5 Tips For Creating Copywriting Headlines That Sell

Last updated on June 25th, 2024 at 11:48 pm

When it comes to copywriting, your headline is one of the most important elements you can write. It’s your first chance to stop the scroll, grab attention, and get the opportunity to show people how you can help them solve a problem they’ve been struggling with.

On average, 80% of people will read your headline — but only 20% will keep reading.

That’s why it’s critical to make your headlines count.

With the right headline, you can improve those stats, get more people reading your message, and have a chance to convert that attention into new subscribers and customers for your business.

In this guide, we’re going to give you 5 tips for creating copywriting headlines that sell so you don’t have to struggle to create copy that drives clicks & keeps people reading.

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Tip #1: Ask Yourself the Right Questions

The key to a powerful headline (and copy that converts) is what happens BEFORE you actually sit down to start writing.

In order for your headline to have the impact you need it to have, you want to take some time to answer the questions below.

This is going to help you understand your audience on a deeper level.

6 Key Questions to Answer Before You Write

1. Who is your audience? Understanding who you’re speaking to is crucial. Knowing their age, gender, occupation, and interests can greatly influence the language, tone, and content of your headline.
2. What problem does your audience have that your product or service solves? People are always looking for solutions to their problems. By understanding your audience’s problem, you can better position your product or service as the solution.
3. How does your product or service solve this problem? This is about the unique selling proposition. Understand what makes your product or service different from others in how it solves the audience’s problem.
4. What emotions are tied to the problem and the solution? Emotions are powerful drivers of action. Fear, desire, frustration, and relief are just a few examples. Figure out which emotions your audience may be feeling so you know how to relieve them.
5. What’s the desired outcome for the audience? You need to understand what your audience wants to achieve. This will help you tailor your headline to showcase the end result or benefit of your product or service.
6. Why should your audience trust you or your product/service? Trust is crucial in persuading someone to take action. If your audience doesn’t believe in your claim, they won’t engage with your content or buy your product/service.

Spend time thinking about the answers to each of those questions before you start writing.

If you get the answers right, your headlines will be incredibly effective. If you miss the mark, though, your conversion rates will plummet.

To give you an example of what “getting it right” looks like, take a look at some answers that a small business providing online yoga classes might come up with.

3. How does your product or service solve this problem?

• Provides online yoga classes that can be accessed anytime, anywhere.

4. What emotions are tied to the problem and the solution?

• Stress and anxiety from work, relief, and relaxation from practicing yoga.

5. What’s the desired outcome for the audience?

• To become more fit, reduce stress, and feel more relaxed and balanced.

6. Why should your audience trust you or your product/service?

• Experienced, certified yoga instructors who have helped many busy professionals.

Based on these answers, a potential headline could be:

Before you start writing, make sure you understand the answers to each of those questions so you’re not only grabbing attention but giving yourself the opportunity to keep that attention and then convert it into new subscribers and sales for your business.

If you want to write high-converting copy even faster, check out Copy Quickstart Secrets.

Tip #2: Lean on Proven Formulas

One of the best, fastest ways to create compelling headlines is to look at what’s already worked and the formulas used to make those headlines as effective as they are.

To help you get started, here are a few formulas that have been proven to be highly effective over and over again.

Controversial Headlines

Controversy works great for grabbing attention. Any time you can state the opposite of what most people in your audience believe, they’ll stop in their tracks to read what you’re saying.

• Formula: “Why You Should Stop [Common Practice] and What to Do Instead”
• Example: “Why You Should Stop Dieting If You Want To Lose Weight”

For people who are dieting, they’ll be intrigued and wonder what they should be doing instead of focusing on what they eat.

Transformational Headlines

Showing people that the transformation they believe is on the other side of the problem they’re facing is possible is another great way to grab attention.

• Formula: “A [10-Minute/Dollar] [Solution/Method] That Makes You [Desirable Outcome/Transformation]”
• Example: “A 10-Minute Meditation Routine That Keeps You Stress-Free and Focused”

How-to Headlines

A lot of times, people want to see how they can do something that will help move them closer to their perceived solution.

• Formula: “How to [Achieve a Specific Benefit or Desired Outcome] Even If [Common Obstacle or Challenge]”
• Example: “How to Master Python Coding Even If You’ve Never Coded Before”

This formula can be used in different ways, too.

Here’s another great example:

• Formula: “How to [desirable outcome] in [time period​]”
• Example: “How to Make Delicious, and Healthy Meal In 10 Minutes, Or Less”

The key here is making sure your headline is relevant to your audience, their goals, wants, needs, desires, and greed, so it stops them and triggers them to read more of your message.

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Tip #3: Listen to Your Audience

To understand your audience at a deeper level, you’ll want to become a fly on the wall and hang out where they’re talking about products similar to yours.

You want to see how they’re describing the problems they wanted to solve, how those products helped solve those problems, and what their life looks like once the problems have been solved.

To give you an example, if you own a SaaS business selling to-do lists or digital planners, listening in on how customers have reviewed other digital planners can be a great way to make sure your headlines hit the right points.

Here’s how to get started:

First, jump on Amazon.com and search for products similar to yours.

Then, sort the results by “Rating” so you’re seeing the highest-rated products first.

Next, choose a few products similar to yours, open them in their own tab, and then head to the reviews section.

Sort the reviews by “Most Helpful” so you’re seeing highly-relevant reviews from verified customers and have a good starting point for your research.

Begin reading through the reviews while looking for common themes inside them.

You’re looking to understand the benefits that are being mentioned, which features are being highlighted in the review, the strong emotions customers are talking about, and the tone of voice they’re using to describe solving those problems.

Once you’ve gathered that information, you can use it to start writing headlines for your own products and services.

To help you see how to become a fly on the wall, I did an experiment with a daily planner.

Here is one review I selected:

Based on what the customer said about the planner, here are a couple different headlines I can use:

• Travel Light, Stay Organized: One Planner To Eliminate The Rest
• Your All-in-One Solution: Our Planner Replaces The Need for Multiple Trackers

Here’s another review that could be used to help write your copy:

Here’s what the headlines could look like:

• Embrace a Classy, High-Quality Approach to Preserving Your Thoughts and Experience
• Experience the Perfect Blend of Durability and Style: Our Compact Planner for Capturing Thoughts and Experiences

When you’re researching what your audience has already said about products like yours, you are giving yourself a better chance at touching on exactly what they’re looking for.

For even more ways to write highly-effective headlines, check out Copywriting Secrets.

Tip #4: Copy What Works

As you’re writing headlines, one thing to keep in mind is that you want them to be different from what everyone else is saying — but you don’t necessarily have to reinvent the wheel.

Copying headlines that have worked for other audiences and offers is a great way to get started writing headlines for your own offers.

This is especially true when you understand the formula that the headline you’re copying used to be as effective as it is.

To give you some examples, here are a few headlines that have worked great so you can copy the formula to use for your own offer & audience:

The [Niche Specific Solution] That [Performs Desired Task] For You

[Number] [Intriguing Phrase] that will [Massive Benefit] ([Personal Remark])

How your [Business Type] can get [Number of Desired Outcome] in [Time Frame] with [Unique Selling Proposition]

We [What you do] How to [Achieve Desired Outcome] as a [Target Audience]

If you’re a [Target Group] and tired of [Common Frustration], you need to [Action]

Each of these has been incredibly effective headlines for the markets they serve and the offers being presented to that audience.

For your own headlines, adapt each formula to what your audience wants to see from you, the problems they want to be solved, and what solutions to those problems look like.

Tip #5: Understand WHY They Work

Now, pulling this all together is going to require you to understand exactly WHY the elements and formulas we’ve laid out for you so far work the way they do.

When you truly understand why copy is effective, you can repeat your successful results over and over again, headline after headline.

To help you understand why these examples are as effective as they are, here’s a basic checklist for writing an effective headline, along with even more examples of good and bad headlines according to these criteria:

Criteria	Good Headline	Bad Headline
Clarity	Learn Spanish in Just 30 Days with Our Mobile App	Become a Linguist Fast (unclear on what language, how fast, and how it’s accomplished)
Relevance	Beat the Heat: Top 10 Best Air Conditioners of 2023	Cool Gadgets for Your Home (not specifically relevant to those seeking air conditioners)
Specificity	7 Steps to Increase Your Website Traffic by 50%	Improve Your Website (doesn’t specify how the website will improve)
Emotional Appeal	Erase Your Debt and Enjoy Financial Freedom	Get Rid of Debt (doesn’t evoke as strong an emotional response)
Urgency	Limited Offer: Get 50% Off on All Shoes Today Only!	All Shoes Discounted (no sense of urgency, no specific discount)
Value Proposition	Triple Your Reading Speed with Our Unique Method	Read Faster (doesn’t convey a unique value proposition)
Target Audience	New Moms: 5 Exercises to Regain Your Pre-Baby Body	Exercises for Women (Too broad)
Promise/Benefit	Become a Pro Pianist in Just 2 Weeks	Learn Piano With Me

While it may seem like you need to meet as many criteria as possible from the checklist, it’s not always necessary (or even feasible) to meet them all in a single headline.

Constraints like length and readability play a major role in making your headline compelling.

The most effective headlines we’ve seen (and given examples of) typically take 3 to 4 of these criteria and blend them together into copy that reaches directly into what the audience wants to see — so the rest of your message can deliver and help them solve problems they’re facing.

Final Thoughts

The headline you use can make or break your conversion rates.

The right headline will grab attention and give you a chance to keep that attention you can convert it later in your message.

The wrong headline, though, will send people back to where they came from or make them scroll past your ad.

If you use the tips we’ve laid out in this guide, your headlines will be far more effective — and you’ll have more opportunities to convert all that attention into new subscribers and customers for your business.

For even more advanced strategies, grab a copy of Copywriting Secrets.

Get Our Top Copywriting Secrets Here!