You’re driving down the road when a billboard catches your eye – “JUDGMENT DAY!” it screams at you.
Uhh? Judgment Day? Now, you might have missed the billboard for the guy running for local office; and the 12 billboards for hotels, motels and gas stations – but not this one.
Now why do the words “Judgment Day” grab your attention? Because it’s a good headline. Not great, maybe, but certainly surprising enough and riveting enough to make you want to read more. Think for a moment about the last headline you wrote – did it grab attention or put the reader to sleep? If it doesn’t rivet the eyeballs, change it.
Next we see a date. A DATE! It’s also a bit bonkers, but again, we’re still riveted. Why? Because it’s specific. A sign that simply reads, “The End is Near” isn’t even worth a yawn, much less another second of your time. But a flat out specific date, now that’s measurable.
Look at the difference between these two headlines:
Increase Your Website’s Traffic
Get At Least 1,000 More Visitors To Your Website Each and Every Day
Which one is a vague abstraction and which one can you sink your teeth into? Which one is more believable?
If the headline says you can increase your opt-ins, your skepticism is high. But if it says you can increase your opt-ins by 33%, now we’re starting to believe – and we keep reading.
If your headline isn’t promising something specific, you might want to rewrite it.
The last ingredient is “authority.” What authority are you incorporating into your marketing message? For example, if you’ve got a testimonial from a well-known person, are you putting it at or near the very top of your sales letters and videos? If not, you might want to place it where it can’t be missed and split test to see how much of an increase in sales it means for you.
If your product and / or marketing message is just controversial enough, unusual enough or crazy enough, you can get MASSIVE free publicity, too, just as the Judgment Day campaign received.
Bottom line: Even the strangest product can be sold to the right market IF you’ve got the right message. Be sure your headline captures attention and uses specificity, back up your claim with third party authority, and you can sell most anything.