Grab attention early – without trying!

19th October 2021

Last year, I wrote a LinkedIn post:

       “How to save eight hours every week”

I thought “That’s a good title. A bit clickbait-y, maybe. But it should attract people’s attention. And the advice will help lots of people.”

That didn’t happen.

We only had 2,000 views.

So I re-posted it. I kept the article word-for-word the same. But I changed the title to:

       “How to stop working Fridays”

This time: 520,000+ views.

A ridiculous difference – and I’d only changed the title.

Which is a great reminder of something we all know – even if we sometimes forget:

Titles are our communications’ First Impression. So they MUST impress!

And the simplest way to do this:

  1. Ask yourself “What’s my reader/audience’s #1 priority about this topic?”
  2. Include that #1 in your title and/or subtitle

Examples:

  • Presenting a ‘Monthly Update’? Add the subtitle ‘Our best successes, learnings… and our priorities for next month’
  • Instead of ‘Our proposal’, title it ‘How you’ll win £50million new sales in the next three months’
  • Emailing, to ask about a meeting’s content? Don’t call it ‘Meeting’ (sounds boring). Instead, in the subject line: ‘Our next meeting – a quick question to ask…’
  • Training ‘Excel Intermediate’? Add the subtitle ‘How to save two hours every week’ – sounds much better now!

By way of a test, I’ve split my Tuesday Tip distribution list into three, and given each group this same tip, but with a different title. The titles are:

  1. How one tiny change helped 500,000+ extra people
  2. The Golden Rule of Titles
  3. Grab attention early – without trying!

Which do you think will have the highest opening rate?

(I’ll tell you the winner next week)

Action Point

Next communication, use a good title and/or subtitle! And then, keep doing it. And then, click here.

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