The Psychology of Attention 3 concepts to grab your prospects by...
Andrew Gould@AndrewWriteCopy
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Apr 14, 2025
~3 min read
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The Psychology of Attention
3 concepts to grab your prospects by the throat and force them to read:
3 concepts to grab your prospects by the throat and force them to read:
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Your headline's the make or break element of your copy.
And to succeed it needs to grab attention.
But that's not easy in today's crowded markets.
Because...
And to succeed it needs to grab attention.
But that's not easy in today's crowded markets.
Because...
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Most common copywriting tactics are no longer enough as your prospects have seen it all before.
So you need to dig deeper.
You need an underlying strategy to grab attention.
And that's what you're going to learn today from these 3 concepts:
So you need to dig deeper.
You need an underlying strategy to grab attention.
And that's what you're going to learn today from these 3 concepts:
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1) It must be new
Your headline must be something your prospects have never read before.
You don't want them thinking you're just the same as everyone else.
And a couple of good ways to do that are to...
Your headline must be something your prospects have never read before.
You don't want them thinking you're just the same as everyone else.
And a couple of good ways to do that are to...
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First, go against the common wisdom in your market.
For example:
"Lose weight and keep it off"
Is a bland headline that doesn't warrant a second look.
But:
For example:
"Lose weight and keep it off"
Is a bland headline that doesn't warrant a second look.
But:
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"Eat anything you want and still lose weight and keep it off"
Is much more attention-grabbing.
Because it's the opposite of what the audience is used to hearing.
And they'll want to know more.
The second way is to...
Is much more attention-grabbing.
Because it's the opposite of what the audience is used to hearing.
And they'll want to know more.
The second way is to...
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Counter a common objection.
For example:
"Earn a full time income from Twitter"
Again a bland headline.
But:
For example:
"Earn a full time income from Twitter"
Again a bland headline.
But:
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"Earn a full time income from Twitter even if you’ve got less than 100 followers"
And now you've got something much more interesting for your audience.
As it knocks down the objection of not having enough followers.
Again, they'll want to know more.
And now you've got something much more interesting for your audience.
As it knocks down the objection of not having enough followers.
Again, they'll want to know more.
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Though for both methods...
Make sure you check out your competition first.
As you don't want to craft something you think is new...
Only to discover everyone else is already saying it!
On to the second concept:
Make sure you check out your competition first.
As you don't want to craft something you think is new...
Only to discover everyone else is already saying it!
On to the second concept:
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2) It must be emotional
Your headline must resonate with your prospects on an emotional level.
You don't just want them to think "that sounds interesting" you want them to feel it.
And to do that you want to...
Your headline must resonate with your prospects on an emotional level.
You don't just want them to think "that sounds interesting" you want them to feel it.
And to do that you want to...
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Ask yourself why your prospects want the outcome you're promising.
And keep asking why until you can't go any further.
For example, starting with:
"Lose weight"
Reasons why might include:
And keep asking why until you can't go any further.
For example, starting with:
"Lose weight"
Reasons why might include:
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• They want to look good in a bikini.
• They want to walk around with their shirt off.
• They're ashamed to see themselves in a mirror.
• They're embarrassed to let their partner see them naked.
It depends on your target audience.
And they all...
• They want to walk around with their shirt off.
• They're ashamed to see themselves in a mirror.
• They're embarrassed to let their partner see them naked.
It depends on your target audience.
And they all...
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Make for far more attention-grabbing angles than:
"Lose weight"
So never settle for the surface level outcome.
Always dig deep to find the emotional reason behind it.
On to the third concept:
"Lose weight"
So never settle for the surface level outcome.
Always dig deep to find the emotional reason behind it.
On to the third concept:
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3) It must be simple
Your prospects must instantly understand your headline.
You don't want to force them to work out what you mean.
Because they won't bother.
They'll just leave.
So a headline like:
Your prospects must instantly understand your headline.
You don't want to force them to work out what you mean.
Because they won't bother.
They'll just leave.
So a headline like:
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"Use our state-of-the-art anti-diet chronology methodology to regulate and normalise your weight and its fluctuations"
Is far too complex.
Instead:
Is far too complex.
Instead:
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"Eat anything you want and still lose weight and keep it off"
Is simple, straight to the point, and easily understood.
And remember...
Your headline doesn't need to tell the whole story.
You can expand on it in the rest of your copy.
So to sum up...
Is simple, straight to the point, and easily understood.
And remember...
Your headline doesn't need to tell the whole story.
You can expand on it in the rest of your copy.
So to sum up...
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To grab attention your headline must be:
1) New
2) Emotional
3) Simple
And if you enjoyed this thread...
Check out the Space I did with Arthur where we covered this and also how to keep attention once you've got it:
x.com/DevLinguistic/…
1) New
2) Emotional
3) Simple
And if you enjoyed this thread...
Check out the Space I did with Arthur where we covered this and also how to keep attention once you've got it:
x.com/DevLinguistic/…
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Follow me @AndrewWriteCopy for more tweets and threads on marketing and copywriting.
And if you found this thread valuable, RT the first tweet to help your fellow persuasion professionals:
And if you found this thread valuable, RT the first tweet to help your fellow persuasion professionals:
Andrew Gould@AndrewWriteCopy
The Psychology of Attention
3 concepts to grab your prospects by the throat and force them to read:
3 concepts to grab your prospects by the throat and force them to read:
