Headlines

To me, headlines are the most important part of a Direct Response/Mail ad. If the ad features a main visual then I guess that and the headline would share responsibility.

If we compare to a sales person, the headline could be seen as the moment they first make contact with a customer. The main difference is that a sales person cannot be ignored. They can be waved away, shouted at, or even worse, spend ages with someone they can never sell to. But they cannot be ignored.

An ad can be ignored. If the headline (or image, or both) is of no interest to the reader, then they'll throw the letter out, turn the page, or stare at something else while waiting for the bus. They'll never read the body copy, which is the same as a sales person never getting to their main selling points. Therefore, the headline needs to be honed to attract the target audience and the target audience only. Figure out why they would want your product and then tell them. Don't have a mysterious headline that you think is intriguing because, although that may attract loads more readers, it will not tell your target audience that you have what they want. Here's a quote for you:

"Headlines on ads are like headlines on news items. Nobody reads a whole newspaper"
Claude C. Hopkins

What I think he means is this; when you're on the bus/train/tube to work and you have the Metro in hand, flicking through the pages, what stories do you read? I know that when I read it I only scan the headlines until I find one that interests me. Then I read the full article. Customers will act in a similar way. Make your headlines the best they can possibly be.