24 Headline Structures To Boost Your Response

Headlines may be single element that can do the most to improve response in all your marketing.

According to David Ogilvy, founder of ad giant Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, unless your headline really works, “you have wasted 90% of your (ad) money.” Headline opportunities abound, including the top of direct mail sales letters, the front of brochures, ads, web sales pages, landing pages, opt-in pages, emails, and more.

It’s widely known that having a deadline in your sales letter adds urgency to your marketing message – and helps increase response. But even better than just a deadline is an urgency story.

What I mean by that is making a mini-story out of your urgency message. It’s one of the techniques I have used in over 25 years of copywriting that almost always elevates response.

The best sales letters are made truly effective during the editing process. When you have a first draft take a close look at it. Here are some suggestions and questions to ask yourself to make you sales letter more effective:

1) Does the headline command attention?
2) Does the headline make me want to read the next sentence?
3) Is the headline credible?
4) Does the headline present any news?
5) Does the main subhead (“deck copy”) elaborate on the headline and make me want to read the next sentence?