Are you struggling to get engagement on your posts? Starting to wonder what the problem is? Well don’t give up just yet. There may be aspects to your posts that might need tweaking in order to drive attention. For example, are your headlines engaging enough?
In this post, we’ll discuss what makes an engaging headline and three strategies you can use to improve them.
Threat Headlines
Don’t get thrown by the term ‘threat’. Threat Headlines can be a very effective technique, it suggests to the reader what they can avoid by reading your post. Examples of these headlines include:
- 10 things you can do to avoid losing your dog
- Read this checklist to ensure a smooth move between homes
- 5 mistakes you make when brushing your teeth
These headlines come across as a ‘threat’ and engage with viewers as they don’t want to be a victim of losing their dog or having a complicated move.
Piggyback Headlines
Piggyback Headlines, also known as Social Proof Headlines, refers to the use of statistics to add a higher authority to your post. By putting social proof in your headlines, you can jumpstart a consumer’s buying process. Headlines that showcase social proof look like this:
- Why personal trainers are obsessing over this fitness app
- 5,000 digital marketing agencies used this app to hire freelance designers
- 100 First time buyers used this mortgage calculator to ensure a fair price
Gain Headlines
Gain Headlines follow a two-step formula. Ask yourself; what is the benefit of someone clicking on your post? Then ask; what is the promise you are making in return for the click? Examples of these headlines include:
- 15 dinner ideas using ingredients already in your fridge
- 10 last minute Christmas Day presents you can buy today
- 5 skills you need to be more emotionally intelligent than the average 5-year-old
Let’s focus on the last example. The benefit of these skills will make the reader more emotionally intelligent and the promise is that they’ll have a higher emotional intelligence than a 5-year-old.
Here are 3 simple ways to improve your headlines…
Now you have some examples to understand the fundamentals of great headlines, you can start applying these skills to your own headlines. Here are three strategies that you can use, either alone or integrated, with the above strategies to drive action from your headlines.
1. “How to”
Using the terms ‘how to’ in your headline can play into the piggyback, threat and gain headline strategies we spoke about previously in this blog. For example…
How to avoid a complicated house move
How to create and promote content that gets 100+ links in a month
2. Give a Time Frame
A little trick is to give people a time frame for when they will receive the benefit you are proposing them in your headline. This technique will boost your headline’s success. Here is a good example of a headline with a time frame:
This quick quiz will reveal what you’re craving for dinner tonight
3. Eye Catching
You want to include fascination into your headline that will stop people scrolling and think, ‘that’s interesting’. The average person has an attention span of 8 seconds and therefore the headline needs to be eye-catching. It can be one of the hardest things to do, but if done correctly, will be really effective.
Ready to be a headline master?
The more you work at improving your headlines, the better they will be. We are constantly surrounded by many different headlines. Now you have a better understanding of what makes a good headline, pay attention to the headlines on your newsfeeds. Start noticing the successful ones to the ones that maybe don’t do so well.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What strategy is being used?
- Does it make you want to click on the headline?
- If no, how could you rewrite it to be more clickable?
By using headline strategies that actually work, you will soon become a headline master. Sit back and watch as your posts get more and more engagement.
This also means that you will soon be getting more conversions from your social media followers, more click throughs on your paid ads, and more page views on your blog. The right technique is key!
If you have any questions, get in touch with our specialist digital marketing team at onefoursix. We are happy to answer any questions you may have.
