What Famous Startup Taglines Can Teach You About Headlines
By: Cynthia Marinakos
Tags: Headline Hacks, Business, Writing, Creativity, Productivity

10 Insights That Can Be Applied to Headlines

1. Tell your reader how you’ll help them

These examples promise to help us do something. Although they don’t explicitly include the words ‘How to,’ you could add ‘How’ to the front of these taglines:

Trello: How to work more collaboratively and get more done

Asana: How to keep your team organized and connected

Postfity: How to save time on social media

Animoto: How to easily make your own videos

Animatron: How to make marketing videos in minutes

As writers:

Do a Google search and you’ll see that we naturally want practical answers to our questions. We want the knowledge so we can go ahead and implement solutions. For instance, if we look up a topic such as ‘write headlines,’ you’ll see under the section People also ask: “How headlines are written” and “How do you write a powerful headline.”

‘How to’ headlines are powerful — we constantly seek knowledge and information. As shown, you don’t necessarily have to add ‘How to’ in front of a headline. What’s important is if you’re promising an answer to a burning question in your article, make it obvious.

2. Promise to make lives easier

Our bodies and brains focus on conserving energy. With so many tasks, people, and emails screaming out for our limited attention, we’ve got to filter out and prioritize.

Marketers of these software examples understand that — and promise solutions that will help readers filter and prioritize. They do it by making it easy for their prospect to decide they need this software for what’s important: to keep connected, work collaboratively, design anything anywhere, build a professional network.

As writers:

Keep in mind what our reader’s life looks like and offer ways to make their lives easier.

3. Use simple language

Software marketers use casual, plain English that gives us instant understanding. No impressive words. No teasers. No bullsh*t. These businesses know the value of words and know how to harness their power.

Everything teams need, all in one place

In this together. Keeping you connected, wherever you are.

Easily make your own videos.

As writers:

When we understand that the focus of our brains is to conserve energy, it helps us realize why writing simply matters. Impressive, complicated words slow down your reader. They won’t think you’re any smarter or more professional either. Even experts prefer plain English.

Think of the words you use in conversation. When we’re asking for a coffee, we don’t say: ‘My intention is to take ownership of a full-bodied latte.’ We say: ‘I’d like a latte.’

Choose: ‘use’ instead of ‘utilize,’ ‘because’ instead of ‘as a consequence of,’ and ‘help’ instead of ‘assistance.’ Check out The A-Z of alternative words (Plain English Campaign) and From legalese to readease (New Zealand Law Society).

4. Carefully select words

Certain words and phrases are like bombs. They’re compact yet powerful. The taglines we’ve seen are filled with power bombs:

‘Everything’

‘One place’

‘All-in-one’

‘Save’

‘Organize’

‘Community’

‘Collaboratively’

As writers:

Take the time to choose your words. Use words in a positive way. And use active verbs that help readers imagine gaining a benefit from your writing. Help them become more productive, less stressed, and more creative.

5. Know your target audience

Many of the businesses explicitly mention their target audiences:

Freshbooks has been designed for small business.

Animatron empowers businesses and individuals.

LinkedIn speaks to professionals.

As writers:

Don’t be afraid to niche. Let’s avoid letterbox drop writing — generic writing that gets thrown out because it’s given to everyone, yet not addressed to anyone. Decide who you are writing for and mention them in your headline.

6. Tap into people’s deeper needs

These businesses aren’t just offering us another app or another piece of software. Instead, they know their reader’s great pains and deepest desires. They capture attention with the right words. This works because they know exactly who they’re speaking to.

LinkedIn knows professionals want to widen their professional network.

Animatron knows small businesses and individuals would love a way to create their own videos easily.

Canva knows teams, individuals, beginners, and experts want a way to design a range of items for different channels.

As writers:

We need to understand the deepest needs and desires of our readers if we are to stop their wandering eyes and busy minds. We can do this by understanding mass desires.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs gives a good overview of what we need to not only survive, but to thrive — physiological needs such as water, safety needs, the need to belong by having friends, the need to feel accomplished, and the need for self-actualization by achieving our full potential.

Tap into people’s needs.

7. Short and sharp

These taglines are efficient. They hit the right spot in readers. They don’t waste words.

Keep your team organized and connected.

Save time on social media.

Everything teams need, all in one place.

As writers:

Let’s write our headlines with the same attitude. Use the minimum amount of words for maximum impact.

8. Use subtitles to reinforce headlines

As good as these taglines are, many of these businesses realize one thing: they can’t say everything in one short line. So many clarify and amplify their messages in a second line: their subtitles.

Freshbooks: The all-new Freshbooks is accounting software that makes running your small business easy, fast, and secure. Spend less time on accounting and more time doing the work you love.

Asana: With Asana’s work management platform, your team can stay focused on their goals, projects, and tasks — no matter when or where they work.

Postfity: Schedule posts to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram (reminders), and VKontakete! With our post scheduler you can manage social networks, schedule posts and engage your audiences.

As writers:

Subtitles are typically overlooked. Yet both headlines and subtitles work together to build curiosity and tell the reader what the piece is about. Uncertainty is stressful. Remove that stress for your reader and you’ll be more likely to be read, sell your book, or score a download. You can create certainty with:

Verbs: help your reader visualize using your product, achieving a change, or getting something. In our examples above, readers are attracted to verbs such as ‘easy,’ ‘fast,’ ‘secure,’ ‘focused,’ and ‘manage.’

Specificity: tell your reader they will get tips, inspiring stories, advice, compelling ideas. The businesses tell us their software will help their target markets: spend more time doing work you love, less time on accounting, run a business with ease, speed, and privacy, manage social networks, schedule posts, engage audiences.

Reader needs and desires: Subtitles are a second chance to persuade your reader that you understand them and you’ve got what they need.

Reinforce your headlines with well-crafted subtitles.

9. Address readers

The taglines speak to readers directly through their use of ‘you.’ This helps readers feel like the solutions have been made for them. Compare how these two versions feel and sound:

Keep your team organized

Keep their teams organized

Trello lets you work more collaboratively

Trello lets teams work more collaboratively

Easily make your own videos

Easily make videos

As writers:

Use “you” and “your” — the active voice will feel like you are personally speaking to your reader. It‘s a simple yet powerful way to draw them into your writing.

Include your reader by addressing them directly.

10. Clear offerings

What all of the above one to nine points do is clarify what the business is offering their prospect.

Headlines, subheadings, explicit audience, simple language, tapping into needs and desires, subtitles…. these help readers understand quickly and easily whether these products are for them and how they’ll fulfill a need.

As writers:

When we clearly convey the crux of our writing in our headline and subtitle, we show respect for our reader’s time and we’re more likely to interest the right readers. Readers who will appreciate what we have to share and be more likely to return for more.

Use your headlines to clearly tell readers what your writing offers.