The Secret of Using Emotional Headlines

Emotional headlines are one of the most powerful marketing tools. A correctly-used emotional headline will make an immediate impression on readers and spark interest in your content.

By using specific language in content marketing and copywriting, you can nudge your audience towards engaging with and sharing your content, ultimately driving more traffic to your site.

Reaching your audience and optimizing your content for conversion is as easy as understanding how to use emotional headlines.

Key Takeaways

• Customers who experience an emotional response to an advertisement are 70% likely to make a purchase
• Emotional headlines heighten your chances of social media shares and ultimately drive more traffic to your content
• Headlines with both positive and negative power words urge readers to click on and engage with your post
• An emotional bond between you and your audience is 52% more valuable than highly satisfied customers

Emotional headlines help connect with your audience, drive more traffic to your site and increase your conversion rate.

What Are Emotional Headlines?

Emotional headlines evoke feelings in readers that encourage them to engage with content. Whether it’s positive or negative, generating an emotional response in your audience will inspire them to keep reading.

Not only does emotional marketing encourage engagement, but it has also proven to play an important role in buyer decisions. A recent study found that 70% of customers make purchases based on a strong emotional response to advertisements.

Image Source: Folajomi Ballo

As copywriters and content markers, we know that word choice determines whether people choose to engage with our content. By using specific language that our readers respond to, we heighten the chances of reaching our audience and increasing our conversion rate.

How Emotional Headlines Drive Traffic

SEO may play an important role in content marketing, but it’s not enough to get featured content on page one of SERPs.

There’s no denying that data and keywords can optimize your content to rank well and drive traffic. In fact, SEO is known to drive 1,000%+ more traffic than organic social media. But in order for your content to rank well, it needs to intrigue your audience.

Human interest will spark an increased click-through rate and engagement, leading to more site traffic and conversions. By using creative writing tactics, like emotional headlines, you can ignite interest in your audience and grasp the attention of readers.

Emotional headlines also heighten your chances of social sharing. When your audience is emotionally connected to your content, they’re more likely to share on social platforms and aid in increasing your site traffic.

Image source: CoSchedule

Moral of the story: driving traffic to your site and reaching your target audience calls for both SEO and smart writing skills. Sharing content with emotional headlines is one of the best ways to encourage engagement, drive social sharing and increase site traffic.

Writing Emotional Headlines

Before you jump head first into crafting emotional headlines, there’s a few key elements to remember to ensure your content gets the job done.

Use Emotional Language

The key to crafting emotional headlines is using power words that evoke feelings. Power words are descriptive, persuasive words that trigger an emotional response. Professional authors and copywriters use these words to enhance their content and encourage readers to take action.

Weaving power words into your headlines will create a sense of urgency and spark interest in readers, urging them to engage with your content. Some of the most-used power words are:

• New
• Free
• Now
• Easy
• Secret

Among the hundreds of powerful words to choose from, they can each be classified as either positive or negative in nature.

For positive messages, use power words that covey:

• Happiness
• Empowerment
• Love
• Strength
• Belonging

For negative messages, choose words that invoke:

• Anger
• Sadness
• Fear
• Confusion
• Discomfort

To craft an effective emotional headline, first understand the feeling you want to invoke in readers. Then, determine which power words create that emotion.

Aside from positive and negative power words, there’s one word that proves most effective of them all: you. By using the word “you” in your headline and speaking directly to your audience, you’ll engage readers emotionally and inspire them to pay attention.

Learn more about power words, speaking directly to readers, and other tips for writing captivating headlines by enjoying the short video below.

Video Source: WebFX

Provide A Benefit

Power words are great for catching the attention of readers – but to hold their interest and inspire action, you need to clearly lay out the benefits of your content. Let your readers know “what’s in it for them” to increase your click through rate and encourage social shares.

For example, an emotional headline with both power words and a clearly defined benefit can look like:

“11 Secret Ways You Can Increase Site Traffic For Free”

or

“These Content Marketing Mistakes Will Put Your E-Commerce Site In Danger”

Both examples above use power words to clearly identify what valuable knowledge will be gained by reading your content.

Understanding your audience and knowing what will make their lives easier is key to knowing what kind of benefit to offer. Clearly communicating how you can solve their problems will build trust and encourage them to convert.

A Word To The Wise

Remember that emotional headlines will affect the feelings of your readers and should not be used to trick or manipulate your audience. Clickbait headlines may raise your click-through rate, but they’re also going to disappoint your readers.

Craft emotional headlines that share feelings of excitement, demonstrate sympathy, or give valuable advice to help your readers solve their problems. Doing so will build an emotional connection with customers, which is 52% more valuable than a highly satisfied customer.

Image Source: Blogging Lift

Building trust creates an emotional bond between you and your audience, inspires them to return to your content and encourages sharing with their own social networks.

Finding Inspiration for Emotional Headlines

Ready to get the ball rolling but not sure where to start? Read your competitors’ blogs to find inspiration for headlines that evoke emotion. This will also give you a clear idea of what works and lead you in the right direction.

Don’t forget to check out Marketing Insider Group’s list of Large Company Blogs To Inspire Your Content Marketing, too. Studying some of the most popular large company blogs and marketing tactics are some of the best ways to take your content to the next level.

Drive Traffic Today

Using emotional headlines is one of many ways you can connect with your audience and drive more traffic to your site. Developing an effective content marketing strategy and posting content consistently are just as imporant.

Work with professional writers and marketing experts to show readers you’re committed to satisfying their needs. Check out Marketing Insider Group’s  SEO Blog Writing Service today or schedule a quick consultation now to learn more!