HEADLINES: 7 LESSONS FROM HISTORY'S BEST HEADLINE WRITERS

Morning!

I’m writing this sitting in Frankfurt airport 4 hours into my 16-hour trip to the USA. Brutal conditions to be writing the newsletter, yet here we are.

Anyway, this week I’ve had to create 3 landing pages for clients and EVERY time I get stuck on the headline.

It’s the single most important part of any landing page… whilst also being the single hardest part to create.

So I spent the week researching how the greatest marketers write headlines.

Here are the 7 key lessons I found (every marketer should know these) ↓

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSION

BREAKING DOWN THE STRATEGY

We all pride ourselves on some sort of skill.

For some, that’s their design skills. For others, their communication skills. But for me…

It’s copywriting.

Or at least it was, until 1 day I got a Twitter DM out of the blue from one of my favourite copywriters - Harry Dry.

It was a screenshot of my old Growing Viral headline + a tip to “Zoom in” more.

“Hmm… I hadn’t thought of that.“ I said nodding my head.

So I went away and began drafting up a new headline.

3 hours later: I hit him back with my fancy new headline.

His response:

Damn it. He was right again.

I spent the next 4-5 hours aggressively cycling through headlines trying to take on Harry’s advice.

But more importantly, I had a massive wake-up call that I needed to learn how to write a great headline.

Since then, I’ve probably spent 100+ of hours studying how the greatest copywriters write headlines.

Here are the best 7 lessons that I found (including tips from Ogilvy, Bernbach, and even Harry Dry!) ↓

Lesson 1: Be Direct (Claude Hopkins)

99% of copywriters would tell you that you need to hook people with your headline. 

But Claude? Well, he’d tell you to do the exact opposite. 

Because he likes to use headlines to filter readers. 

Example: His infamous ad for Van Camp’s Milk

Claude specifically wrote the ad to target housewives who buy condensed milk.

So he simply addressed them with his headline. It may seem stupid, but there are 2 massive benefits of a headline like this:

1/ It Stops Negative reactions

Because the filter is so obvious, you don’t have people reading halfway through the ad and then feeling like they’ve been conned/had their time wasted - we all have a brand we hate because of their ads.

2/ It Attracts Their Exact Target Audience

If you were a housewife who bought condensed milk, how in the world could you not read this ad? It feels like it’s written just for you - and it is. 

(+ Claude can make the rest of the copy more relatable because he knows exactly who is reading it.)

Out of all the approaches, this may be my favourite!

Lesson 2: Be Honest (Bill Bernbach)

Too many marketers waste hours trying to write a headline that makes their product/service/offer sound better. But if they have happy customers already, all they need to do is be honest.

Take this ad which Bernbach wrote for Avis for example:

The headline is honest and vulnerable.
↳ Then the copy explains the value prop.

It’s the perfect pattern interrupt. 

We are so used to ads that big up products that when you see a headline admitting they’re 2nd best, you instantly get curious.

Why are they admitting this?
Why are they running an ad like this?

The next minute they’ve read to the end of the ad, while:

A) Trusting you.
B) Understanding your value prop.
C) Wanting to buy from you.

Another very sharp way to approach a headline. 

Lesson 3: Target 1 Emotion (Robert Collier)

Robert Collier - the infamous direct mail writer - believes too many marketers write headlines that appeal to the wrong thing. 

He says:

I love this idea of picking an emotion to go after, it simplifies things.

All you need to focus on is that one emotion when you’re writing. 

Example: You work for Tiffany and want to run a campaign around engagement rings.

If you focus on creating the feeling of guilt, you could write a headline like:

“Are you really going to leave her waiting longer?”

This is another tip I absolutely love!

Lesson 4: Value → Hook → Cut (Harry Dry)

I have easily spent 200+ hours studying Harry’s copy and one thing I always go back to is his simple formula for writing headlines. 

He breaks it down into 4 simple steps (I’ll use RyanAir as an example for this) ↓

Step 1: Write down the value you provide

For Ryainair that might be, “Travel for cheap.” 

Step 2: Write a common objection

Well, if travel is cheap… surely the service sucks?

Step 3: Battle that objection

For this, we want to show Ryanair is cheap without giving people a reason not to buy.

So I’d go with something like this: You get 2 cm less legroom, but a £50 cheaper flight

Step 4: Cut words that aren’t needed.

Okay, so for this I think we can cut the “You get” and the “But a”.

Which would leave us with: 2 cm less legroom, £50 cheaper flight.

Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Which just goes to show how awesome that little framework is from Harry.

Lesson 5: Make It Newsworthy (Gary Halbert)

If you’ve not read The Boron Letters, read it.

Halbert is an absolute wizard when it comes to copy and it’s so so easy to fly through his writing. 

He also takes an interesting approach to headlines that I think you’ll enjoy…

Halbert says the 3 most powerful things you can have in a headline are:

1. News
2. A promise of a benefit
3. Both of the above in the same headline.

Classic Halbert. 

Here’s an example of what he gives in one of his letters:

This reminds me of those blog headlines you’d always see going viral on Facebook back in the day. 

But inside it, there are so many gems.

• The “At Last!” suggests something we've been waiting for has finally happened - and people love to be in the know!

• The “Scientists” adds credibility - it’s not just regular folks who discovered this. 

• The “New way” gets us all excited - who doesn’t love new things?

Then, of course, he finishes with an outcome (look younger) + timeframe (in 17 days).

He hooks you in, then waves the carrot right in front of your face.

And it works!

Lesson 6: Say What Only You Can Say (David Ogilvy)

This Rolls Royce ad by Ogilvy is one of the most famous ads of all time:

And it works for one simple reason - it says the thing that only Rolls Royce can say. 

Too many brands play the “Better than” game where they attempt to show why they are a slightly better option than their competitors. 

Whereas Ogivly would say you should focus on the singular line that only you can say.

For Rolls Royce, that’s the quote above.

For Ryanair that might be: “From London To Paris for under £20”

For Nike, that might be: “The shoes that the best wear”

When you find a line like that, the value, the benefit, the outcome it can all be heard through that one line.

And let me tell you… Ogilvy knew how to find that line!

Lesson 7: Appeal To A Deeper Desire (John Caples)

In his book, ‘Tested Advertising Methods’ Caples says  “The success of an entire advertising campaign may stand or fall on what is said in the headlines... “

But let’s be honest… we already knew that. So how does he approach them?

There are 2 key things Caples focuses on:

1/ Making your offer instantly & abundantly clear.
2/ Appeal to your audiences’ baser nature. 

Number 1 is pretty common knowledge at this point. But number 2 is interesting.

Everyone says to write a headline that showcases the products value or the outcome you get from buying. Yet most copywriters forget to target the true self-interest.

Example: Let’s say you work for a Bose and you want to run a marketing campaign around new headphones.

The value = Great sound

So most copywriters would write a headline that says something like, “Your favourite music, as it should be heard.”

When actually, the true reason customers are buying the headphones is so they can look cool wearing them.

The headline is outcome-focused, but it’s targeted at a surface-level want.

…and John Caples would not be happy with that!

 🌱 THE GREENHOUSE

Things I’ve saved this week that are worth seeing:

• The Cheats Guide To Copywriting. (See here)

• Nicolas Cole Headline Masterclass. (See here)

TL;DR

1/ Be direct
2/ Be honest
3/ Target 1 emotion
4/ Value → Hook → Delete
5/ Make it newsworthy
6/ Say the line only you can say
7/ Appeal to a deeper desire

Not to blow my own trumpet here… but to say I started this in an airport and finished it on the plane, this may just be the best article I’ve ever written.

So many gems in here. 

If you didn’t know some of these marketers/advertisers before reading this, I highly recommend checking each of them out. They are all the best of the best. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

Hit reply and let me know what other topics I should cover. 

Until next Sunday.

— Niall

WAIT… BEFORE YOU GO

If you’ve read this far, why not see how else I can help you:

• Follow me on Twitter for more marketing stuff.

• Connect with me on LinkedIn to follow my business journey.

• Want to work with me? Start HERE.

THAT’S ALL!

This has been a breakdown of great headline approaches. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

Don’t forget to subscribe to get next week’s breakdown straight to your inbox!