Customer
Catcher™ Tips
New Concept – Get More Customers & Save
95% on Marketing Costs
By Martin Wales
August 16, 2002
That’s right! You can get more customers and spend
LESS money. This is possible when you recognize the power
of the headlines you use in your marketing and advertising.
If this surprises you then it is a new concept for you,
even though it’s based on proven and time-tested marketing
strategies.
The headline is unquestionably the most important element
in marketing. A headline can be the first sentence in any
ad, sales letter or written piece you send out to prospects,
customers, suppliers, or staff. It can also be the first
words you or your sales staff speak when they address anyone
in a sales presentation or a one-on-one telephone conversation.
The headline must be powerful enough to draw the attention
of people bombarded with hoards of information at an ever-quickening
pace. Used correctly, headlines reduce your cost of marketing
and sales, they attract the attention of more prospects
and they get clients to qualify, or even disqualify, themselves.
Headlines are essentially the “ad for the ad.”
The purpose of the headline is to grab your prospect’s
ATTENTION. If you do not capture someone’s attention
in the first two or three seconds, you lose him or her as
a reader and potential customer. It should inform the reader
immediately and clearly of the essence of what you are going
to say in the body copy.
The headline must contain an exciting or provocative claim
about your product or service. This can be a BIG BENEFIT
or BIG PROMISE. “Six Times Whiter Washes,” or,
“How to Increase Your Standard of Living Without Changing
Jobs,” are examples.
Business Results, a strategic marketing company, states
that, “A one-half page, black and white advertisement
with a well-written headline can produce 10 times more leads
than a full-page, 4-colour ad with a poor headline.”
On average, the smaller black and white ad will cost about
half to a third of the money of the 4-colour, full-page
ad. Let’s say the full-page colour ad was $10,000
and pulled 20 responses while the half-page, black and white
ad was $5,000 and pulled 200 responses. The cost of each
lead for the colour ad is $500. The smaller black and white
ad with the better headline has a $25 cost per lead. That’s
a cost saving of 95%!
Direct your headlines only at the prospects that you want
to call you. If it is too general but offers a great benefit,
you may find yourself on the phone wasting time with people
who don’t qualify and would never buy your product
or service. To demonstrate, think of a software package
for retail stores that costs $100,000 per site. You want
to qualify prospects in your headline. You might write,
“Revolutionary Software for Companies with Million
Dollar Inventories.” Any store too small probably
wouldn’t respond to this ad.
Frequently, businesses make a mistake seemingly based on
the ego of the company. Businesses use their own name as
the headline. They proudly state, “Williams Tires,”
or “Johnson & Associates,” without stating
their area of expertise which sets them apart from their
competition. Williams Tires might focus on “The Largest
Selection of Tires for Foreign Sports Cars.” Johnson
& Associates might indicate they have, “Custom-built
Vacation Homes by Local Architects.”
In almost all of the marketing audits conducted by Business
Results, they find that the headlines, and much of the marketing,
are focused on the characteristics or benefits of the company.
How many times have you seen, “In business since…”
and, “Leaders in our industry.” Business Results
offers these guaranteed marketing audits at introductory
prices to demonstrate their services while helping business
owners assess their current efforts.
How can you determine the best headlines for your business?
You can test variations of your headlines. You might try
two separate ads with the same body copy but two different
headlines in the same magazine over a two-month period.
Which ever pulls more responses becomes your control headline.
Now you can test newer headlines against the control. If
you end up with a tie, use both headlines!
A change of headline can make a 20 times improvement in
response by your customers or prospects. Every headline
should appeal to the prospect’s or reader’s
self-interest. It should promise a desirable, powerful and
appealing benefit.
Remember, your client or customer is not buying a product
or service. They are buying a result, a benefit, an advantage,
protection or increased pleasure or whatever your company
can offer or provide them. ALWAYS, ALWAYS focus your headlines
on the benefit or specific result your prospect will be
receiving. Ask yourself why you read this article.
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