The headline is capable of doing a huge variety of things — informing about the subject matter, inciting an emotional response, creating mystery, asking a question, and more. But the purpose of the headline, according to Joseph Sugarman, author of The Adweek Copywriting Handbook, is much simpler: To get you to read the copy.

He’s right, of course. Unless you can get readers to click through to the article, none of your other content matters.

Of course, creating an irresistibly clickable headline isn’t as simple as Sugarman makes it sound. And there is an element of integrity involved — unless you want to be the B2B version of Upworthy (“This content marketer modified the wording of his CTAs. You won’t believe what happened next.”), you need to make sure that your headline delivers enough information to be motivational without being cheap “clickbait.”

In general, an effective B2B headline will fall into one of five basic categories:

1.    Announcement — This simple headline is just a straightforward statement of the purpose of the content. It works best for content that is inherently motivating, like announcement of a sale, promotion, or new release.

2.    Question — This tactic works well because after reading the question, viewers automatically want to know the answer. Try asking questions that you know your audience is already asking, such as how to solve certain problems.
 
3.    How-To — Not only does this headline make the value you’re offering clear, but it has the added benefit of being great for SEO, since “how to” search strings are so common. To keep these from being bland, turn “How to …” into something stronger, like “How to … Better than Your Competitors” or “How to … in Half the Time.”
 
4.    Command — These headlines use strong verbs to inspire action, but can come off as unpleasant if you’re not careful! Make sure what you’re commanding your audience to do is something you know they want, like “Stop Wasting Time on …”
 
5.    Numbers — Numerals are eye-catching. Try a “# Ways to…” or a “# Reasons Why …” headline, or even “The Number 1 Way to …” Make sure to avoid numbers that are too high or too low. “2 Tips for Writing CTAs” doesn’t sound valuable, but “101 Tips for Writing CTAs” sounds like way too much work.

Above all, don’t skimp on the headline! Don’t be afraid to spend some time working out a strong, clickable headline, because if you don’t, all the time you spent on the copy itself has been wasted.

You want more than just an actionable headline — you want actionable content. Contact the experts at Proven Systems by email or at (970) 223-6565 to learn more.