How To Write Social Media Headlines That Get More Clicks [Smart Tips That Work]

Consumers decide what they think of your brand in about 7 seconds.

Marketers have always been aware that the impression you leave after every customer interaction can be crucial to your success and your reputation in the industry.

But with the world becoming highly digitized, consumer always demands rapidly changing, and competitors being only one click away, it might seem almost impossible to still stand out as a brand and build a following.

Luckily, we can use the online medium to our advantage and increase the quantity and quality of the leads we convert. Here’s how:

Boost lead generation with this simple strategy

Have you ever shared a great article or an insightful tweet on your brand’s social media only to have it disappear among thousands of other posts?

Or worse, if your post didn’t get lost in the sea of content already out there, it still might not get the recognition or even traffic your competitor’s posts seem to get.

If you haven’t seen any results despite your efforts, you’re constantly left wondering what you’re doing wrong.

Well, you’re not alone.

So, how do you get your posts noticed and keep your social media profiles from becoming redundant to your target audience?

One word: headlines.

Headlines are the first thing prospects see when skimming through your content online. They make them click and read further, land on your website or take an interest in your brand. Unless your headline can grab your prospect’s attention, they’ll never even make it to the copy you spend so much time developing and tweaking to get right. 

Even so, your content should be compelling. A good headline with less qualitative content is just as bad as a bad headline and compelling content. In both cases, your audience might be left hanging. 

If nothing in your headline makes them stop scrolling through their feed, then your leads aren’t even getting to the first stages of the marketing funnel, let alone converting or becoming loyal, long-term customers.

Imagine that you want to write an article about gaining more followers on Instagram, Facebook, or any other social media platform. 

Here are some headline ideas that will get your more clicks:

“7 Of The Simplest Ways To Obtain More Likes And Followers On Social Media”

“7 Recommendations On How To Boost Your Audience’s Engagement“

“How To Gain More Followers, In a Shorter Time Span“

One useful trick in this situation is using numbers: people are more inclined to click on a title if they see a number in it. Also, remember that your headlines might sometimes be the only thing your audience sees, and this is a good enough reason to spend just as much time on your headline as you would on your content.

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Why headlines matter more than you think

A brilliant headline can have such a strong impact on a prospect that it not only gets them on that page you want them to read but also persuades them to go down the rabbit hole of getting to know your company and learning more about your brand.

Mastering the art of writing click-worthy headlines can help you build loyalty and genuine interest for your business over time. So it’s worth taking the time to hone your skills in crafting eye-catching headlines that drive more traffic and engagement.

With this in mind, what is it that you need in order to create those compelling headlines that draw anybody’s attention?

Create headlines that prospects can’t resist clicking.

There are over 10,000 tweets shared on Twitter every second. Your Facebook followers get almost 1,500 other posts aside from yours that appear in their feed. Social media is a constantly moving engine and the speed at which it moves might sometimes become overwhelming. Information, in general, has never been easier to access and the sources one can choose from are endless. 

How do you stand out?

It might seem like fighting a losing battle, but don’t despair.

Here is how you can use headlines to your advantage and win over high-quality leads and loyal customers. 

Short and sweet usually wins

Whether you’re posting on a more informal medium like Twitter or your go-to platforms are Facebook and Instagram, generally speaking, shorter posts tend to outperform longer ones.

Therefore, when crafting your headline, remember that it should be quick to scan through and the very first words your prospects see should already give them the main idea and let them know there’s value in reading further. Going over 70 characters might be a bit of a stretch, as people tend to have a short attention span.

A short, but effective headline is your golden ticket, as they are displayed in full and no information is lost. This means that people are more prone to click on a title they can read in full, as they don’t have to second guess what might follow. 

Coming up with that perfect headline might sound like a tricky thing to do, but it’s not impossible. 👇

Hook your reader with one of these simple strategies

If you want your prospect to keep on reading past your headline, then make sure you’re using one of these 3 powerful strategies:

1. Leverage the benefits

Your headline should always offer a quick snippet of what’s in it for the reader if they click on your page. This means that there is a clear benefit stated preferably at the beginning of the headline.

Here are some examples: 

“5 Straightforward Tips To Help You Make The Most Out Of Your Start-Up”

“5 Necessary Tips To Create Simple, Yet Effective Marketing Strategies”

“7 Advantages Of Higher Conversion Rates”

By pointing your audience to the benefits of a product or service, you can build up their motivation to know more details about what you want to present to them. Knowing that there’s a benefit they’re not aware of might spike their curiosity and convince them to engage with your content.

2. Fall back on social proof

It’s no secret that consumers trust and seek out reviews before purchasing. Whether they look for personal recommendations, ratings, or local reviews, prospects are interested to know how others see you. Your reputation speaks volumes here.

So a highly effective approach is relying on your industry credibility. You do this by citing or collaborating with authority figures in your field and building yourself up as a reliable source of information or contributor in your industry.

Here are some examples of social proof headlines:

“Expert Tips About Content Marketing”

“The 5 Reasons Why This [...] Tool Has Taken Over The Marketing World”  

“Build Your Customer Base: The Expert Way”

3. Use pain points

A surefire way of getting more clicks is by hitting the nail on the head regarding a topic your prospects care deeply about or that affects their day-to-day life. This usually means identifying one of their pressing pain points and opening your headline by addressing it directly.

This evokes a strong, but most importantly, emotional reaction in your readers – that makes them feel more compelled to take some form of action (whether that’s reading further, clicking on your link, or sharing your post so others can see).

Here are 3 examples of how it’s done:

“Secrets You Ought To Know When Starting Your Social Media Business”

“7 Of The Biggest Mistakes Made By Social Media Users and Ways to Stay Away From Them”

“We Need To Talk About These Obvious Agile Secrets”

Keep in mind that most click-worthy headlines are always useful, unique, and urgent. To maximize conversions, make them very specific, and add a highly targeted keyword that pushes people to click.

4. Using numbers

There is one important trick when it comes to writing a catchy headline and that is to make use of numbers. A lot of the titles in this article include numbers and it’s probably safe to assume that they caught your attention. 

This is also closely related to the fact that people scan the titles and they hardly ever read all the words anymore. Numbers give you something specific and very little room for doubt. Seeing a number means that you will get exactly what you’re looking for in the article. Having a number in your headline also offers a different structure, one that is easier to be understood by the reader. 

If you are looking for a few examples of such titles, here are a few of them:

“5 Marketing Tips Every Beginner Should Know”

“7 Well-Written Headlines And The Science Behind Them” 

“3 Most Clickable Headlines” 

Notice also how most of the headlines contain odd numbers. Even if it might surprise you, odd numbers are usually considered to be more authentic than even numbers, at least in what concerns marketing. Also, it is safe to say that smaller numbers are better to be used, as they give the audience more credibility and integrity. 

Conclusion

Your audience will remember great headlines, and you have to start out by writing them. Your headline alone can make or break your success, so make sure you take your time to create a proper title that will boost your traffic and sales. 

Think of your headline as a presentation card: if it doesn’t contain the information that a person needs in order to get in contact with you, it will most likely get lost in a pile of papers. If your presentation card holds all the information a person needs and also looks good, you might’ve just hit a jackpot.