If you want to write great sales letter headlines that will stop your ideal prospects in their tracks, have them read the rest of your copy and eventually buy from you, then this post is going to be one of the most important things you’ve ever read.
Well, what is the most important part of any sales letter?
The bullets?
Testimonials
Close?
No, no and not again. Instead, it is the title of your sales letter.
Now, I know what you are thinking …
How is it possible that something as small as the headline is the most important thing in the whole text?
Well, look at it like this:
It doesn’t matter how good your offer is, how engaging the story you write, how powerful your testimonials are, if no one reads your copy.
So the first “profit” you should make from writing a copy is getting your prospects to actually read it.
You do that through your headline.
With me until now?
Well. Forward.
Now, how do you write a good title for a sales letter?
Well this is what most people do:
They create a scrolling archive of all the biggest headlines in history.
So far, so good.
The thing is, instead of using these headlines as inspiration to write your own headlines, they literally swipe them word-for-word.
They just add and subtract a couple of words here and there, so it applies to your own product or market. And that’s that.
At first glance, you might think it’s smart.
If it worked once, it will work again, right?
Well, not so fast.
You see, there’s a reason those headlines worked so well. And it boils down to this:
The editors who wrote them knew their markets from the inside out.
Specifically, they knew two things:
1) How much the market knew about your product.
(This included what the product did, the mechanisms involved, and how well it satisfied a problem or desire they had.)
2) How AWARE your market was of any problems or desires they might have been experiencing at the time.
In his book “Innovative Advertising,” one of the great copywriters of all time, Eugene Schwartz, called this the “state of consciousness” of the marketplace.
And he said that you have to write your headline keeping in mind the CURRENT state of consciousness of your market.
If you don’t, then your sales letter headline won’t come home with your prospects …
Will fail …
And people who would have bought you otherwise won’t even read the rest of your copy.
What would be a real pain in the butt, right?
Anyway, there are 5 different states of consciousness that you must have. aware from. (Get it?)
These are:
Stage 1: Your potential customer knows about your product and wants it, but hasn’t been able to buy it yet.
Stage 2: Your potential customer knows your product but DOES NOT want to buy it yet.
Stage 3: Your potential customer is NOT aware of your product, but IS aware of a wish they have that your product would fulfill.
Stage 4: Your prospect does not know your product, even though they have a NEED that must be satisfied.
Stage 5: Your potential customer is not aware of your product AND is not aware of any needs or wants that they have in relation to what your product does.
Look:
You MUST know what stage of awareness your prospects are in, at that moment.
Why?
Because you have to use a different title “formula” for each stage.
What are these formulas? Let me tell you …
Stage 1: Your potential customer knows about your product and wants it, but hasn’t been able to buy it yet.
This one is easy.
All you really need to do in your title is state your product name and a bargain price.
People in this stage of consciousness will buy.
For example, everyone knows what an iPhone is. And there are millions of people who want one, but haven’t decided to buy it yet.
If the iPhone wrote a headline that said something as simple as:
“iPhone (whatever the latest model): now available at half price”, people would flock.
The thing is, most products don’t fall into this category. And if they don’t, then this type of headline would suck worse than my balls after ten sets of squats.
With that nice thought, let’s move on …
Stage 2: Your potential customer knows about your product, but doesn’t want to buy it yet.
Things are a bit more complicated now …
But not much else.
Here, you only need to strengthen your headline in one of the following 7 ways:
1) Reinforce your potential customer’s desire for the result that your product can help them achieve.
2) Sharpen the image of your product in action, in the mind of your potential customer.
David Ogilvy’s famous ‘Rolls-Royce’ ad title is a great example of this:
“At 60 mph, the loudest sound on this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.”
Now you can imagine driving a smooth as shit Rolls-Royce, right?
Amazing images.
3) Emphasize WHEN and WHERE your potential customer can use and benefit from your product.
For example, I never bothered with Netflix.
Until, that is, when I traveled around Thailand and wanted to see some movies in my spare time.
I didn’t think I could have Netflix on my phone.
But guess that? I saw a headline that said there was a Netflix mobile app and that it could stream movies from anywhere in the world.
Of course I later signed up, because I was no longer limited to watching movies in my room in England, I could watch them anywhere in the world, anytime I wanted.
4) Emphasize new documentation or evidence that supports the quality / efficacy of your product.
5) Mention a new mechanism in your product that makes it “work” better than before.
6) Mention a new mechanism in your product that overcomes a previous limitation you had.
For example, if there was a new ingredient in a beer that would prevent a hangover, that company would be stupid not to mention it in its headline!
7) Finally, you may want to completely change the image that the potential customer has of your product to eliminate it from the competition and / or enter a new market.
Lucozade did this.
It used to be a drink that people drank when they were sick. Then they relocated it as an energy drink that you can drink on a daily basis.
Genius.
Well, that’s the “Stage 2” on the Consciousness Scale done.
Let’s move on to stage 3 …
Stage 3: Your potential customer is NOT aware of your product, but IS aware of a wish they have that your product would fulfill.
Remember this:
If your potential customer doesn’t know about your product yet and doesn’t know what you can do for him, don’t mention it in your headline.
I understand?
Well.
Instead, you need to start with the DESIRE your potential customer has.
Your body copy must then show that the desire can be achieved.
And finally, you need to show them that your product is the best / only way they can fulfill that wish.
Next.
Stage 4: Your prospect does not know your product, even though they have a NEED that must be satisfied.
This is similar to “stage 3”, so we are not going to spend a lot of time on this.
Here, you want to name the need and / or your solution in your title.
So you really want to put salt on the wound, so to speak, by making your potential customer realize how badly you need a solution to their need.
And as before, present your product as the solution.
Stage 5: Your potential customer is not aware of your product AND is not aware of any needs or wants that they have in relation to what your product does.
Well, this is where a top copywriter makes their money.
If the title of your sales letter can attract people in this category, you should get a lot more sales and more money in your bank.
The thing is, how do you do it?
Well, as you may have guessed, you can’t mention your product.
You also can’t mention a wish, they don’t know it yet.
Price? Definitely not. At this stage, the price is also irrelevant.
Then what do you do?
Start with (drum roll, please) …
YOUR MARKET!
Yes, when targeting a market in this fifth awareness stage, you must first “call” your market, so they can identify with your ad.
If they don’t even identify with it, they won’t read on. Done.
Then, only after they have identified with your ad through its title, do the following in your main text:
First, you need to inform them about the problem or desire.
Then make them realize that there is a solution.
And finally, just like before, make sure they see YOUR product as the obvious solution.
Regardless, all of this might overwhelm you at first. It sure did.
It’s a lot to take in.
But if you can master this aspect of copywriting alone, your copy will convert better than 90% of your competitors.
Which means more money to you.
