How Big Should Your Headline Be?

Use your allotted space effectively. For small space ads, devote a large percentage to creating a dominant headline. Make your attention-getting headline a large part of your display ad or marketing document. You want to make it obvious and impossible to disregard.

Place your headline inside a call-out, caption, or balloon attached to a graphic, suggests direct marketing expert Ted Nichols. "It's a visual stopper that naturally draws the eye and has a good chance of attracting plenty of interest. This technique gives any headline a fighting chance."

Look for additional opportunities to use headlines. On visual pieces such as display ads and brochures, there's often additional space available for secondary headlines. Captions and call- outs naturally attract attention and are therefore ideal places to insert headline copy.

Additional headlines and sub-headings can also be used to provide visual relief by breaking up longer sections of copy. Material that appears easy to read gets read much more than large blocks of copy.

Make Subheadings Work Hard

Subheads also act as mini-headlines, sometimes with maximum results. You can use a subhead above a paragraph to keep the reader moving through the copy. This is frequently done in magazine editorial copy, as well as ads. "You must also understand what is called the 'dual readership path'," says Nichols. "No matter how captivating the prose, not everybody is going to read all of the copy so you need to provide the skimmer with enough information to make a decision.

"Incidentally, the subheads should tell the story in a nutshell. You should be stating the major sales points in your sub-headlines as the reader works through the copy. Anyone reading nothing but the subheads should be able to tell what the ad is about."

Where To Position Your Headline

Place your headline where your prospect cannot miss it. The best place for any headline is the very first area your prospect's eyes land when turning a page or opening the mail. Keep your headline at eye level. You greatly improve your chances of getting noticed.
Position your headline apart from others visually. Your message and the image it projects, should be completely different from all your direct and indirect competitors. View what others are doing and then create an original concept and presentation. This is vitally important whenever your headline is competing with others in the same venue, such as the Yellow Pages. Sometimes an uncultivated, unpolished look may be favourable. This may be your best option when your competitors have taken a slick, professional approach.