Some copywriters are geniuses when it comes to headlines (btw, some art directors are too). But, sheer talent aside, headlines are so important that they often need extra attention.
When you're short on time, or simply stuck in a creative rut, here are 35 formulas from legendary adman John Caples.
- Begin your headline with the words “How To”
- Begin your headline with the word “How”
- Begin your headline with the word “Why”
- Begin your headline with the word “Which”
- Begin your headline with the words “Who Else”
- Begin your headline with the word “Wanted”
- Begin your headline with the word “This”
- Begin your headline with the word “Because”
- Begin your headline with the word “If”
- Begin your headline with the word “Advice”
- Use a testimonial headline
- Offer the reader a test
- Offer valuable information
- Tell a story
- Warn the reader against delaying buying
- Speak directly to the reader
- Address your headline to specific person or group
- Have your headline ask a question
- Offer benefits through facts and figures
- Begin your headline with the word “Introducing”
- Begin your headline with the word “Announcing”
- Use words that have an announcement quality
- Begin your headline with the word “New”
- Begin your headline with the word “Now”
- Begin your headlines with the words “At Last”
- Put a date into your headline
- Write your headline in news style
- Feature the price in your headline
- Feature reduced price
- Feature a special merchandising offer
- Feature an easy payment plan
- Feature a free offer
- Use a one-word headline
- Use a two-word headline
- Use a three-word headline
Granted, some of these may seem dated, and you may be working in a medium that hadn't even been imagined yet in Caples's time. But, these prompts combine tried-and-true-and-tested direct marketing with what's foremost in the potential customer's mind.
And, that's a powerful formula — in 1931 (when he published this list in his Tested Advertising Methods) or today.