Headlines that Hook

Classification … PROSPERITY > #WRITING, #HOWTO, #HEADLINES, #NONFICTION … (FULL SYSTEM)
Overview … If you need to create advertisements or documents that sell something, the core practice of creating an offer and transforming that into a headline that grabs your target reader is probably the most important step you’ll take in the entire document.

John Caples said, in 1932, “If you use a poor headline, it does not matter how hard you labor over your copy because your copy will not be read.” His core belief was that the headline determines whether the advertisement works or not.

He says, “The best headlines are those that appeal to the reader’s self-interest.”

Here is a fellow who’s just read about something in his self-interest, and he’s kind of excited about it …

Mr. Caples also says, “A long headline that really says something is more effective than a brief headline that says nothing.” (Clarity beats brevity.)

I’ve found it to be true in my experience. It boils down to finding a product and a market, choosing how you think it might most powerfully APPEAL to some people who have a problem

And then you figure out HOW you will present this SOLUTION to SOMEONE who has a PROBLEM—that is, how you will APPEAL to them—and then you spend very careful time finding a way to say it so as to make it as IRRESISTABLE as you can.

Caples believes that the headline does 80% of the job. And he says, “The headline and the appeal are one and the same.”

Many people write copy and creating this sales copy can take a lot of time. But no matter how well it’s constructed, it matters nothing unless someone reads it. And that is the single, important, essential job of the headline.

There are actually a number of ways to go about this, all well thought out by masters of the past like Eugene Schwartz, Victor Schwab, and Robert Collier; later powerhouse marketers like Joe Sugarman, Gary Halbert, and Dan Kennedy; and more-recent specialists like Jay Abraham, Michael Masterson, and Robert Bly.

And ALL of them excel at:

• Analysing a product to find a unique APPEAL

• Great clarity about the exact group of people who have a matching PROBLEM

• Finding a way to understand how the product will solve that problem

• Construct a HEADLINE like a hammer-to-the-head of exactly those people

• That leads them IRRESISTABLY into reading that next paragraph

• (Oh yeah, then they write copy so good their readers can’t look away.)

But the point is:

1. You gotta grab someone’s eyes (i.e., you have an advertisement that they will see)

2. You gotta HOOK their interest. That’s the headline’s job.

3. You gotta make them feel safe, turn up the heat, and then tell them what to do.

First of all, realize that you could be a crappy writer, and not very smart … but if you can connect the right product, with the right target customer, with the right appeal, to solve their problem, and a headline that they simply must read … then you’ll succeed much better than writers five times more clever.

Or, as Caples would say, “What you say is more important than how you say it.”

Think of it like this: In the dating world, striking up a conversation with someone you find attractive is hugely more important than what you say. In our world, most folks think that having the best “pick-up line” is the most important thing. But it isn’t.

In fact, in a crowded place—like a bar—the best pick-up line is often, “Hello.”

Just as you had an immediate reaction that made them attractive to you, they’ll have an immediate reaction to you, and if they like you, they’ll help you get a conversation going. (And if they don’t, they’ll let you know or escape or burst into flame and sink through the floor.)

The MOST IMPORTANT THING was walking up and saying anything. And if what you’re offering is attractive, then you’re off to the races.

So remember, before you get all excited about the clever ways you can word that so-important headline, you need to solve the problem of product>group of people>problem>solution>appeal. Then if you just speak plainly to those people about how that problem will be solved, you’re 90% there.

And ONLY THEN, you will spend a LOT of time finding the way to say it that will be the most focused statement to HOOK their interest, so they’ll read your paragraphs of information and sign up for what you have to offer.

So: How will a headline accomplish these things?

It will irresistibly HOOK the attention of exactly those people you’ve selected for your appeal to reach. And how well it does that is a function of how well you’ve seen your product, people, problem, appeal … and then how clearly your headline speaks to them.

Oops. That’s too big a subject for this article. :)

I can give you a very general outline of what to focus on, though. Here’s a very brief summary …

1. Who is your target customer, and what problem are they aware of?

2. What will you offer them?

3. What are the fantastic benefits they get?

A more in-depth system will have to be a discussion for another article. (But see the Masterson book referenced in footnotes at the end.)

• “They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano — But When I Started to Play!”

  John Caples — the most famous ad headline in history

• “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?”

  Maxwell Sackheim — one of the longest‑running ads of all time

• “How I Improved My Memory in One Evening”

  Ran for decades in magazines; classic curiosity plus a benefit

• “A Little Mistake That Cost a Farmer $3,000 a Year”

  Claude Hopkins — a “story + lesson” headline

• “How a Strange Accident Saved Me from Baldness”

  A legendary mail‑order headline; pure curiosity

• “Are You Ever Tongue‑Tied at a Party?”

  Robert Collier — emotional pain point + social desire

• The 4-Hour Workweek

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

• The 5 Love Languages

• The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

• How to Win Friends and Influence People

• The Millionaire Next Door

• Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

• How Not to Die

• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

• How to Make Money in Stocks

• The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

Formats for Articles (somewhat different than sales-copy headlines) …

• The Truth about _______

• The Warning Signs of _______

• Surprising Secrets of _______

• How to _______ like a _______ (eg: How to cook an omelet like a French chef)

• What Every _______ Should Know about _______

• What _______ Don’t Want You to Know about _______

• Protect _______ from _______ (eg: Protect Your Money from the IRS)

• Best _______ of _______ (eg: Best Marketing Books of All Time)

The lead paragraph follows the headline. Its job is to further engage the reader into reading more of the sales copy. The job of the headline is to hook the reader. The job of the lead paragraph is to fan that little flame, expanding the emotion of what the reader will get, and make him want to read the rest.

• I’ll make You a Mental Wizard in One Evening!

  Yes! Here at last is your chance to gain the THINKING-MACHINE MIND you’ve dreamed about ... so easily and quickly you’ll be astounded ... and do it without risking a penny!

• You are Twice as Smart as you Think!

  And these seven simple actions will prove it to you in a single weekend -- by doubling your power to learn!

• Build a Memory in 4 Weeks So Powerful it’s beyond your Wildest Dreams!

  Quite frankly this is an almost unbelievable advertisement for what has justly been called, “The Most Explosive Memory Course Ever Written.”

• Doctors in Sweden Say there IS a Cure for Arthritis

  There IS a cure for arthritis ... according to a number of Swedish physicians who have developed for this dread disease an unorthodox treatment which they have found to be notably successful.

• Are You Ready to Use SELF-HYPNOTISM to Make Life Give YOU What You Want?

  Now, at last, the famous expert who teaches doctors and psychiatrists MEDICAL HYPNOSIS has prepared the master work of his life on SELF HYPNOTISM.

• OVERCOMING FEARS

  Do you dread heights, closed spaces, the water? A prominent psychologist gives a two-step method you can use to conquer these and other paralyzing phobias.

• HOW TO LIVE TO BE A HUNDRED

  At last! A leading American doctor releases positive proof that you can add up to forty health-packed years to your life -- AND LOOK UP TO TWENTY YEARS YOUNGER DOING IT!

• Now You Can SHED POUND AFTER POUND QUICKLY AND EASILY

  -- Through the Matic of “Push-Button” Self-Hypnotism! Here -- For the First Time -- is a Simple, Safe, Sane Way to Reduce and Control Your Weight!

Many of these simple “self help” advertisements were used in the 1950’s and 1960’s, when large-format magazines were popular, television wasn’t highly developed, and long-copy, full-page advertisements were found throughout these magazines.

In the culture of those times, our nation was no longer mainly rural, and self-betterment and getting rid of unwanted conditions emerged as problems for which “new” solutions were being found and sold, often information products (because you can ship a booklet cheaply).

In our times, gadgets and toys and tools, vehicles and clothing and fast food, household products and skincare and fragrances, streaming services and social media and music platforms have hugely expanded. These dominate the field nowadays.

But evergreen problems such as “self-improvement” via books, career-improvement programs, and confidence-building programs are still with us. And “health repair” and wellness products including vitamins, weight-loss products, and medicines are still popular. Fixing “social problems” are still in huge demand with dating apps, meditation apps, and stress-reduction devices.

The things you sell are probably different from the time of Caples and Schwartz, but the process of finding a group of people with a problem, a product that could solve the problem, and your task of finding the appeal and how to make your offer irresistible … those are still the same.

The “things” are different, but the problems are the same.

And how you create Headlines that Hook … it’s still the same. :)

Useful Books for Further Reading (Available on Amazon and elsewhere.)

• “Tested Advertising Methods,” by John Caples

• “Great Leads: The Six Easiest Ways to Start Any Sales Message,” by Michael Masterson & John Forde

• “How to Create Irresistible Offers: The Easiest Way on Earth to Make Your Marketing Generate More Leads, Orders, and Sales,” by Robert W. Bly

• “Positioning: How to be Seen and Heard in the Overcrowded Marketplace,” by Al Ries and Jack Trout

• “How to Write a Good Advertisement,” by Victor Schwab

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