Advertising - Head Lines and Tag Lines

Truly great brands are far more than just labels for products; they are symbols that encapsulate the desires of consumers; they are standards held aloft under which the masses congregate. - Tony O'Reilly (b. 1936), Irish entrepreneur.

Many people use boring or unappealing head or tag lines for their ads.

These unappealing head or tag lines do not communicate precise, immediate, and direct benefits. While some ads may seem "nice" or "catchy," some do not generate the response nor the business for which they were intended.

A head or tag line is not meant to advertise the business, the product, the service, or the sale (or event). It's meant to advertise the advertisement. It's the ad for the ad.

A head or tag line is meant to land the reader's attention. In essence, the true role of a head or tag line is to grab the reader's attention in order to keep them reading. Once they read the ad, then -- and only then -- interest should be developed.

Your head or tag line must be packed with benefits. Not only that, it must communicate direct, specific, and immediate benefits (i.e., the benefits of reading the ad in the first place). Here are 2 tips on how to increase the attention-factor in your head or tag lines:

GAPPING
Usually, there is a gap between the prospect's problem and its solution. However, many prospects do not know that there is a problem to begin with. A head or tag line that communicates the presence of such a gap (or the widening of one) will most likely appeal to those who can immediately relate to such an idea. In other words, those who are attracted by the head or tag line always had the "gap" in the back of their minds, but the head or tag line merely brings it back to the top and causes them to read on. Hence, they want to know how, by reading your ad, they can close that gap.

Again, it's all a matter of perception. To use a head or tag line that conveys a problem is to simply make the reader aware that there is one (or, at least, reinforce it) and then to demonstrate that the solution exists further in the ad.

FREEBIES
Many studies have shown that the greatest technique in advertising that can double -- and sometimes even triple -- the readership of an ad is the use of a simple, single, four-letter word... The word "FREE." People are astonishingly attracted to freebies. Freebies, in an ad, can create a lot of response, but in a head or tag line a freebie can multiply the response rate exponentially.

Ideally, offer a free sample, a free product, or a free service of some kind. However, being in the information age, the "free report" or "free info kit" is a favorite. People love to soak up new information since learned experience is more cost-effective and less time-consuming than that which has been learned *from* experience.

Remember this simple axiom: The head or tag line is the ad for the ad. It is not meant to "show off" or to sell the reader on your business, Web site, product, or service. It is simply an attention grabber. Once you've developed attention, you can then create interest and then increase desire... But hey, that's a whole new article.

Good luck!