by Miriam Hara | Aug 7, 2015 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Latest
The big ‘headline’ first made front page news during the 19th century newspaper wars when papers everywhere were fighting for readers’ attention. You’ve seen it in old movies — the kid on the street corner hawking the newspaper by yelling out the day’s headline! We’re still hawking with headlines. But are they effective? And do the old rules still apply? To be effective, your headlines need to be HOT!
If you don’t pull ’em in with the headline, anything else you write won’t matter.
Five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. That was true years ago and it’s still true. No one reads the body copy and ignores the headline. If you don’t pull ’em in with the headline, anything else you write won’t matter. The medium doesn’t matter either: online or print — whether it’s advertising, journalism, a magazine article, Social Media via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. — the headline’s job never changes. Where the medium does matter is the sheer volume of headlines we’re exposed to via technology. To stand out, yours has to speak up louder and clearer than the street-corner kid. It must:
1. Grab attention.
2. Speak directly to the target audience.
3. Work as a complete message. Body copy is there only to flesh out the message.
A simple Google search hits the hot spots for a good headline
At its simplest, and strange as it might seem, a simple Google search hits the hot spots for a good headline. You want to know why your goldfish are dying in your backyard goldfish pond, so you type into the search engine: ‘Why are goldfish dying in my pond?’ It’s short, snappy, to the point. I’m not saying it’s a headline, but when agonizing over headlines, it helps to think of them in this way. My Google search about goldfish:
- Grabs attention: the attention of all websites on the subject.
- Speaks to a target audience: everyone who has something to say about dying goldfish (more on this below).
- Is a complete message: I want to know why my goldfish are dying.
I typed the goldfish question into Google and got 336,000 results — those results also illustrate the kind of competition we’re up against in advertising our brands today; thousands upon thousands of headlines with products, services or information vying for consumers’ attention. Now think about the search results; they work in much the same way as a headline.
A good search response, like a good headline, will reel me in and leave me happily fishing in a pond of information.
Results that are concise, descriptive and resonate with me, I’ll click on them. The ones that don’t, I’ll ignore: just like I’ll ignore a headline that doesn’t ‘move’ me. (An aside: all of this also illustrates the point of how important it is to get SEO right, so your website cuts through the clutter and rises to the top in search engine results.)
There’s a global glut of information out there and multiple mediums through which our advertising message can be delivered. So how do we cut through the clutter and get our message across in a way that’s hotter than everyone else’s with a similar product or service to sell? The old rules still apply …
- Make it short. How many words? you’re probably asking. “As many as needed,” David Ogilvy, the father of advertising, used to say. As many as needed is important: it doesn’t mean use a lot, it means exactly what it says: as many as needed to …
- Make it immediately compelling so that customers want to read more.
- Speak to the audience. Vitally important! A headline speaks to a target market, one you’ve researched thoroughly (hopefully!) before you ever start to think about headlines and body copy. It speaks to people who care about what you have to offer and that’s where your focus should be.
- Make sure your headline works with the visual(s). Think about ads you’ve seen. Look at a few critically after reading this. How often is the headline simply describing the visual? What a waste of space. If the visual is so weak you need to describe it, then you have a bigger issue.
- Understand catchy and clever! Sure, we remember catchy, clever headlines, but if we don’t remember the brand and what it’s selling, what’s the point?
- Humour can work, it can add personality, make a headline memorable, when used wisely and appropriately.
For small businesses without the backing of an agency skilled in creating great ad copy, it’s worth taking time to learn more about headlines, because dollars spent on advertising a truly great product using a truly ineffective headline are dollars wasted.
10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas that work
100 Good Advertising Headlines
The Formula for a Perfect Headline
Best recent headline you’ve read? Send it to me! #SharedWisdom
by Miriam Hara | Aug 4, 2015 | Advertising, Agency, Business Success, Deadline, Latest, Management, Marketing
Time is of the essence!
More than any other decade, business is running at the speed of light, which makes the efficient use of time ultimately the most important element to control. When I first entered the advertising business, the industry was notoriously known for its fast pace and deadlines. Contrary to corporate marketing departments, who albeit were also working at a faster pace than other departments in the same organization, advertising agencies owned the “RUSH” space. By owning that space, agency people often worked longer hours, weekends, evenings, around the clock to make an impending deadline. I can sincerely say, our industry no longer holds the monopoly on time. No matter what business you’re in today, time is of the essence!
All bets are off on personal time, downtime; any time is the time to work or check off one more item on the list of tasks to do and things to accomplish.
It goes without saying that the team around you, your colleagues, your support staff and every one in between plays a role in you efficiently managing your time and maintaining control over projects, launches and plans.
As a team member, or player or even potential wannabe team member, how does one add value to the department, the job, and ultimately the boss. Here’s a few of my thoughts:
1) When deadlines are looming and there just isn’t enough time, don’t tell me what you can’t do, tell me what you can do. Only then can a secondary plan of action emerge.
2) If there is an issue, and there are often issues with any project, don’t just come in and report the problem, without having all the facts. If the facts aren’t clear, you can’t work on a solution. Or better yet, come in with a solution – that would wow any manager.
3) Don’t say you can do something, then not; only to say you didn’t have the time. That only means you haven’t made the time. And that only means one of two things. 1) You felt it wasn’t important enough to get it off your list and 2) You didn’t plan or allot time to getting it done in a timely manner. Either way, it’s not good.
4) When tasks come your way, no matter how menial you perceive them to be, don’t just “do”. It’s the small things that shout the loudest in making impressions. So don’t just take direction, and do it; understand the need and ultimately the ‘why’ of what is being asked, so you can add value.
5) For all new business development managers, or client engagement managers, or any permutation thereof, if you’re successful in getting a meeting to present your organization’s services, don’t provide no more than what can be found on your website. That’s a waste of time, for both of us – and it’s also a missed opportunity.
And last but not least…
6) For all of you trying to break into any industry; don’t send in a resume for a job that you’re not qualified for. Wasting my time by having me read it only to find out that you’re not qualified for it – that only frustrates me. If you want to apply, then by all means do, but do something different; something that will provide me with a perspective of who and what you are about. Sending in a resume that you don’t have any qualifications for, without any explanation or counter claim, isn’t going to cut it – Honest.
by Joyce Turner-Gionet | Jul 29, 2015 | Advertising, Business Success, Communications, Latest, Marketing
Addicted to making lists? You’re not alone. We all (well, most of us) love lists. We don’t just make them because we’re busy, or because our memory’s occasionally letting us down. We’ve been ‘listing’ from the beginning.
As kids it was: “Who’s coming to my birthday party,” and we’d get busy making a list. We made impulsive mental lists — deciding we’d eat the icing flower on top of the cupcake first, then lick the icing, then eat the rest (that was the order in which I did it, my little brother did it differently). Back in the day, we had a ‘Pet the Snake’ club on the bank of a river. We’d catch a garter snake and then list names in chalk on the wall under the bridge of those who were brave enough to pet it. You were in the club if you were brave enough. Life was simple. Lists were simple.
Many of us are compulsive list makers
As adults, many of us are compulsive list makers. We don’t always write our lists down, we compose them in our head. Waking up in the morning, we think about what we are going do today: that’s a list. When we mull over solutions to a problem, we’re ‘listing’.
We regularly ‘list’ at work. Marketing couldn’t exist without lists: leads, accounts, and contacts, even a list of marketing strategies in order to settle on the best. Advertising is no different: a client brief is a list, things the client wants us to accomplish with the advertising. Advertising campaigns require all types of lists: new product names, story options, headline options, tag line options, graphic options, the list is endless. As a copywriter, my job regularly involves creating a list of product features with its corresponding list of benefits.
Outside of work, we make things-to-do lists, friends-to-call lists, books-to-read lists, grocery lists, wish lists and bucket lists. Our New Year’s resolutions are lists. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#3HListAddict”]Try going a day without listing.[/inlinetweet] Apps for list making can take it to the absurd. I recently saw a link to “5 free apps for making better to-do lists.” The link’s title got me. How do you make a better to-do list? Instead of I need to buy cucumbers, oranges and milk, should it read 3 ripe cucumbers, 2 juicy oranges and a pint of fresh milk? I’m kidding, but then again, how much instruction do we need to make a list? Lists, by nature, are meant to simplify our lives; they have a simple purpose.
Why we make lists
Psychologists say we make lists:
- So we don’t forget
- To help us feel in control
- To gain focus by prioritizing
- To prevent procrastinating
- To feel good when we cross something off the list.
Yes, I know, I just made fun of an app for making a “better” list, but Sir Richard Branson, entrepreneur and obsessive list maker, published a listicle recently. Its focus was business, but it’s apt personally too: Top Ten Tips for making lists. I particularly liked #10: Celebrate your successes, and then make new lists of new goals.
Celebrate! Crossing off a task done is worthy of celebration
When we cross everything off a list, we should take a moment to celebrate. Mostly, we don’t. We just make a new list and start the process all over again. But that ‘Wow, look what I did’ moment, the one that comes when we’ve accomplished everything on the to-do list, deserves celebrating. Isn’t that why we made the list in the first place, to feel good about crossing things off, getting things done?
A final thought. A little tongue-in-cheek, perhaps, but my favourite comment on list making was by writer Umberto Eco in an interview with Der Spiegel. He said: “We make lists because we don’t want to die.” What do you think he meant by this?
Last week, we published a blog that focussed on the new term ‘listicles’ and whether they have a place in advertising. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#3HListAddict”]Listicles and our ongoing attraction to them could be an extension of our inherent need to simplify, organize and get things done.[/inlinetweet] Let us know some of the reasons you write lists. What has been your most bizarre? #3HListAddict
by Miriam Hara | Jul 27, 2015 | Advertising, Business Success, Communications, Latest, Management
Recently, I blogged about 7 things I absolutely need in a new hire. As those responsible for hiring, we all know the things we absolutely need in a new hire and we look for them, first in the cover letter and résumé, later in the interview and the portfolio. Closer to actually hiring, we might call their personal references and nowadays, we might check out Social Media, particularly LinkedIn. All good so far. But how much are we really learning about that person? Don’t forget the quirky questions to find the quirky side of a candidate. Ask outside the box interview questions. Probe deeper.
… ‘quirky’ bears thinking about. It’s not just about being able to do the job.
A person’s intangible assets are not easy to evaluate. Most people are a little nervous in interviews. Their cover letter, résumé and portfolio are always (or should be, but that’s a subject for another blog) a best-foot-forward approach. But what is the person really like? Things you might think completely unrelated —although they’re really not — to the job they can do for you. I like to know this stuff.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#NewHireWishList”]… it’s not just about being able to do the job. It’s about their approach to life, because a person’s approach to life is mirrored in their approach to their job[/inlinetweet].
I don’t just want to find out if the person can do the job, I want to find out how they’ll respond when asked something unexpected. How seriously do they take themselves; are they able to think on their feet? How imaginative and creative are they? [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#NewHireWishList”]Sometimes, particularly in creative environments, a quirky approach makes things interesting.[/inlinetweet]
7 quirky outside-the-box interview question examples:
1. Who is your favourite Disney character and why?
2. Which celebrity has the best hair? Why do you like it?
3. What’s your favourite movie and why?
4. What’s your favourite quote?
5. Which dessert do you most relate to?
6. If you were a wine, how would you be described?
7. Where’s your favourite place in the world? Have you ever been there?
Asking questions that are outside of the box can be refreshing for candidates and enlightening for you.
What’s your secret to uncovering what lies inside a candidate? What questions do you ask to find out if they’ll fit your culture? What quirky questions do you pop into a conversation, or do you? [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#SharedWisdom #NewHireWishList#3HListAddict”]What’s the quirkiest thing you’ve heard from a candidate?[/inlinetweet] Send us your quirky listicle. #SharedWisdom #NewHireWishList #3HListAddict
by Jayne Christopher Bintle | Jul 24, 2015 | Business Success, Communications, Latest, Social Media
Publicity is all around us; now more than ever. Our eyes and ears are constantly fed information from all angles – we love it – we hate it – we crave it! We create new channels, we seek out more information, more detail – we want to know EVERYTHING about the celebrities we admire and even the ones we don’t! We get to do what we only dreamt of in the past – actually interact with our favourite celebrities, through the likes of Twitter and Facebook; gaining insights into their daily lives; even what they had for breakfast! The relationship goes both ways; if a celebrity takes the time to put the effort in and actually write their own blogs, tweets and posts, they have the opportunity to build more intimate relationships with their fan base – that all important, long-lasting emotional engagement, which to us marketers is the Holy Grail!
What about if the relationship turns sour?
Although publicity can be very rewarding for both parties; taking celebrity beyond superficiality – what about if the relationship turns sour? Like any other human, celebrities make mistakes – they speak (or post) before they think sometimes, forgetting for a second how much responsibility rests on their shoulders or how deeply people will think about what they say, no matter how insignificant it may have seemed to the celebrity at the time.
I am using celebrities as an example, but the same principle goes for businesses and any other public entity. Like any relationship, it’s the way you deal with ‘bad publicity’ that can make or break your relationship with your stakeholders.
PR is all powerful, now more than ever
Public opinion is everything – opinions are shared and reviews are readily available for any product or service that you may wish to purchase. Anyone with a public profile needs to be conscious of this and place this fact at the core of their communications strategies, if their career and / or business is to survive.
I was once asked (in a panicked tone of voice) to arrange for the removal of a scathing post about the organization I was working for at the time. It was posted to Facebook by the spouse of a disgruntled member of staff. There were some significant contractual changes taking place within the organization; some tough decisions were being made to ensure its long-term survival and it’s safe to say, many of the changes were not well received. My response: 1. We cannot remove this, even if we wanted to; 2. Even if we could, people have now seen this post and responded to it. Therefore, if it was removed, we would not only be coming across as opaque, rather than transparent, but we would be perpetuating the ‘them and us’ culture we were working so hard to move away from. In short, it would be entirely counterproductive. The best way to deal with this, was to minimize the damage by pushing out positive content through all channels and ensure that we had an appropriate response to the negative post, should the press pick up on it and request comment.
In this example, the negative publicity wasn’t damaging to the organization – it had been fuelled by emotion, rather than fact and this had been immediately evident to anyone who read it. However, the manner in which the organization responded could have done so much damage, particularly to the already strained relationship with employees. As it turned out, the ‘positive publicity push’ response, raised awareness of the organization and the whole situation went on to support the justification for a full digital and social media strategy for the organization (who had been previously ‘dragging their feet’). Great!
The statement, ‘All publicity is good publicity’, is much too general
Gaining positive results from negative publicity is dependent on so many factors:
- How ‘business critical’ the negative publicity was
- How visible it was
- Who said it (how influential they are)
- How you responded
- How timely you were in your response
- How visible it was
- Who demonstrated support for you / your business – how influential your supporters are.
So, [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#SharedWisdom”]’Is ALL publicity GOOD publicity?’ – Not necessarily. Like any relationship, it should be handled with care. [/inlinetweet] And the short answer – it’s complicated!
by Joyce Turner-Gionet | Jul 17, 2015 | Business Success, Latest, Management
Your company’s struggling financially and you’re going to have to lay off staff. How you do it is important. In Canada, there are labour laws (Canada Labour Code) that employers must follow during a layoff. This blog isn’t about laws, it’s about love.
In most layoffs, if we’re honest, a little deadwood leaves; employees who perennially didn’t pull their weight despite being coached and encouraged, perhaps even warned, multiple times. But we lose valuable assets too, people who practice business love. These are smart, capable, motivated employees who cheerfully showed up each day willing to go that extra mile to get a job done. I’ll call them business lovers.
“It’s never a good moment, but it’s a better moment when done with love”
6,500 Canadians lost their jobs last month, according to Stats Canada. When I read that stat in the paper, I thought about the 6,500 conversations it involved. How many of those termination conversations were politely informal, cold and loveless? It got me thinking about the way people are laid off. I thought about talks I’d had with friends recently. Over the past year, a few of them, all business lovers, have been laid off. All were long-time employees, all valuable contributing team players at different companies. Each of them had a slightly different experience. I thought of my own experience. The #1 takeaway from my conversations: “It’s never a good moment, but it’s a better moment when done with love.” It’s better at the time and strange as it seems, better when that ex-employee looks back and there was a compassionate, human face on the experience.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#DoitwithLove #ExceedBeyond”]In our society, jobs still define us. We are what we do.[/inlinetweet]
What’s the number one question people ask each other at dinners or parties when they meet for the first time: “What do you do?” When you take the ‘what I do’ away from someone, especially when it comes out of the blue, it’s a shocking experience for them. They think (although in the moment it’s probably never framed quite so coherently): “[sinking feeling in stomach] that’s what I did [panic], what do I do now [more panic]?” Dismissal from work ranks high on the famous Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, a report from the late 1960s, still valid today, which studied the top 43 most stressful life events that can contribute to illness.
Business owners, managers, HR: If it’s part of your job description to hire, fire and also lay off in troubled times, you need to own it. If you haven’t had any formal training in letting people go, try to get some. It can be emotional on both sides; yours and the employee you have to let go. Wear your big girl or big boy pants and take the time, be respectful, show the love. Sure, it can get a little tricky, but it’s a lot trickier for the employee whose entire life changes dramatically in the 15 seconds it takes you to say: “We have to lay you off.”
Understand the impact you’re going to have on a person’s life in those few seconds. In planning for the layoff, while preparing documentation, take a moment to ask yourself: “If I were to be laid off, how would I want it to be done?” Think about the tone of the conversation you will have. Here’s my take:
- Make sure the location you choose is a place where the conversation cannot be overheard, a place that also allows that person freedom of emotion. It’s an emotional time.
- Don’t simply show up at an employee’s desk with the proverbial pink slip, HR package and a rehearsed HR spiel. Make your words heartfelt and personal.
- Especially in the case of a business lover, that person did nothing wrong, they’re a victim of financial circumstances. Focus on that. Tell them they were valued and appreciated. Emphasize and reiterate.
- Expect anger or grief, or even a complete absence of both, everyone’s emotional makeup is different.
- Don’t get try to get the conversation over as quickly as possible.
- Give them a chance to speak, an opportunity to let out emotions and ask questions about anything they want to ask.
- Let them know they can contact you if there’s something they’ve forgotten to ask.
- Follow up! If you’ve promised a reference letter or the services of a placement firm to help them transition to a new job or learn a new skill set, provide the letter and the firm’s contact information the same day. If you can’t do it the same day, do it in the week immediately following. Don’t wait for the ex-employee to be forced to follow-up with you.
- Give them an opportunity to say goodbye to their colleagues, if they wish. Many people never go back to their place of employment after a layoff, so this allows for a little closure. The hugs, handshakes and the “I can’t believe this is happening and I’m really going to miss you” comments from colleagues (and yes, even the tears) are surprisingly comforting to many people who have just been laid off.
- Speak to the people who are still there. There’s nothing like losing your colleague in a layoff to start the rumour mill: Am I gonna be next?
And finally … DON’T show the cheese video!
Who Moved My Cheese? is an allegorical video about reinventing yourself. It’s often shown to employees who are going to be laid off. Two little mice — Sniff and Scurry — and two tiny humans — Hem and Haw — live in a maze. For years, they’ve relied on a seemingly never-ending pile of cheese. The pile dwindles, until one day it’s gone. The characters’ names give you a good idea of what they do next … it’s time for all four to get motivated and find a new cheese pile. If you’re going to show that cheesy video, make sure you explain why you’re showing it, otherwise you cause panic in the minds of the watchers. You provoke tense conversations later around the water cooler or in the kitchen or during after-hours phone calls, texts and emails between employees: “What is the company saying to us?” “What do you think that movie meant?” “Are we going to lose our jobs?” “Do they see us as mice?
Who moved my Cheese? The Movie by Dr. Spencer Johnson
Yes, it is a lousy job laying someone of; nobody wants to do it, but somebody’s gotta do it. If you’re the one who draws the short straw by virtue of your position, make sure you do it right. [inlinetweet prefix=”Food for thought” tweeter=”” suffix=”#DoitwithLove #ExceedBeyond”]Forced to lay off employees: do it with love.[/inlinetweet]
Been laid off? Was it done with love, let me know? [inlinetweet prefix=”We love lists” tweeter=”” suffix=”#DoitwithLove #ListChallenge #ExceedBeyond”]Have additional ideas for the ‘How to do it with love’ list?[/inlinetweet] Send them to me. #DoitwithLove
A unique approach to laying people off:
Is it possible to lay people off nicely. One company’s quest to blend rejection and kindness
