The Word Wrangler

If you were to ask ten copywriters what the most important aspect of good sales copy is, you’d likely get ten different answers. While body copy and your call to action are all vital to your conversion rates, the real money words are the ones found in the headline.

Why? Because if you don’t hook a reader with your headline the rest is meaningless.

So what’s the key to writing a sales-producing headline? Skewing them toward your target audience.

While there are other types of headlines that grab attention, the ones that specifically target your market are among the most effective.

Here’s an interesting example of skewing a headline to a specific audience that can be found in today’s news. An Illinois couple are facing murder charges after they neglected their baby for 8 days. The actual story headline reads: “Parents of Baby Left Alone in Car Seat for 8 Days Face Murder Charges”.

However, Fox News ran the story with this headline: “Video Gamers Leave Baby To Die”.

It’s true that the parents did watch TV and play video games - among other things - while ignoring the child, but the video game aspect is hardly the crux of the story.

But if you’re scanning the top headlines of the day, the Fox headline is more likely to grab your attention than any other. And more than being an attention grabber, it’s skewed to a specific audience - those who think that video games and anti-social behavior go hand in hand. Whether you agree with Fox’s slant on the story or not, it works. That’s why - before you write any body copy - you must get to know your target audience and what makes them tick. Only then can you create a powerful headline that pulls them in.

Thanks to Kotaku.com for the story.