Are Your Headlines Missing These Precise Psychological Triggers?

Are you avoiding learning about headlines because youre not a copywriter? Better not, because no matter whether you make a PowerPoint Presentation, sales call, or write an email, youre going to need this information. The last thing you need is a headline that will go glug glug and take your marketing strategy down with it.

Ok, now that Ive got your attention, belt up as we roller coaster our way into the science of how to recognise the power behind the headline. Find out for yourself the precise psychological reasons why headlines entice us so.

How Were Going to Play the Headline Game

Let me play tour guide. First, Ill give you three sets of headlines that really work. Ill identify the trigger in the headline. Then Ill tell you the psychological reasons WHY they work. Right after that you take over and implement these headlines in your marketing strategy. Comprende? Si? Lets go.

Psychological Trigger No. 1

Question-Based vs. Statement-Based Headlines

Do you make these mistakes in English?

Do you know where you fail in your marketing strategy?

Is Internet marketing driving you crazy?

Ladies and GentlemenPresenting the question-based headline! A headline that beats the living daylights out of a straightforward statement-based headline. When tested, a question like Do you know where you fail in your marketing strategy? gets far more attention than This is where youre failing in your marketing strategy. Which one would get your attention more: Dont struggle to pay your bills or Are you struggling to pay your bills?

So why does the brain go wakawaka when faced with a question - based headline? The reason is simple. Questions irritate the brain causing your grey cells to do a neurological dance. The very sight of a question mark forces your brain to want to know more.

Do you have a statement in your headline? You do, huh. Well swap it around for a question and then move to psychological trigger No. 2.

Psychological Trigger No. 2

Problem-Based vs. Solution-Based Headlines

Struggling to get ahead in your small business?

Is your computer's lack of speed driving you crazy?

Is your marketing strategy missing a vital link?

Now that you know the power of questions, these are double whammy headlines! They not only get your brain whizzing like a wind-up toy, but they also bring to the fore a pain in your brain. If your brain is doing mental aerobics right now, its because these headlines are causing you some real grief and you are the precise target audience.

You identify with these problems and are keen to solve them. The brain is fixated with solving problems. Its a basic survival instinct kicking in. For thousands of years, the brain has been moonlighting.

While its primary function is to make sure the rest of your body parts do what theyre supposed to, its side job is to keep you alive. Therefore it actively goes in search of potential problems you may have, and when it sees one in the headline, it says, Thats for me! and goes straight for the problem-based headline.

Yet look at most of the advertising around you. Its all solution based. You see it, then you dont. Recycle your solution-based headline into a nice problem-based power pack.

Done it? Ok, lets go screaming in to psychological trigger No. 3.

Psychological Trigger No. 3

Curious vs. Non-Curious Headlines

Notice the headline for this article? It has the word these in it. These implies there are certain psychological triggers. Now how the heck will you know which ones they are if you don't start reading this article? Sure you might be the living guru of marketing headlines, but even you cant be one hundred percent sure.

Youll take a peek, you think. A small peek. And you do, except its a very slippery slide once you get on, my friend.

A skillful communicator knows that he or she must get the curiosity factor to move bag and baggage into your headline. Its the key to literally sucking in an audience. Then its really up to the quality of the content, flow and your ability to keep your audience mesmerised.

Headlines with curiosity work because the brain is intensely curious. Tell a person not to look behind the door, and they want to look. Tell them they cannot have something and they want to know why. Analysis is all part of Mr. Brains job.

Every question needs to be answered, otherwise it pounds in your head like a jackhammer with questions that incessantly go Why? Why? Why? (Read the Power of Why) When you create a curiosity factor, you are literally switching on every single light in your customers brain.

Headlines with a HOW TO in them are typical curiosity-based headlines. They imply a problem that you might have and need to solve. And to prove my point, look at the next line and see how your eye goes wham, right into it!

How to Construct Headlines Without Making a Complete
Mess of Things
Let me show you how Id go about it. For instance, I wrote a lot of potential headlines for this article. These were the final four:

1) Psychological Reasons Why These Headlines Work Like Magic

2) Which Precise Psychological Reasons Cause These Headlines To Work Like Magic?

3) Is Your Marketing Strategy Missing These Precise Psychological Triggers?

4) Are Your Headlines Missing These Precise Psychological Triggers?

Lets Get These Guys on a Couch, Shall We?

1) Psychological Reasons Why These Headlines Work Like Magic

This headline had only one of the features above. It had a curiosity factor. However, it lacked a question and it certainly scored a big zero on the problem factor. Needless to say, it soon backspaced itself into oblivion.

2) Which Precise Psychological Reasons Cause These Headlines To Work Like Magic?

Ooh, this one was pretty powerful. It had the question. It was packed with curiosity, but it kind of fell flat faced on the problem audit. Goodbye, Monsieur Headline.

3) Is Your Marketing Strategy Missing These Precise Psychological Factors?

This one scored on all points. Curiosity, problems and question sat merrily together, expecting me to be as pleased as punch. I was, till I noticed one little discrepancy. It was appealing to the wrong target audience.

This headline would attract people who were interested in marketing strategy not headlines. They would come in, find themselves in the wrong room, drink a glass of wine and sneak out. I needed people to stay for the party. I needed people who were interested in headlines. People like you. Inevitably, I had to refine it just a little bit. And heres what I came up with.

4) Are Your Headlines Missing These Precise Psychological Triggers?

I personally believe this one was the most powerful of the lot. If it were a guy, Id let him marry my daughter (if I had one) and give him my blessings. This headline not only encapsulated all the triggers above, but it was precisely positioned. It went for a niche audience and got their full attention.

Whats Abraham Lincoln Got To Do With Headlines?
Abe apparently said, If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four sharpening the axe. Your headline is what you need to spend most of your time sharpening.

You see, people are always in their own world, thinking about their own problems. If you dont snap them out of their reverie, you dont have the slightest chance of getting them to buy in to whatever it is youre selling.

Theres Also Another Dimension to this Sharpening Gig

You cant be totally satisfied with the headline merely if it fits these three parameters. That is the science, not the art. The art is getting inside the brain of your customers. You'll find that a slightly different headline will bring in as much as twenty to two thousand times better returns without any change in content.

The only way you can know which one works better is to test headlines. Testing isnt as hard as you think. Put it in an email and send it to a dozen friends and colleagues. Youll soon get a pattern and probably some valuable feedback. Take it. It will help you carve a headline that will really get your customers attention.

Do You Need All Three Psychological Triggers Working at Once?
No you dont. A headline can work perfectly well with one or two of the above psychological triggers.

In life, three may be a crowd, but in headlines, its the more the merrier. Use the power of headlines in your marketing strategy, your PowerPoint presentations, sales calls, emails, newsletters, and even articles like these.

Better headlines mean better bottom lines. Simple logic, eh?

Have you seen a customer back away at the very last minute? Psychotactics help you overcome that frustration by looking inside the brain of your customer. Go to http://www.psychotactics.com today and find out for yourself.

2001-2005 Psychotactics Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Presenting To A Group

Presenting to a group can be a daunting prospect can it is easy to be intimated when having to do it. These nerves can cause us to make basic mistakes when presenting. I'm sure that you had had the misfortune to sit in on some quite terrible presentations over the years and hopefully also had an opportunity to see some great presentations.

While most would say that some of us are natural in these situations and therefore find it easier there are some guidelines to making the task more enjoyable and stimulating for all concerned.

All of us get nervous before the event so we need to be aware of how this nervousness can surface as part of the task at hand. Lets start before the event itself, usually we will have a chance to prepare, and this is crucial particularly if presenting is not one of our strengths. You have an opportunity to find out what will be important to those attending and can tailor your structure and content accordingly. It also gives you an opportunity to have a dry run. Get there early so that you have a chance to set up and familiarize yourself with the layout and structure of the room.

When you are introduced, slow down the process, in other words take more time to remember each person's name. One of reasons that we don't remember people names is that we rush through the initial introduction. Before you start ensure by checking that you are audible and that equipment can be seen. I always like to stand when there are three people or more. Speak more slowly than you would with your friends in the pub but remember to mix up the speed and tone of your voice accordingly.

Introduce the topics and running order of the presentation proper. In a group situation I will only spend a little time on rapport building. During the presentation play to your strengths, don't try to be a comedian unless you are genuinely funny.

Unfortunately most of us still depend on power point as information tool, the big problem with power point is that it is one-dimensional and non interactive so it is up to the presenter to compensate for these limitations. No one wants to hear power points slides being read word for word unless they have trouble sleeping so my suggestion is to only use it as a guide and to use your own words to communicate your pitch relaying real life examples of situations to demonstrate the benefits of your product.

Make sure that you move around. A moving person is a much more stimulating picture to our eyes and will hold our attention more than a stationary person. Be aware of both your own body language and of those attending. Try to involve the prospects in the process and take care not to single some one out as the main decision maker and focus all your attention on them. Encourage and stimulate questions and in a situation where you don't have the answer at hand, take a note and ensure them that you will get back to them.

In the unusual situation where one person is overly difficult or using a disruption behaviour pattern, agree to meet or talk to them one to one to resolve their concerns and relay the solution back to the entire group at a later.
Before you leave agree a next or serious of next steps tying in a time frame to carry out any objectives. Thank everyone for their input and shake hands with all present.

During the presentation if there is a disruption, someone needs to leave etc, stop presenting unless told otherwise and then highlight any points missed with the person when they return to the room.

Presentations to groups need not be the daunting experience that we sometimes think. It is hugely important that we inject our own personality into the task and do not depend solely on ill equipped tools such as power point. You never know, you might start to enjoy it.

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Beyond the Boardroom

Beyond the Boardroom is a leading business development consultancy and training provider based in Ireland. Working in the areas of recruitment, training and sales & marketing

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About the Author

Niall Devitt is a training consultant, business mentor and facilitator. With over a decade of experience working as senior sales manager and trainer for some of Ireland's top companies his expertise lies in creating and implementing performance driven sales programmes. Niall is regularly asked to contribute business articles and his advice has been published through the National Press and broadcast on Radio.

BTB Training Courses

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