First impressions matter a lot. So it shocks me that we don't spend more time crafting people-first headlines.
Headlines are the first impression. They either pull you in or push you away.
We definitely have over-indexed on company-first or algorithm-first headlines for far too long.
We need to get back to writing headlines for people. This includes email subject lines, headlines on your website, headlines for blog articles, event and webinar titles, and so on.
Here are some of my favorite people-first headline writing tips.
1) Use an AI assistant tool like ChatGPT to brainstorm some different variations of a headline. Getting anywhere from five to 20 ideas is a great starting point.
2) Get out your handy thesaurus and start playing with variations of different words in the headline options.
3) Be specific. Use exact numbers, clear descriptions, and adjectives and verbs that go deeper on what you’re trying to say.
4) Take a few of the headlines and put them into Google, see what comes back, and do some research.
5) Narrow the list down to two or three and share the shortlist with others on your marketing or sales teams to get their reactions.
6) If it makes sense, go public with your headlines in the form of a LinkedIn poll. Or do a post with one of them as the hook and gauge the reaction. Either method could give you some inspiration.
Most importantly, don't wait until the last minute to do this exercise. Great people-first headlines should not be treated as an afterthought. I like to sit on them for a couple of days to let them marinate in my head.
Happy headline writing!