I hate headlines like “all-in-one,” “fast,” or “easy.” That’s because vague language like “HR software without the hassle” or “Automation made easy” leaves people guessing, not converting.
The best headlines convert because they’re very specific:
“Create photobooks in 5 minutes”
“Get more installs with high-converting app store pages”
“Build high-converting landing pages in minutes”
These are great — if you have a single clear use case.
But what if your home page needs to speak to multiple audiences?
How do you write a killer headline when you have more than one audience? Truth is, it’s tricky! But in these cases, you’ll still want to be specific. How? By finding the one thing everyone agrees with.
That one thing is often emotional and focuses more on the struggle rather than the goal. It’s less about the thing they want to do, and more about the reason they want to do it.
Here’s a few examples:
Remote identity verification software serves many industries and use cases. But most of their customers would agree with a headline that reads “I hate asking people for a copy of their passport.”
Compliance software also serves many industries and job roles. But most of their prospects can relate to “I’m not ready for an audit.”
One of our coaches, Hannah Parvaz, worked with audio journalism app, Curio. Who listens to news content and why? It’s a very heterogeneous group. So she looked for the “why behind the why” and found huge success with “Become the most interesting person in the room.” (read her story on Twitter, she explains how she uncovered it.)
These winning headlines focus on struggles and goals that are specific but common.
Simple next step
If your headline is vague because you have too many customer personas, forget those personas for a few minutes. Instead, look for their struggles and goals and the emotions behind them. Figure out the why behind the why, and find something specific but common.
If you’d like more help, grab our Jobs To Be Done Interview Cards and check out Joanna Wiebe’s Master of Headlines course. (It’s $297 - I don’t get a rev share, just promoting it because I think it’s great.)