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Is using catchy headlines to improve your opt in rate deceitful

by raywarrior1978
14 replies
I've been trying to buld my own sales funnel little by little, just a basic one without all the upsells or downsells. Just one that gives a free report follow by a series of follow up messages promoting the clickbank product.

I've been watching alot of youtube videos and all of them share one thing in common. They all say you must have a catchy, curious headline to grab your audience attention fast and grab their email.

I notice all of the headlines make ridiculous claims and when you opt in you don't see how you can make that type of money. As a result they will unsubscribe so fast. So yes you might get their email fast but at the same time you will lose it.

So how can you make a great headline that no one can resist and promise to deliver on that headline when they opt in?

I am confused by this topic. I don't want to lie to get someone's email

Even successful marketers do this tactics which is why I am buffle because they don't practice what they preach.

Someone please explain...
#catchy #deceitful #headlines #improve #opt #rate
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
    It is deceitful, but alot of these guys don't have a problem conning you out of your money, so a deceitful headline is the least of their worries
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  • Profile picture of the author kingde
    Originally Posted by raywarrior1978 View Post

    I've been trying to buld my own sales funnel little by little, just a basic one without all the upsells or downsells. Just one that gives a free report follow by a series of follow up messages promoting the clickbank product.

    I've been watching alot of youtube videos and all of them share one thing in common. They all say you must have a catchy, curious headline to grab your audience attention fast and grab their email.

    I notice all of the headlines make ridiculous claims and when you opt in you don't see how you can make that type of money. As a result they will unsubscribe so fast. So yes you might get their email fast but at the same time you will lose it.

    So how can you make a great headline that no one can resist and promise to deliver on that headline when they opt in?

    I am confused by this topic. I don't want to lie to get someone's email

    Even successful marketers do this tactics which is why I am buffle because they don't practice what they preach.

    Someone please explain...
    The idea is to put in a unique benefit that qualifies who should pay attention or excludes anyone who cannot relate with it but intrigues anyone who you have captured their attention to want to know the next sentence.

    If you don't have anything unique about what you are offering, then you have to resort to tactical or psychological hooks which can be on the edge of responsible marketing.

    There is always the challenge of keeping the hype down so it's believable but enough so there is some emotional engagement.

    You need to find the point between those two extremes that works for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author raywarrior1978
      None of those 2 points can be achieve. You can't be deceitful and at the same time be good. You either are or are not.

      I myself, have opt in so many times in the past to so many of those catchy headlines. When it took me to either a sales page or the free report, nothing there showed me how to make for example $465 dollars in one day! Oh please,!

      So what did I do? I unsubscribe immediately!

      So maybe most people that are looking to make money online will do the same thing when they see that what they are getting is not what was promise on the headline. They feel cheated and lie to. So how can you build a list on HYPE!

      Makes no sense!
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      • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
        Originally Posted by raywarrior1978 View Post

        None of those 2 points can be achieve. You can't be deceitful and at the same time be good. You either are or are not.

        I myself, have opt in so many times in the past to so many of those catchy headlines. When it took me to either a sales page or the free report, nothing there showed me how to make for example $465 dollars in one day! Oh please,!

        So what did I do? I unsubscribe immediately!

        So maybe most people that are looking to make money online will do the same thing when they see that what they are getting is not what was promise on the headline. They feel cheated and lie to. So how can you build a list on HYPE!

        Makes no sense!
        If you've found a new market or venue or a new twist on an old way of doing things and send out an email with this headline: No One Else Is Doing This, you are not being deceptive, you're stating something pretty close to the truth. Yes, there are a few people doing it but it's still a new technique. Something like this is compelling and very close to factual. If you felt it was deceptive you could say, Almost No One Else Is Doing This. That would still get a high open rate and wouldn't be lying. There are plenty of ways to make email messages interesting without being deceitful.
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        • Profile picture of the author raywarrior1978
          Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

          If you've found a new market or venue or a new twist on an old way of doing things and send out an email with this headline: No One Else Is Doing This, you are not being deceptive, you're stating something pretty close to the truth. Yes, there are a few people doing it but it's still a new technique. Something like this is compelling and very close to factual. If you felt it was deceptive you could say, Almost No One Else Is Doing This. That would still get a high open rate and wouldn't be lying. There are plenty of ways to make email messages interesting without being deceitful.
          Yes, I see your point. That was a clever headline and I guess it not really being deceitful unless the person who sees your offer has done it already and be like: "what is this person talking about? I've done this already"

          But what are the chances of that happening?
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          • Profile picture of the author kingde
            Originally Posted by raywarrior1978 View Post

            Yes, I see your point. That was a clever headline and I guess it not really being deceitful unless the person who sees your offer has done it already and be like: "what is this person talking about? I've done this already"

            But what are the chances of that happening?
            Don't use too much logic in all this...

            You do want to be ethical and have integrity but also you do want to get paid.

            If you've tested in the real world and found that a logical, prudent approach is not capturing any interest or attention, then you need to get creative.

            Hype doesn't mean lying.. it is a literary device (Hyperbole) or a figure of speech which can take people out of the 'I know it all already and nothing really works' to another state of mind which leaves some room for possibilities they haven't considered.

            As a marketer you need to constantly think of better ways to engage people ethically and honestly, but also give them enough reason to motivate themselves off the couch and take action. A kick in the butt with words!
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            • Profile picture of the author raywarrior1978
              Now that I think about it, whenever I hear tv or radio commercials there are alot of hype and this companies make alot of money, so I guess I just need to come up with a hype but that actually relates to the product
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            • Profile picture of the author lucidzfl
              Originally Posted by kingde View Post

              Don't use too much logic in all this...

              You do want to be ethical and have integrity but also you do want to get paid.

              If you've tested in the real world and found that a logical, prudent approach is not capturing any interest or attention, then you need to get creative.

              Hype doesn't mean lying.. it is a literary device (Hyperbole) or a figure of speech which can take people out of the 'I know it all already and nothing really works' to another state of mind which leaves some room for possibilities they haven't considered.

              As a marketer you need to constantly think of better ways to engage people ethically and honestly, but also give them enough reason to motivate themselves off the couch and take action. A kick in the butt with words!
              So when you're promoting a penis enlargement pill through clickbank, you don't need to be modest about your claims. Just provide some reasonable hyperbole related to the product without relegating yourself to specific claims about the products ability.

              IE: Instead of saying "add 1.5 inches to your member", say
              "GET MONSTROUS ERECTIONS THAT WILL SCARE EVERY LOVER YOU HAVE!"

              One is obvious hype and is therefore not tied to a numerical value with which someone could claim to require a refund.
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        • Profile picture of the author aprilm
          Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

          If you've found a new market or venue or a new twist on an old way of doing things and send out an email with this headline: No One Else Is Doing This, you are not being deceptive, you're stating something pretty close to the truth. Yes, there are a few people doing it but it's still a new technique. Something like this is compelling and very close to factual. If you felt it was deceptive you could say, Almost No One Else Is Doing This. That would still get a high open rate and wouldn't be lying. There are plenty of ways to make email messages interesting without being deceitful.

          What travelinguy said.

          You can always take something that IS true, and really emphasize the benefits....without lying or being deceptive. For example, say you are promoting a course on list building, and you have gained 300 subscribers is one week, and you want to teach others how you personally did it. Let's say you are not necessarily a seasoned list builder, you just found a unique way to get people to subscribe to your newsletter. 300 subs in one week isn't a huge number, and sure there are IMers out there gaining WAY more than that in half the time, so you've got to really make what you did stand out somehow....you could write a headline like this: "Learn How This Newbie With Hardly Any List Building Experience Got Hundreds Of Subscribers In Just 7 Days, And How You Can Too!"

          Now, if I was looking for a course that taught list building, and I was a newbie, I would say to myself, "hmmm....if a complete newbie can get that many subs in one week, I bet I could too!" You are appealing to a certain crowd... The inexperienced.

          I believe this is also referred to as your USP....Unique Selling Position.
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          • Profile picture of the author raywarrior1978
            Yes you are right ApriM. Thanks for opening my eyes more. I guess I wasn't thinking it like that. But your reasoning makes sense now.

            One thing I never thought about is that instead of spending money on a copywriter or fiverr gig for a squeeze page headline, I can actually go to the WSO section or warrior for hire and look at their titles and use one that has alot of views which means that there title got alot of attention and see if I could relate that to a product I want to promote. Kind of thinking a little bit out side the box now.
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            • Profile picture of the author kingde
              Originally Posted by raywarrior1978 View Post

              Yes you are right ApriM. Thanks for opening my eyes more. I guess I wasn't thinking it like that. But your reasoning makes sense now.

              One thing I never thought about is that instead of spending money on a copywriter or fiverr gig for a squeeze page headline, I can actually go to the WSO section or warrior for hire and look at their titles and use one that has alot of views which means that there title got alot of attention and see if I could relate that to a product I want to promote. Kind of thinking a little bit out side the box now.
              To the people it's not addressing it could sound more like hype than the people who will directly identify with it.

              So it can act as a qualifying step to keep the wrong people from opting in and complicating things.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    This is simple. Your own words: "...catchy, curious headline..."

    Your own words again: "...all of the headlines make ridiculous claims...

    First thing. All headlines DON'T make ridiculous claims. The trick is to make the headline compelling without being deceptive or fraudulent. It's not hard. How about something like: No One Else Is Doing This.

    I'd open that. And if the message was somewhere in the credibility zone I'd be okay with it. Stuff isn't deceitful unless it's deceitful. (misleading or downright fraudulent) A good rule of thumb is this: If you look at your message and the headline and KNOW it's BS, everyone else is likely to recognize that as well. Another good rule is: If you wouldn't want it done to you (this applies to just about everything in life) then don't do it to others.

    Do a search for email headline swipes or even just headline swipes. There's a goldmine out there and most of it's free. All you've got to do is tweak them to your offer. Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author eklipz316
    I'ts a good point you make about not wanting to make your claims to outrageous. Making thousands by using traffic exchanges for example. Is it possible? Maybe, but only for a few people.

    Other methods that claim the same thing are absolutely true though. Claiming you'll make over $1,000/day (eventually) using email lists, for instance, isn't far fetched at all. Will it happen over night and for everyone that purchases like some headlines imply? Absolutely not, but it's certainly possible to make the claimed amount if you work hard and do it right.

    My advice is if you don't like headlines like those and they rub you the wrong way, don't use them. Make sure you're headlines aren't bland and boring, but I'm sure you can come up with some other ideas if you get creative.
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  • Profile picture of the author shawnlebrun
    One of the biggest mistakes mistakes marketers and copywriters make is telling their reader or viewer that they're going to reveal a "secret" or a "proven system"...

    And then not revealing that secret.

    Your prospects will remember that... and it will make you look like a liar.

    It happens all the time, and I'm certainly guilty of it... until I had a prospect call me on it.

    I had a pretty cool headline that promised a secret technique that would help them achieve something... and then I never followed up and gave them the technique.

    and I was called out on it.

    I'm not saying it will happen all the time, or kill sales totally.

    but, I think it will matter to your results in the long run, if you use hype or catchy headlines to bring in the reader... but not offer something of substance or value.

    Some could feel that you simply lied, to get them in. Some will feel duped.

    So yeah, make sure you always follow up with the headline... in fact, most leads into the copy should start off where the headline left off...
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