6 Ways to Attract Followers With Good Headlines
Within this new digital age, writing has often come secondary to design when creating brand assets of all kinds, but according to a data-backed study, you should always write first and design later. Initially, good design catches our eye and lures us in, but writing is a thing of substance. It keeps our attention and makes us want to come back. Funny enough, it is usually one of the first areas to get overlooked when thinking about "content creation."
We all know good writing from bad writing. I still remember certain phrases from billboards or ads that caught my eye and stuck in my mind even years later. Good writing is an art – but it often isn’t seen like that. Writing is seen more as an afterthought at best and a headache at worst. Writing is so important that there are actually positions available within a company solely for the purpose of good writing. These people are called Copywriters. They write titles, blog post copy, marketing copy, and more.
So, how do you write good copy that catches someone’s attention? Follow these tips below and start practicing. Once you finalize your copy, head over to BeFunky’s Graphic Designer to begin designing the graphics that should be paired with your improved writing!
How to Start Writing Compelling Headlines
Creating headlines is one of the most important pieces of good content right now. It is usually what makes us click on a video, short, or reel and also what makes us stick around if our internet won’t immediately play the video. However, there are a couple of rules to follow when writing good titles or headlines.
1. Avoid Clickbait Copy
We all know that clickbait headlines are one of the most annoying online experiences. You click on a video thinking that it is going to be about one thing, but in actuality, there is nothing in the video that has anything to do with what was written.
To avoid this, ask yourself what the main point of your article, ad, or content is. Once you have this figured out, start writing a list of ten headlines that have to do with your topic. Keep it straightforward and word-vomit an entire list. Once you have this, you can either choose a title here or read the next tip below to edit it.
Pro Tip: If you find that your titles are boring, you might want to start making more engaging content. But, typically, good titles can be written even about the most boring topics.
2. Headlines Should Be Short and Descriptive
If you simply write a headline about what your content is about, it can feel pretty boring. They should describe what your content is sharing, but they should also be catchy.
Ask yourself what you tend to click on. Which typically gets you to click on them? Take a look at your liked photos or videos and the titles they wrote. There is a clue here as to what you like.
I always love content that gives me a short list of tips I can skim through. I want information that is powerful, relevant, unique, and quick, i.e., 5 Tips for This, 8 Ways to Increase That, or The Biggest Mistakes to Avoid About Something. These make me curious and give me the kind of information I am interested in consuming.
Pro Tip: Good copy means higher click-through rates! Writing copy for marketing material is extremely important. This is in a similar category as writing good lyrics. You want this kind of copy to be short and catchy and memorable.
3. Know Your Audience
It is important that you know who your audience is. Once you know this, it is important to know how they speak and also write to this kind of person. If you are trying to sell sneakers to Gen-Z, you are not going to want to say a phrase that would be fitter for a Millennial or a Boomer. So, know your audience, know what your audience likes, and know what your audience is looking for.
Keep in mind that it takes a person several times to see your brand before they are even interested in finding out more about you. The better you are at tailoring your content and assets to your audience, the more likely they are to click through to the link you provide.
4. Make Them Double-Take
Decide if you want the copy to be powerful, witty, or include a double entendre – because we all know that when you can get someone to double-take on anything, you’ve reached your genius. The best way to achieve this is to know your audience.
Take, for example, any of Volkswagen's ads from the ’60s and ‘70s – they are literary genius’! One of their ads “Think Small” listed out all of the benefits of driving a small car but was so loaded with sarcasm that by the end, it actually convinced you that a smaller “economy” car was worth considering!
Gold’s Gym also had a funny one playing with a popular sustainability catchphrase: “Keep our beaches beautiful. (And pick up the trash, too.)” These kinds of ads are fun and memorable and typically make you have to think twice! If you want to design an ad that you’ve created, check out this article.
5. Don’t Just Market – Get Personal
It is strange to say, but you shouldn’t just market to your audience – and the idea that creating behind-the-scene footage means you are transparently connecting to your audience is old-school at this point.
You know the kinds of people you follow online who are constantly promoting something and trying to get you to use their codes. It gets really annoying quite quickly. You want to make sure that the captions you are writing are helpful or deep or inspiring.
Depending on what your brand is, you want to make sure that your short-form copy is giving your audience what they are looking for, yes with the right tone, but also with the right kind of content. If you are a recipe tester, include your recipe in a super simple format and also include a personal 2-sentence story if the recipe was adapted from something more personal. Find ways to invite people into your personal lifestyle.
6. Develop Your Writing Style
Many of the most popular authors today actually began with (and still continue) writing blog posts. The author Mark Manson, who wrote The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, has one of the most popular blogs. The reason is he has his own writing style that differs so much from other voices within his niche.
Mark often discusses dating tips for men and women, but rather than approaching this cautiously and with much empathy, he sort of lays it all out in front of you and you can either take it or leave it. Refreshing is the word I would use to describe it. This shows that your writing style is so important when writing long-form posts. Otherwise, if you seem to have a monotonous tone, people will take it as boring and exit from your website.
Brilliant Headline Copywriting Is Achievable
Writing good copy is a skill. As with anything, it takes practice to develop a skill and takes many hours to master it. If you are a business owner or you are working for one, this is a skill that will increase your engagement online and I highly recommend you dive deeper into researching how to write good copy. Once you are finished developing copy, use BeFunky’s Graphic Designer to create all of your brand needs and marketing assets.
And if you're looking for ways to create awesome graphics for your blog or website, BeFunky makes it easy to learn how to design blog post headers and logos that attract readers.
