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The Power of a Strong, Well-Written Headline

by streetsmartvar

As a VAR, I have strong concerns about mandatory vendor
"marketing guidelines" we must use in our communications with
prospects - and how much they can undercut our effectiveness.  
It is counterproductive to have anything restrict the
relationship - and the sales - to our prospects.  I'd like to
offer a great illustration referencing the "power of a strong,
well written headline" experience my company had.

While I will focus on email and its headline (the first sentence
once the email has been opened), this advice applies to any
marketing piece, whether a sales letter, landing page, direct
mail, etc. A headline is incredibly important. We are trained to
read headlines and, standing in the grocery line reviewing
magazines, where do your eyes lands first?  Of course, on the
headlines.

Therefore, as marketers we need to work *with* human nature, not
against it. Another thing to remember is that if someone reads
your email or marketing piece, they only have a few seconds to
decide whether to continue reading the email and take action on
your offer. Those few seconds usually involve reading your
headline.  You have to grab them at that point or you lose them.

When you write a headline make sure it contains the following:

-- Describe the pain the prospect/client may be experiencing 
-- Refer to the solution 
-- Describe the offer or call-to-action

I know it sound like a lot to include in a headline but it can
be done. Let me give you a quick illustration.

Late last year we conducted a lead generation campaign that
consisted of telemarketing, direct mail, and email. Our goal was
to generate most of these leads from telemarketing but also to up
the ante on email and direct mail (especially with email).

We created an email with a subject line that we felt would be
great. We followed the rules outlined above and were hopeful it
would work very well. (By the way, I won't get into subject lines
but they have a couple rules of their own but, for now, they are
very similar to headlines.)

The results of our first email blast?  We received 60 responses
from prospects. We were thrilled because these were 60 people who
took the time to fill out an 8-question application for a
face-to-face meeting with us, a reseller.

Based on the number of emails we sent out, this was a good
return.   We attributed it to the power of our strong,
well-written headline.

Now, let's consider a poorly written headline. Once the vendor
saw that email, they decided it didn't fit in with their
marketing guidelines and made us change it. So, we changed it and
sent out an email campaign the following week. Can you guess our
response rate? We got 4 responses.

Yes, our headline was watered down and corporate marketing
guidelines won out.   The real loser?  Yes, the Value-added
Reseller - but also that vendor corporation.

Ramon provides more marketing information, especially created for
the IT VAR industry but also applies to everyone who wants to
improve their sales. Stay up-to-date at <a
href="http://www.streetsmartvar.com">StreetSmartVAR.com</a> and
while you're there, don't forget to sign up for Ramon's popular,
<b>no-cost online marketing course!</b>

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