How headlines play a crucial role in a brand's content initiative

Everyone may have their own set of top-10 brand communications in their memory. But if you ask them if they remember the headlines of those communications, it will be extremely difficult to recall.

But good headlines always make a place in the consumer’s heart. In a conversation with BuzzInContent.com, Suchita Salwan, Founder & CEO, LBB (Little Black Book), recalled how Nike's 'Call Me Crazy' campaign with Serena Williams was a genius that will always be remembered along with its headline. According to her, Nike is the gold standard of creating "unbranded" branded content.

Be it a piece of content or advertisement, the role of the copy has been always important. The copy came first and visual came later. The copy played a big role even with the visual and that’s why people remember the copy along with the visual element even today. Today, with social media and hashtag, the role of copy has become even more important.

Salwan said, “Getting a headline right is like posting a viral tweet—extremely difficult to do, but when done well, it leads to wonders. A headline also gives users/viewers a quick snippet into what they can expect from the rest of the content. On the basis of that, the consumers decide to engage deeper with the brand/content. It's your first impression and you've got to make sure you make the right one!”

According to Kumar Deb Sinha, Country Head, The StoryLab, “In today’s age, it is very critical that a headline is also an extremely popular hashtag. For example, Hajmola has been talking about ‘Baat Kuchh Hajam Nahin Hui’ for a long time and now they came up with the whole campaign with #BaatKuchhHajamNahinHui with anything that is happening in the media. From that perspective, the headline definitely has a role to play. It is one more arsenal in your armoury to catch hold of the attention.”

The headlines that get translated into very popular hashtags have a very critical role to play. Now that every brand communication these days has a hashtag, it helps measure the impact of the piece.

“There is one point about launching the campaign but the success of the campaign depends upon the conversation it generates. The moment you do a hashtag, you can measure how many conversations it drives,” said Sinha.

Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO, Social Catalyzers, believes that a headline is a key driver for selling the content. “It is the headline that sets the stage for the underlying communication and evokes the desired reactions from the audience,” he added.

What should be an ideal and creative headline? Salwan said, “A headline that captures the USP that will draw a consumer to the content is what makes it creative in my opinion. Many brand marketers make the mistake of directly plugging in their brand in a headline. This should only be done if the content in question is directly pitching the brand to the user. For example, if brand X is running a sale using ‘Hurry! This Stunning Store is on a 50% Off For 2 Days Only’, it makes sense. But if the content is about the value proposition of a brand, the USP should call out more to a customer than the name of the brand itself.”

Talking about the ingredients of a creative headline, Sinha said, “It should extremely be a part of your common vocabulary. Another important ingredient is relatability. Any headline without a wit becomes a newsy. For it to be memorable, there has to be wit into it.”

Kumar is of the notion that one should not try pack in more than a single ‘lead-in’ thought in the headline. He said, “Sometimes a headline needs to work all by itself as pure copy, and sometimes, it can go with an ‘imagery’ (and it is mostly that now, given social is all about audio-visual). Keeping it simple is always a good idea, my suggestion is to try not to pack in more than a single ‘lead-in’ thought. 

He further said, “A good creative headline should thus ideally be the ‘most interesting consumer-speak’ first (whatever the tonality or product detail depending on the communication objective)- However, no headline should ever be misleading and inaccurate and most importantly, should never overpromise.” 

Talk about any branded content piece and brands are always obsessed about putting their brands on the face of the communication. In a detailed and insightful article, BuzzInContent.com had discussed how marketers are tempted to get their brand’s presence in the headline. Is it a good practice at all or is there a subtle way to do it?

Salwan is of the opinion that the goal is to get a user to click, not to give it all away in 70 characters. “So, if I were a brand, unless the proposition and pitch to the consumer are extremely brand-centric, for example, new store launch or a new category launch, I would recommend not putting the brand's name in a headline. In these cases, use images and more visual cues to relay the brand than only using its name. You don't know what baggage your brand’s name carries, and especially in the case of content, you should want the consumer to want to engage with you with an open mind than with the baggage — good or bad — of their perception of your brand,” she said.

A creative headline has the opportunity of becoming a brands' tagline — a summary of the key sentiment and takeaway you want to leave the consumer with.

However, Sinha feels that just having a very popular headline is not enough. “It’s a great aspect of the whole content but still it is just an element. Just by itself, I don’t think it will make a brand communication successful. If it comes together beautifully, it adds a lot of value,” he said.