In my last article, “How to Write a Headline – Part 2”, I explained the “Who What Why” formula for writing a headline. In this article, I show you how I used this formula to create a headline for a weight loss newsletter.
As I explained in my previous article, the first thing I do when writing a headline is to identify the customer. This is the “who” part of the “what, what, why” formula. In the case of a weight loss newsletter, the “who” part might be: people who want to lose weight.
Now I would recommend dividing “people who want to lose weight” further into specific groups, such as “stay-at-home moms who want to lose weight”, “busy executives who want to lose weight”, etc., and craft your title accordingly. The more precisely your headline is aimed at your audience, the more likely it is to grab their attention.
The next step in the formula is the “what”, that is, the product. What are you selling exactly? Are you selling a weight loss book? A membership to a pilates class? A nutritional supplement? Once you identify the product, you need to decide what features of the product you want to highlight and how these features will benefit your customer.
Identifying features and benefits is a pretty long topic, and I’ll probably dedicate an entire article to it, but to keep things simple, remember that people generally buy things for two reasons: either to get PLEASURE or to avoid PAIN.
When it comes to losing weight, the “pain” can be anything from lack of energy to risk of disease to feeling unattractive. The “pleasure” part can be anything from being able to wear your favorite outfit, to getting more attention from the opposite sex, to feeling healthier and more confident. These are your motivators. It is your job to identify the features of your product and show the customer how those features will bring them pleasure or help them avoid pain.
The last part of the formula is the “why”, that is, your goal. What do you want the client to do? Want them to visit your website to get your weight loss ebook? Do you want them to order a bottle of your African Herbal Dietary Supplement? As a copywriter, most of my clients’ goals will be to make the sale on the spot or to prepare the client for the sale and force them to take additional steps (visit a website, ask for more information, etc.)
So let’s put it all together. If I’m creating a headline for a weight loss newsletter, my “Who What Why” formula might look like this:
Who: “Stay-at-home moms, ages 25-40, who want to lose weight”
What: “A Weight Loss Hypnosis CD Set”
Why: “Drive prospects to the sales page on [http://www.weightlosscdformom.com]”
So my headline could be something like this:
“In less time than it takes to cook dinner for kids, this little-known technology can give you the fat-burning powers of a 19-year-old”
This headline incorporates the three elements of the “Who, What, Why” formula. It targets housewives between the ages of 25 and 40 with the benefit contained in the phrase, “In less time than it takes to cook dinner for the kids,” and promising to give them the “fat-burning powers of a 19 -year old”. He also arouses curiosity with the phrase “little-known technology,” which makes them want to know more and draws them into the body of the text, thus leading them to the “closing”: visiting the sales page at
the website. This achieves the “Why” objective.
In a nutshell, this is how I build headlines using the “Who What Why” formula. Play with it and you’ll be creating your own killer headlines…in less time than it takes to cook dinner for the kids!