Writing Great Headlines: Don't Overpromise
Here is a test of two headlines that I just wanted to share with you. One headline was more subtle and the other one was a bit more aggressive. It turns out that for the target audience of our client the subtle headline far outsold the more aggressive headline. What was the difference?
Take a look:
Winning headline:
Losing headline:
The results:
Sign-up rate of winning headline: 16.22% (641 visitors)
Sign-up rate of losing headline: 13.15% (502 visitors)
Gain = 23%
The only difference between the two headlines was that in one sub-headline we added the words “Starting Today.” That’s it! However, that alone dropped the sign-up rate from 16% to 13%! So, the next time you write a headline, be cautious and don’t be too pushy, and the results may surprise you.
I think it all depends on the current product offering. some products could actually benefit from a headline titled “starting today”
I wonder if ‘starting today’ may give readers the idea that this is going to be an ongoing and possibly quite long process while the other headline doesn’t imply a time frame at all.