8 Headline Formulas to Steal When You're Stuck

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Sep 12, 2017

8 Headline Formulas to Steal When You’re Stuck

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By Heather Munro
Photo by Rafaela Biazi on Unsplash

Email subject lines, blog post titles, landing page headers, social media kickers, call them what you will—they’re all just headlines to me. 

As a copywriter, I keep a running list of attention-getting lines like these for inspiration. Here, I’ll share some of my old favorites, round up some recent standouts, and break down how you can emulate their winning headline formulas.

Pope Elopes

Back in my freshman year of college, my Journalism professor at Boston University, Norman Moyes, shared this headline gold standard. I come back to it again and again. Not only is the headline’s subject ultra famous, he is famous for—among other things—his vow of chastity. This headline, had it been true, would have had it all: celebrity, scandal, intrigue. But it was the pithy rhyming bow wrapping the story that made it so special. It’s short, sweet and says it all. Formula: Rhyme time.

Milli Vanilli is Phony Baloney

Again, another scandal, this time involving famous performers—the flashy singing duo got busted for lip synching, remember? The newspaper headline could have been a snoozefest. Thank goodness the reporter chose to turn one heck of a phrase instead of merely reporting the facts. It rolls off the tongue and has fun with the subject matter. I giggle every time I say it out loud. Formula: Go for the laugh.

Our sale is on sale

This recent email subject line from ebags shows the retailer understands that there’s only so many ways to say lower prices before people tune out. It humanizes the brand and offers a refreshingly different execution on sales messaging. Formula: Original take.

Halo, is it me you’re looking for?

Halo Top chose to twist a famous song lyric in this email subject line. Even if you’re too young to know that it’s Lionel Richie singing this song, I’m betting most people—millennials included—are familiar with the cheesy lyric itself. Not only is the emerging brand’s name front in center, I can imagine its Rabid Customer Base singing this whenever they devour one of their popular ice cream pints. Formula: Song lyric with a twist.

Baby that was much too fast.

What’s better than riffing on a song lyric? Quoting the actual song lyric, as Chevrolet did in its ad paying homage to Prince’s iconic Little Red Corvette shortly after he died. It hits the nail on the head, evoking emotion without seeming opportunistic. Formula: Original verbatim quote.

Doodie calls
It’s not fun, but it’s important.

Found this little gem on a sign selling dog poop bags at PetSmart. Puns are a terrific way for brands to stand out. When you take a risk or make your audience laugh, they are bound to notice you. Formula: Clever pun.

You’ll think you’ve died and gone to Canada.

Ah, the old-change-one-word-of-a-familiar-phrase trick. This billboard ad was for poutine, a Canadian concoction of french fries drowning in cheese curds and gravy. This simple headline device equated this particular poutine with Heaven. It’s so simple but it works so hard to get the message across. Formula: Familiar phrase tweak.

This is the droid you’re looking for.

Now some may say this in-store display ad for the BB-8 Droid from Sphero was a little too on the nose. Au contraire. How could you not leverage one of the most oft quoted lines in movie history here? It instantaneously communicates exactly what’s for sale, but with a wink that lets you know Sphero is in on the joke. Formula: Pop culture reference.

Looking for more inspiration? Follow me on Twitter @HMCOPY. I post outstanding headline examples there on the regular.

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