Headline Hooks: Get Yours Here

In my last post I gave a working definition of a hook, and some examples of there use in winning headlines.  So by now you should have no difficulty recognizing them on your strolls past the newstand, and on sales pages online.  Hooks or paradoxes are not the only way to capture your prospect's interest in a headline, but it is tried and true, and very useful in competitive markets.

For example, the weight loss industry.  This industry is evergreen and sophisticated.  Ads have been around for a long time.  Countless strategies and tactics have been invented, tried and tested.  The government has even outlawed some of them.  Ask your lawyer about the phrase 'melts fat'.  Ironically, there was a time when that industry couldn't even exist.  As being 'overweight' became unattractive (and as people, with a cheap and copious supply of food, became increasingly obese), a desire to be thin and beautiful was born.  On a mass scale. 

This mass desire was great enough to interest some bright marketer as being commercial, and broad enough to ultimately welcome a myriad of successfully competing products, as well as a host of unsuccessful attempts.  But to go back to a moment to that first weightloss headline, which do you think would have been more successful: "Lost Doctor Discovers Tibetan Weight Loss Miracle Herb – Guaranteed to Take Off 4 Inches in 6 Weeks, or Double Your Money Back", or "Lose Weight"?  Well, of course the latter headline would be far more effective in a virgin market, where the former would garner only guffaws of disbelief.  In today's market, however, "Lose Weight" would be lucky to even get a "so what?" response.  With an added piece of human interest, a hook, or a new mechanism, however... 

Still with me?  Good.  Hopefully, you are asking what all this has to do with you.  Your headline must take into account all we've discussed together.  From the mass desire to the features of the product, from the big promise to the hook.  And you've got the tools now to find all of those, except the last. 

You are looking for pieces of human interest.  Details that stretch the limits of believability.  Something that happens in an exotic place.  Something with shock value.  Something that couldn't be, or shouldn't.  If you are working for someone else, you have to get them to tell stories.  About how the product came into being.  What the factory worker's nickname for the product is.  Why their lawyer discouraged them from offering the product or service, or why their accoutant tried to reject the discount.  Your job is to ask questions, and to listen. 

If you are selling yourself, or your own product, the hook may be in your personality.  Or it may be anything described above.  The process is the same.  You must ask yourself the questions, and filter them through your sales process to reveal that priceless bit of human interest.  Try to step out of your business.  Interview people who have been with you through the process.  It's more art than science here, so don't censor. 

As you practice, as you learn to look for hooks in headlines, you will begin to gain an intuitive feel for what makes a good hook.  If you want some homework, consider your story, and all the improbable turns you took in life to get where you are now.  You'll be amazed at all the 'hooks' you find.

To Your Copywriting Mastery

Sheridan Randolph

P.S.  I keep talking about leveraging our work here.  We'll take a break from headlines; that post on leveraging is up next.