Often, I spend a lot of time addressing my pet peeve of "media ahead of message." The basic premise is that you should not choose which media to use to deliver your message until you have determined who you’re targeting and what you need to say to appeal to them. Then – and only then – should you choose the media.
If you’ve come that far and you find yourself needing to use a headline in a print advertising medium, I want you to consider your headlines – their importance and how to use them correctly.
I run across clients every day that tell me that they get no return on investment from any of their advertising – and they blame the medium. In my opinion, this can be a terrible and financially costly assumption. In truth, it could be that you chose the wrong message – something that didn’t get the attention, engage, motivate or even interest your target audience. It could be that you forgot to include a headline altogether (for instance, your business name in bold across the top of an ad does not count as a headline). Or, your headline could have been little more than ordinary. Was your design such that the headline stood out graphically – that it reached out and grabbed your readers eyes and attention?
Some of the most successful small business headlines we’ve prepared, for instance, were large bold white type reversed on black ink – that asked a question. Not just any question but a personal, poignant or catchy question that talked directly to the target audience. By engaging the target customer in a conversation that said "I understand you and your needs and I care about them," ads moved prospects forward in the lead chain because of a strong headline.
In the end, you must understand the purpose of a headline – and don’t expect more or less. Chris Garrett
says Headlines are Stop Signs, Not Sell Signs. Whatever you do, don’t
expect the headline to sell for you – but on the flip side – don’t
expect the reader to stop without a show stopping headline.
