Copywriting Tips – Hooks, Headlines And Benefits

If you stop by one of the biggest Internet marketing forums on the Internet, you’ll find a sub forum on copywriting with the following headline on the forum description…Copywriting Forum – Hooks, Headlines & Benefits. Why do you think they chose this as a description? Well, if you’re not sure, I’ll fill you in. It’s because these are three of the most important things you need to keep in mind when writing sales copy. I’m going to touch on each one briefly.
Hooks are very important because they draw the reader in. A good hook is really very important in any medium. As a former songwriter, I remember an A&R guy telling me that if you get nothing else right with your song, you MUST have a killer hook. That’s what sells the song. Well, it’s the same thing with writing copy. The hook is going to be what sells the reader. Sure, all the other things help, including the next thing I’m going to cover, but the hook is most of the battle.
Headlines sell your reader 80% of the time. In other words, if your headline stinks, your reader is probably not going to get past it. That’s why a headline is just as important as the hook. A great headline can tell your reader almost exactly what the rest of the sales message is going to be about. For example, my headline in my Basic Copywriting page says “If I Could Show You How To Save $2,500 To $15,000 In Copywriting Costs…Would That Be Worth 5 Minutes Of Your Time?” The reader knows right away what to expect with the rest of the copy and how long it’s going to take out of their day.
Finally there are the benefits. What many copywriters don’t understand is that features tell, but benefits sell. A person does not buy a PC with a 4 gig processor because it’s a 4 gig processor. They buy it because they know that it’s going to speed up their work and give them more time to do other things. That’s the benefit. That’s what people care about. When you understand that, you’re that much closer to making the sale.
Hooks, headlines and benefits are so important to effective sales copy. Master these three things and your copy will improve by 100%. Want to know how to improve them and a lot more? Check out the link in my signature. It WILL turn you into a copywriter in no time.
To YOUR Success