. Better health.
3. Eliminating and getting rid of problems.
Eliminate Guesswork From Your Marketing Strategy And Convert More Sales With FREE And Simple Split Testing.
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Charles Kangethe - ©2012 www.wealthcreatingprogram.com 4. A quicker way to do things.
5. Secrets and little known ways to do something revealed.
Once you have your headline using these formulaic approaches, play around with the formatting.
Have you ever noticed how newspapers and magazines use headline formatting to encourage you to read the story? Sizes of font, colours, punctuation are all seemingly irrelevant attributes but research has found repeatedly people react to these differently depending on the setting.
For instance, which of the two headlines below strikes you as more powerful?
Get rid of your boss and achieve financial freedom.
“GET RID OF YOUR BOSS, AND ACHIEVE FINACIAL FREEDOM”
Your main headline pulls the reader into the sub headings if any exist. These should be crafted using the same approach as the main headline, and build on the main heading’s story line.
The sub headings pull the reader into the first paragraph.
First Paragraph.
The headings set the tone for credibility. The first paragraph begins to set the tone for trust.
This is where you start to involve emotionally your visitors with your business.
Emotional involvement begins with what is often described as the sizzle.
Successful marketers know that you must sell the sizzle not the steak. You sell the destination not the journey. Sell the dream not the sleep.
To do this, you must get emotional content into your top paragraph as quickly as possible.
Encourage your visitors to engage their imagination and think of “what might be,” using your product or service, rather than launching into the products’ features straight away.
Your copy will have time in later paragraphs to spell out the benefits of your product or service, but at this early stage where you are building rapport with your prospect you must develop early credibility and trust. This comes from emotional contact which makes them feel as though you know them personally and are talking to them and them alone.
Is this difficult?
Of course it is. That is why a good copy writer can charge 100’s of dollars per hour to write a small creative. They know the power of their words and their constructions and even they would be the first to say you should test different copy.
Eliminate Guesswork From Your Marketing Strategy And Convert More Sales With FREE And Simple Split Testing.
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Charles Kangethe - ©2012 www.wealthcreatingprogram.com For non professional copy writers, like Splitter and his web designer, the next best thing is testing.
When you have made your initial stab at copy writing, you must use automated split testing software to test the propositions. Test until you are sure you have the best converting combination of headlines, top paragraph and offer.
Increase Your Credibility And Build Trust
Testimonials.
Credibility and trust are the absolute gold standard bedrock of web marketing. People buy from those they inherently like and trust.
The easiest sale you will ever make is a repeat sale to an existing customer. They have previously bought from you and therefore know you and trust you. You are a credible source of products and services.
The second easiest sale you will ever make is to a referral. If a customer tells their friends, they are more likely to buy from you as well. This is where the power of testimonials kicks in.
A testimonial with full names of your customer, applied to your web copy with permission from the customer, is a valuable referral for visitors even though they do not necessarily know the customer.
People like to feel part of a group and when making a purchase of more than a few dollars in value, they want to know others have bought and recommended the product previously. It gives them a “safe” feeling.
Qualifications.
If you have qualifications, academic or experiential, add these to your about us pages. Prove you are an expert in your sphere. Even if you have only attended a weekend course that gave you the right to add certain letters after your name put them out there.
People like to deal with experts and specialists.