How we used headlines to inject personality and capture audience attention

Picture of Hedley Swann

Hedley Swann

Co-Founder at Dash
Picture of Hedley Swann

Hedley Swann

Co-Founder at Dash

In previous articles, we’ve touched on the importance of showing your business’s personality in your online presence. It makes your business relatable on a human level, and let’s your audience connect much more easily. So, I hear you saying “but my industry makes it tough to show personality.” Really? Find out how we did it with a local bookkeeping business.

For our example today, we’ll take a look at the new website for KHB Bookkeeping (a local Darwin bookkeeper) and see how we used headlines to showcase personality.

Now, I’ve heard many business owners excuse themselves from using personality in their marketing, citing that their industry isn’t “exciting”, or “fun”, or “quirky” enough. Granted, some industries lend themselves far more easily to injecting personality; however, if you put your thinking cap on you might just find some great opportunities in yours. Think about it, if everyone else in your industry is writing boring stuff, standing out is going to be that much easier. Plus, let’s face it, people rarely call bookkeeping exciting so I’d say our excuses have run out of steam.

How we formed KHB’s headlines

Great headlines capture the viewer’s attention and draw them into the page. They’re also informative, and give clues about what the rest of the page’s content might hold. We’ve all heard that you only have seconds to grab a website visitor’s attention, right? Good headlines are how you win that race against time.

According to Copyblogger, on average:

“8 out of 10 people will read your headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.”

Sounds like a pretty compelling argument to put some work into your headlines to me.

For KHB, we looked at the personality of the business, the staff, and the culture they foster. We found that they’re ethos has strong ties to cooperation and education, and being a valuable member of their client’s business. We asked ourselves, “what is this page trying to communicate?” and came up with engaging, attention grabbing, ways to get the message across. Here are some of the main headlines from the site, and the core message that we wanted to get across.

Message: Good bookkeeping is an integral part of running a successful business.

Headline: Bookkeeping is the First Mate of a successful business Captain

Message: KHB have a great team of qualified bookkeepers

Headline: We might not be able to fly, but our bookkeeping team puts in a superhuman effort

Message: KHB works with accountants to make their lives easier, support them, and produce better results for their clients.

Headline: We’re the Moneypenny to your Bond, the 99 to your Smart. We partner with accountants

There are many ways to get personality into your online marketing, and the messages you use should fit the personality of your business. Consider how graphics, photography, and visual style can be used to reflect who your business is. Always keep in mind that the goal of all of this is to better connect with your target market, and stand out against your competitors. Whatever creative spark you have, be sure to take a moment and consider whether it aligns with your goals.

You can see how it all came together on KHB Bookkeeping’s website.

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