In my experience…
Beginners are bad at writing headlines because they start at the wrong place.
Let me explain.
For every product you write copy for… for every campaign, every event, every service, every business…
There’s a big “pile”… or web… of interesting facts associated with that product.
This pile might contain unique features of your product.
Or celebrity endorsements.
Or weird applications.
Or related stories.
And the way to write a great headline(or subject line or opening line)… is to sort through that pile of interesting facts, choose the most interesting one, and put it into words.
This – choosing the most interesting fact associated with your product – is something beginner copywriters are very bad at.
Good copywriters are better at it.
Pro copywriters are masters at it.
In my experience…
Beginner copywriters start with the question, “what would make a good headline here?” …and then just start word-vomitting. And making attempts at writing interesting headlines based off of general principles… and vague notions they have about “what makes a good headline.”
And though this can lead to ‘okay’ headlines…
It’s a mistaken approach.
Because it starts at the wrong place.
START by determining what the most interesting fact related to your product is. THEN start putting that to words. Play around with it. Find a compelling way to frame that interesting fact. Then try again. Shave off some words. Add some. Your goal: put this interesting fact into words… in a way that grabs your reader’s attention and gets them to keep on reading.
While finding the right words *is* important…
What’s even more important is finding the right interesting fact.
And the better you get at copywriting, the clearer it will become what the “right” interesting fact for your hook/headline will be. Right off the bat.
If you’re just starting out, you may need to play around with 2-3… and see which one sounds most compelling.
