Margie Dana

I usually change a blog headline several times before I’m satisfied. Often, it’s only after I’ve slept on it (so to speak) that a better headline comes to me.

Recently I wrote a post about a bad experience I’d had with a direct mail project. These are the first 2 headlines I wrote:

Customers Presume Their Direct Mail Experts Know Their Stuff
Customers Expect Their Direct Mail Experts to Know Their Stuff

Here’s what my thought process was:

The morning after I wrote #1, I felt that “Presume” was a bit too snarky, and changed it to “Expect.” This gave the post more of a positive tone. See that?

As I was doing final edits to the post, I thought…headline’s still too long. And not terribly interesting or specific enough.

The third and final headline popped into my head: The One Time a Direct Mailer Let Me Down.

Why does it work? It’s intriguing. It’s short. It promises to “dish” about an experience – and not just any experience, a negative one. “One” suggests the post will be short, and therefore worth one’s while. I felt it would attract direct mailers and printers and marketers: all groups I want to reach.

Could the headline have been nastier? Sure. Others may have written Why I Hate Direct Mailers or That Time a Printer Ruined My Event. It’s not my style to use sensationalism. To me, it’s a cheap trick.

Expect to rewrite every headline a few times before the perfect one hits you. Be as specific as you can while making it interesting and more likely to be clicked on.