The Basics of Writing Effective Headlines Series - Part I

This is part one of a series summarizing the important points of the advertising bible, Ogilvy on Advertising, specifically the chapter entitled Wanted: A Renaissance in Print Advertising.

I just finished reading one of the most brilliant books on advertising ever, Ogilvy on Advertising. One chapter of this book is probably as perfect as you’re gonna get as far as the nuts and bolts of effective advertising go. We’re going to look at some of Ogilvy’s ideas on writing good headlines.

Who’s this Ogilvy Cat Anyway?

David Ogilvy is one of the all-time greatest ad men ever, from the old school. To him an ad is only as good as it makes money, and if it is making money, you don’t change a word of it. He was primarily a product advertiser, and sold everything from soap to Rolls Royce cars and everything in between. Much of his work was done via one- or two-page magazine ads.

Do I Even Need a Headline?

The first rule may or may not come as a surprise to you. It’s almost so obvious that it doesn’t need stating, but a quick view of current advertising will show you that it’s still forgotten or ignored. The most important rule in headlines is:

Make sure there is one.

Ogilvy was a martyr for this rule and said that without exception every written ad should have a headline.

First off, without a headline an ad lacks that certain visual punch and it will get less attention. Without attention, of course, it will not make money and any ad that doesn’t make money is worthless, regardless of how beautiful or witty it may be.

And second, without a headline an can potentially become ambiguous. Most often, this last mistake is made by using an image in place of the headline. But an image without supporting text can be confusing or ambiguous and that’s the last thing you want.

We see this happen a lot in current billboard advertising, where there’ll be a picture of a truck and nothing else. What’s being sold, the truck? Or is it gasoline or maybe car insurance? Yes, we viewers can figure it out and connect the dots when we notice the Ford logo down in the corner, but that kind of advertising is slow and spineless. A strong ad never leaves the viewer to his own devices, but controls the reader from the headline all the way down to the call for action.

Weak ads make the viewer think, “Oh. I get it.”

Strong ads make the viewer think, “Man, I should really buy a ______.”