Whether it’s social media updates, website pop-ups or search engine adverts, there’s always some form of content fighting for our attention every second of every day.
Ads with engaging headlines are usually what grabs our attention, as research shows that a great headline can increase traffic by 500%, while Copyblogger revealed that 80% of people read online headlines, yet only 20% of will click and keep on reading.
The secret sauce to creating killer headlines: you don’t need to be a fantastic story teller or have a degree in English Literature to do so, you only need to understand how humans think.
Words can trigger certain impulses in our minds and in this article, I will show you how to leverage the right words to get more clicks.
- The scarcity principle
The scarcity principle is a common method used by salespeople to limit the amount of supply to increase demand. Humans want things which are hard to obtain and worry that they will miss a great deal. Emphasising the scarcity principle in your headline will increase clicks.
Williams Sonoma use the scarcity principle in their banner ads:
Ends Today is used to create a sense of urgency while the subheading Hurry – quantities are limited uses the scarcity principle to urge prospects to take action before it’s too late.
The scarcity principle is best used with time-based offers.
- Provide immediate gratification (avoid clickbait)
There is so much misleading content online that most people think twice before clicking a link. Clickbait is the term used when advertisers trick a prospect into clicking an advert using a misleading headline.
Here’s a common example of a clickbait headline:
The headline raises curiosity but fails to put anything into context. The goal here is to get prospects to click to find out more (with the content usually being low quality). Facebook went on record to say that it will reduce the reach of clickbait style posts, and may even suspend pages for doing so.
Tricking users to click your ads ruins their user experience and is against the terms of service for most ad networks.
Here’s an AppSumo Facebook ad doing the exact opposite and providing immediate gratification:
Prospects know what they will receive (a cheat sheet to validate a business in just a few hours), and are more likely to engage and click as they know where they will be redirected.
If prospects are unsure on where the click will lead, most won’t click.
- Provide a benefit or solve a need
A good headline will solve a need your ideal prospect is facing. For example, you most likely clicked on this article because I clearly stated the benefit you will get from reading this article.
SEMrush do the same thing with their Google banner ad headline:
Their advert targets online businesses and clearly states the benefit of clicking their advert (increasing PPC ROI).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Bukacek
Tom Bukacek is a best selling author ("Marketing Miracles" with Dan Kennedy) on the subject of social media marketing
the CEO of Black Box Social Media LLC, (BBSM) an online marketing company that uses the latest digital marketing strategies, such as video marketing and pay per click marketing, to allow businesses to get found and generate leads online. BBSM also has created the video step by step Pay Per Click training program called "Social Media Ad Genius", taught by National Speaker Curt Maly. For more information about Pay Per Click Marketing, please visit http://socialmediaadgenius.com
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