Flick through any Irish local newspaper or perhaps the Independent directory and you will see the same basic error time and time again. Business owners who have created there own advertisments and who think it is a good idea to use the name of their company as the headline for their advertisements. So you see adverts which proclaim in large letters ABC Carpentry services. This is a most unsatisfactory waste of space and effort and shows a huge misunderstanding in the way that people react to advertisements.

Lets take a step back. If you are in the newsagents and are browsing the papers and magazines what is it that makes you read a particular article or pick up a certain magazine? It is the headlines for the article either on the front cover or throughout the paper. The reason for this is that when we are reading we subconsciously scan the headlines to decide what to read next and tend to read the articles that interest us.

It is the same when looking at advertisements. A headline like ABC Carpentry services is not going to really attract us to read the advertisement. On the other hand something like ‘Homeowners: How to Get a Solid Wood Floor Laid in One Day For Less Than The Cost Of A Laminate’ is going to raise curiousity and attract all those people looking for wood flooring.

Headlines act as a filter for your advert, they should work like magnets to attract those looking for your products and services and filter out those that are not. Remember not everyone is going to be looking for your particular product or service. The idea of a headline is to appeal and attract those that are.

Having a good headline is the first step in making the advertising for your Irish small business more effective. Future issues of the Better Business Results Blog will look at other ways you can improve your response rates and get the most from your marketing budget.