What did you think of my headline for this post?
Want to find out what the headline mistake is?
Well, keep reading because I'm about to tell you…

Here's a little story to explain it…

Imagine you are in the residential development business looking to do some advertising. You are selling plots of premium land (enough for a decent-sized house, near public transport, schools, etc.). You are also offering a 'Land + House' package. If the client chooses the latter they get $5000 off some building features. House or no house, the offer promises to be a good investment. 

Put all that in a headline? No way.

What is the purpose of a headline?

Answer: to grab a person's attention enough get them reading more. That's it. And usually the most powerful way to do this is to tap into their emotions.

What is the emotional hook of this post's headline? (i.e. 'A headline mistake that's a real doozy'). It's about making a big mistake. Have you ever made a big mistake? Me too. Awful feeling isn't it?

So what is the mistake that's a real doozy?

The mistake is giving all your key information in the headline. In the case of this post, it would be having the headline: Don't have all your key information in your headline!. Seduce your reader with interesting bait. In short, use the headline to draw interest first.

What other emotions are there?

As headline readers, we respond to all kinds of emotional hooks. Apart from not liking the feeling of making a big mistake, we also don't like the feeling of missing out on a great opportunity. Another emotional hook is wanting the inside scoop that gives us an advantage others don't have. We want to feel secure. We want to feel free. And we want to feel connected to others. In short, we're all schizophrenic. 

The land/house headline could say: Prime land, Great house, $5,000 off.

It's okay, but it lacks the emotional intensity and 'punch' you are looking for. Here are some other possibilities… 

You almost missed out…

Missing out on a great opportunity is a feeling we don't want to have. Using the word 'you' immediately helps to engage the reader. Notice that there's no mention of 'land' or 'house' in this headline.

Are you wondering the following?:
"But don't you need to mention 'land' or 'house' to attract people who are interested in buying land or a house?'

Not necessarily. There are people out there who haven't even considered buying land or a home who could become a client. So having 'land' or 'house' could actually alienate potential business. HOWEVER, if you hook their interest with emotion they do relate to, they might change their minds about buying some land after reading the rest of your ad. 

Want to save 5,000?

Who doesn't? $5,000 is an awful lot of money for most of us. Using questions in headlines helps to immediately engage your reader. Questions start a conversation. Again, no mention of 'land' or 'house' here.

No decent land left? 
Don’t listen to them.

Who is 'them'? I don't know, but they are saying there's no decent land left. 'Them' means there's more than one person saying this. And 'No decent land left' is a common assumption apparently. But there is someone else who knows something that 'they' don't. I want to be in the know too, so I'll read on…

A ‘grounded’ investment for you…

This headline is appealing to those open to the idea of investing but want something secure in these crazy economic times. Why is 'grounded' in inverted commas? The word relates to 'land' – being the ground upon which we walk. It is unlikely for the reader to successfully make this connection yet, but they know there's a reason for the inverted commas. And the three dots at the end say 'read on and you'll find out'.

‘Yay!’
‘Phew…’
‘We’re in.’

These are the sounds of people
who have bought…

This headline is appealing to those wanting to feel as inspired and secure as these people obviously do. We want to feel good like they do. In fact, we want to be part of the 'I feel good' group of people, to connect with them. Sounds like they're having a good time. Of course, it's only a headline, so we're tapping into deep-seated emotional reactions, not necessarily intellectually logical ones.

Let's also consider how the headline could look visually:

It’s a buyer’s market . 
That means you.

This headline almost has an Uncle Sam feeling about it. It's like the headline is pointing it's finger directly at you.

'Me?' you ask.

'Yes, you,' it replies.

Putting that second line directly under the first and bumping up the size creates extra punch. KER-POW!

   Great land 
+ Quality house
= Your nest egg

Obviously this headline is a simple maths equation.' Buy This' + 'Buy This' means you get 'That'. You are taking the person by the hand and leading them through, step-by-step. Staring with a light colour for the first line, a medium tone for the second and a dark tone for the result defines the steps visually. The tones are also symbolic. Start light (easy feeling) but end up with something solid-looking, something substantial.

One investment that 
does tick all the boxes 

How many times have we heard the line 'It ticks all the boxes'. Too many to count. However, this headline actually plays on the cliché in order to sound different. Having the word 'does' in a highlight colour says 'Yeah, we know – but this one's for real'. The text that follows would be in tick box format, walking the headline's talk.

There's a lot of people out there at the moment saying 'Don't waste your money on advertising'. The grand alternative offered tends to be three-fold: 

1. online marketing
   (blog posts, directory listings, keyword optimisation, social marketing like Twitter, etc.)
    
2. affiliate marketing
   (partnering in some way with another business who has a mailing list that matches your target market)
    
3. free press 
   (sending a media release or media pack out to selected journos in the hope that they will tell the world about you)

Advertising can be expensive and there's much to say about these 'big three'. But sometimes advertising can be the right thing at the right time in the right place – it could be just what your business needs.

It all depends on your particular situation (your budget and what you want to see happen where, etc.). It is a case by case thing.

There, I've said it.

Now onto that third item: Why free press might be better 

Appearing in a newspaper or magazine (or online news) article can be a beautiful thing for getting the word out there about what you do. So can appearing in a television or radio segment. This kind of exposure is often considered better than advertising.  

Why?

Because 'news' is considered by most people as objective information – and therefore, likely to be trustworthy. Advertising, on the other hand, is just you promoting yourself. That much is obvious. You could say anything. So why should I trust you? 

Is any publicity good publicity?

Apparently it was Irish poet and dramatist Brendan Bahan (1923-1964) who said 'There's no such thing as bad publicity'. What you might not know is that the quote ends '…except your own obituary'.   

(side note: I don't know if Toyota would agree that there's no such thing as bad publicity right now)

At least with advertising, you know the message is going to be a positive one.  In the free publicity playground, there is no guarantee.

Ideally, we would all love positive publicity to the point of bursting enthusiasm. But the media have to do their best to appear objective (this is not always achieved, but it's the industry's official 'duty of care').

Still, it is possible for a story to appear both objective and positive. And that's what we need to shoot for when writing a media release

What is a media release?

A media release is an item of news about your business, your products and/or services, or contains an industry-related topic where your opinion is expressed, and is sent to selected members of the media.  

You hope that they'll make your media release a front page article with a fantastically eye-catching photo next to it. This doesn't always happen but, for some, is has happened.

If the media decide to use your media release for a story you don't have to pay. It's not advertising. They are using your information as part (or all) of their research.

Being helpful to journalists

Bearing in mind that journalists are having a terrible time with insane deadlines (remember Russell Crowe's constant whining as the journalist in State of Play?), a well-written media release – with a timely story relevant to their readership – can be considered pure gold.

If a journalist is stressed, lazy or has a if-it-ain't-broke attitude, your media release could be accepted and printed verbatim. If they cut your story, the release is often edited from the bottom up.  So you must have all the important facts at the very beginning. The story might end up being only your first paragraph.  Better to have that than nothing at all.
 

Are you newsworthy?

The media is willing to support almost any story – as long as it has an angle or some kind of newsworthy potential and is relevant to their readership. Editors are always looking for things that are unique and different.  

So de-ostrich yourself.  Raise your head and look around you.  Be conscious of what's going on 'out there' and how your story might be relevant to the bigger picture.

Next post…
…will outline how to write a humdinger of a media release.  So keep in touch

This post was written by Megan Hills. Megan is a writer, cartoonist and marketing 'here's my two cents' gal. She also likes going to the movies. Find out more about Megan.