Write Benefits in Your Headlines to Deliver the Dream!

When you create headlines, do you put benefits into your headlines to deliver the dream? Do you create headlines that draw your reader deeper into the rest of copy?

Let me ask you a simple question. "Why do people read any printed material beyond the headline?"

The answer, because there was something in the headline that attracted their attention, raised their interest and curiosity, or contained a perceived benefit for the reader. At that moment in time, the headline was an irresistible headline to your reader.

How to Write a Headline to be an Irresistible Headline.

If you are writing material to sell a product, what is it that your target audience is seeking? Of course, it's the benefits that your product offers them (your product does have benefits for your target audience, doesn't it?).

They are looking for a beneficial means of solving their problems. They want to know "what's in it for them." They seek solutions to problems and new options that save time, money, and effort. If your product can do all three, you'll have a winner if you can convincingly convey those benefits to your reader.

But, no matter how good the product is and how well it matches their wants and desires, if you don't create headlines that present the benefits to your readers, then you certainly will not have a headline that makes you rich.

The purpose of this headline writing technique is to present your solution as the solution to your target market's most base wants and desires.

However, in order to render the ideal solution when you create your headline, you must understand what your target market wants... their likes and dislikes... their disappointments and frustrations with other competing alternatives. What is it that bothers your target market most concerning your niche?

Once you understand the wants, desires, or dreams of your target market, you can "enter into the conversation inside your customer's mind" as the famous copywriter Robert Collier once taught. Copywriter Maria Veloso refers to this as Frame-of-Mind marketing.

Supplied with this important knowledge, it's not too difficult to determine what it would take to create a more beneficial solution. But, you don't want to be content with being a little better than the other options available. If possible, you want to be the ultimate alternative to your target market's problem. What would your target population really desire to have, to be, or to achieve, that their current alternatives fail to provide? What is the right alternative--the best answer to the problem?

So, now it's time to become the master copywriter. Put on your thinking cap. Think of how to write a headline that conveys the benefits of your product or service as the solution to the wants and desires of your target market. When creating your headline, try to put yourself in the shoes of your target audience mentally and think of how to give your audience the "perfect alternative"--the biggest benefit they genuinely desire.

Create the Irresistible Headline.

When writing your headline, your mission is to span the gap between where your target market is and where they want to be. Try to imagine what would be the perfect end state. Then, using picture words, create a mental vision that meets the fundamental dreams and desires that members of your target market harbor inside their own minds. Finally, portray your message as the perfect solution--the dream option. Create an irresistible headline.

I'm sure that you have heard the old saying that in order to get rich, you need to find a need and fill it. But that is really not the answer. Many sales people will tell you that that course of action is a sure way to the poor house. People don't buy what the need, the buy what they want. If you need transportation, a Yugo will do, but many people want and buy Mercedes, BMWs, and other expensive cars because the want or desire them, not because they need them.

Creating headlines that target needs will result in weak headlines with little results. Create headlines that make you rich by targeting your reader's wants, dreams, and desires. Purchases are made on emotion and then afterwards justified with logic. Sell the dream, not the need.

So, find out what your target audience wants, desires, or dreams about and fulfill that want or desire with your miracle product. Then put the strongest benefit in your headline.

What might a headline look like that puts a strong benefit right in the headline? How about this example from Jimmy D. Brown: "How to Sell 300% More of Your Product in 72 Hours Than You Did All Month." If you sell products, would you like to do that? Could you resist reading at least a little further on to find out how that might be done? For a product seller, that headline is most likely an irresistible headline.

Or how about some of these famous headlines:

Headline: "How A New Discovery Made A Plain Girl Beautiful" (If you thought you were a plain girl, would this headline interest you? Would you continue to read on past the headline?)

Headline: "Hands That Look Lovelier In 24 Hours - Or Your Money Back" (If you were a woman that thought your dishpan hands were ugly, might you be interested in reading past this headline?)

Headline: "Free Book - Tells You 12 Secrets Of Better Lawn Care"(If you wanted a better lawn to win the garden club's yard of the month award, would you order this Free book?)

Want your sales to skyrocket? Create headlines that deliver the dream!

George Dodge is owner of the http://www.Headline-Creator-Pro.com website where you can download software that saves you time and effort by allowing you to quickly and easily create headlines with push button ease.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Copywriting Information:

Related Articles

Killer Ad Copy
Not everyone is a writer. Good copy writing is a science and can be learned over time.
Prevent Procrastination With Positive Pressure
My wife and I recently bought a house.It's currently being built and moving day is slated for December.
11 Ways to Get an Editors Attention
I worked as a business magazine editor for about 20 years. During that time, thousands of news stories and press releases crossed my desk.
Working With a Freelance Editor
If you are interested in creating information products, you will very likely deal with editors throughout your career. You may need someone to edit a book, review a special report, or tighten up a magazine article.
Crank Out More Articles More Often With An Article Swipe File
If you write copy you need a swipe file. A good swipe file can save you lot's of work and enable you to crank out more articles more oftenEvery good copywriter has a swipe file.
Write Hard-Hitting Headlines With Magic Words That Sell
Writing a killer headline for your copy is simple! You just need to follow simple dos and donts that make or break a headline respectively. If you think you have tried them all, check this out.
How to Write for a Paper or Magazine
l. Introduce yourself to the editor of your local newspaper.
Hook Your Direct Mail Sales Letter Readers With Good Transition Sentences
Anglers in Maine catch trout using dry flies with barbless hooks. Unless they keep tension on the line all the way to the net, they lose the trout.
Headlines That Pull, Persuade and Propel!
When writing direct response copy, there are a few things that can maximize the responsiveness of your message. The first and most important element that can turn any website, salesletter or ad into an action-generating mechanism is the headline.
How To Find Editing Services Online
Quality is what you need. What you don't have is time.
Bullshit Avoid the use of the word Bullshit
It is important in this new paradigm of political correctness to tone down the language a bit. In this present period if you use such words like Bullshit, even when you are describing something that definitely is complete and total BS; it makes you look just as bad as what ever you are describing.
7 Formulas for Articles That GET READ!
Many of us have been asked to write an article at one time or another. Maybe it's a contribution to the company newsletter.
Why You Should Write To Inform And Not To Sell
Advertising is key! Unfortunately most people waste their money on advertising unless they can play by the numbers. Playing by the numbers is simply spending enough money on advertising and saturating the market so much, that percentage wise, enough people will want to see what you have to offer.
To Start Making Cash from Your Online Writing, You Must Draw Blood First
Writers write just like painters, paint on canvas. This is one of the reasons why it is important that you launch your writing career by getting some freelance writing work that you can get paid for doing.
Is Your Web Copy Plain Talk?
It's true, we were all taught in school to express ourselves differently on paper, than the way we speak. To follow rules of grammar, and inject an artificial air of formality.
Writing Suitable Copy for the Press
Summer is finally here and school is out, but learning for the rest of us continues. Whether you're a seasoned PR professional working for a top agency, a novice just beginning a career, or a mid-level manager working in-house at a small business, the time comes when we all could use a refresher course in properly writing suitable copy for the press.
How Writing Radio Can Help You Become a Better Writer
Knowing how to write, and write well, is a skill that will come in handy in all sorts of situations. And if you combine good writing skills with the persuasive selling tactics found in, say, copywriting, you'll be that much more ahead of your competition.
Are You Making These Press Release Mistakes?
You've done it. Gotten that press release written.
Sticky Homepage Copy in 30 Seconds
Yes indeed, that's all you've got, 30 seconds to make your website visitors decide to stick around..
Is Freelance Hiring Right For You?
Assume you were faced with the task of hiring a new group of talented individuals to handle a huge account you just landed. Are you up for the task? Or perhaps you have a small job that needs completing but no one on staff can handle the project.