In my last article, “How To Write A Headline - Part 2″, I explained the “Who, What, Why” formula of writin a headline. In this article, I show you how I used this formula to come up with a headline for a weight loss newsletter.

As I explained in my previous article, the first thing I do when writing a headline is identify the customer. This is the “who” part of the “What, What, Why” formula. In the case of a weight-loss newsletter, the “who” part could be: People who want to lose weight.

Now I’d advise breaking “people who want to lose weight” down even further into specific groups, like “stay-at-home moms who want to lose weight”, “busy executives who want to lose weight”, etc., and craft your headline accordingly. The more precisely your headline is targeted to your audience, the more likely it is to grab their attention.

The next step in the formula is the “what” - meaning the product. What exactly are you selling? Are you selling a weight-loss book? A membership to a pilates class? A nutritional supplement? Once you identify the product, you have to decide which product features you want to highlight and how these features will benefit your customer.

Identifying features and benefits is a pretty lengthy topic, and I’ll probably devote an entire article to it, but to keep things simple, just remember that people generally buy things for two reasons: Either to gain PLEASURE or to avoid PAIN.

When it comes to weight loss, the “pain” can be anything from low energy, to risk of disease, to feeling unattractive. The “pleasure” part can be anything from being able to fit into your favorite outfit, to getting more attention from the opposite sex, to feeling healthier and more confident. These are your motivators. It’s your job to identify your product features and show the customer how those features will bring them pleasure or help them avoid pain.

The last part of the formula is the “why”, meaning your objective. What do you want the customer to do? Do you want them to visit the website for your weight loss e-book? Do you want them to order a bottle of your African herb dietary supplement? Me being a copywriter, most of my clients’ objectives will either be making the sale on the spot, or getting the customer primed for the sale and compelling them to take further action (visit a website, request more information, etc.)

So let’s put it all together. If I’m building a headline for a weight-loss newsletter, my “Who, What, Why” formula might look something like this:

Who: “Stay-at-home moms, age 25-40, who want to lose weight” What: “A set of weight-loss hypnosis cd’s” Why: “Drive prospects to the sales page at

So my headline might look something like this:

“In Less Time Than It Takes To Make Dinner For The Kids, This Little-Known Technology Can Give You The Fat-Burning Powers Of A 19-Year-Old”

This headline incorporates all three elements of the “Who, What, Why” formula. It targets stay-at-home moms aged 25-40 with the benefit contained in the phrase, “In less time than it takes to make dinner for the kids”, and by promising to give them the “fat-burning powers of a 19-year-old”. It also sparks curiosity with the phrase “little-known technology”, which makes them want to know more and draws them into the body copy, thus driving them towards the “close” - visiting the sales page on the website. This accomplishes the “Why” objective.

So that, in a nutshell, is how I build headlines using the “Who, What, Why” formula. Play around with it and you’ll be crafting your own killer headlines…in less time than it takes to make dinner for the kids!

Categories: Writing tips