Sam Miller breaks down nine headline formulas that work for job ads and recruitment content. Each one taps a different psychological trigger: challenging assumptions, riding trends, naming pain points, opening loops, showcasing wins, refuting objections, leveraging authority, using extremes, and embracing weirdness. He gives examples and implementation tips for each.
Chapters
The headline could literally make or break any piece of copy that you write. Imagine you're walking past a restaurant. The food inside is absolutely amazing, but from the outside it looks dirty, boring, and uninviting. Chances are you're not even going to get through the door to taste the food because you've already made your mind up in a matter of seconds. The headline is exactly the same. No matter how good the content is, if the headline does not invite you in, then everything else is pretty much pointless. Today I'm going to be sharing with you 9 different types of proven headlines that will without doubt improve the chances that a candidate will read your job ad or a client is going to stop by and read your content. Let's get started. Oh, that's quite spicy, tickles the back of my throat. The first type of headline is all about challenging assumptions. This is all about going against the grain, doing the opposite of what people expect to hear. The internet is filled with so many cliché statements and repetitive ideas that are regurgitated again and again. As a result, we've developed a special kind of filter in our brains that saves us time and skips things that we've seen or heard before. By challenging your reader's assumptions, you're knocking them out of this filter and waking them up from their social media slumber. It's a great way of getting them to stop in their tracks and listen to what you have to say. And of course, let me show you what I mean. With some examples. The myth of the perfect candidate: why you should look beyond the resume. The misconception about hiring remote workers. Why you shouldn't underestimate the potential of entry-level candidates. The surprising benefits of hiring employees without a traditional background. All of these headlines are challenging recruiters' assumptions on well-known topics. This gives me a better chance of stopping them in their tracks and getting them to read my content. Headline number 2: Ride the wave. Riding the wave is all about hijacking trends, and there is a reason why so many content creators all over the internet use trends to their advantage. And it's because during these trends, a large portion of the human population have it at the front of their mind. It's being talked about and it's being discussed. And so the reality is, when trends occur, there are huge spikes in people searching out that particular topic on the internet. And so weaving these trends into your content, but specifically your headlines, is a really great way to get more engagement. Examples activate. How artificial intelligence will change the landscape of recruitment. The future of resumes: how to stand out in a crowded job market. The role of personality tests in recruitment: pros and cons for 2023. The changing face of candidate expectations: what today's job seekers really want. Navigating the gig economy in 2023: how to attract and retain freelancers and contractors. Headline number 3: Move away from pain. I think we've all heard the term pain point before, whether that be in marketing or sales, and putting pain in the headline still very much works. The trick with this one is being very specific with the pain that you're using. In fact, the more specific you can be, the better. Examples coming right up: The talent shortage— how to find and keep top candidates. The struggle with staying up to date with emerging recruitment technologies. The difficulty of standing out in a crowded and competitive job market, how to avoid being left behind and keep up with rapidly changing candidate expectations. Headline number 4: Opening a loop. The human brain cannot stand an open loop. Our brains are actually designed to focus more on incomplete tasks rather than completed tasks, which makes sense. So when you give your readers an open loop, e.g., something that hasn't been finished, it sends off all kinds of crazy signals in their brain that they just can't resist. This is a very common tactic that you see in almost like every advert for a film, they give you just enough to get you excited, but they leave enough open loops so you are desperate to find out what happens next. Examples, examples, examples. Oh God, that's making me dizzy. The surprising secret to attracting top talent. The simple hack that will help you find the right candidates faster. The shocking truth about what candidates really want. The unbelievable benefits of diversifying your candidate pool. The little-known trick for retaining top talent. Headline number 5: Personal accomplishments. If you've accomplished something that you know your audience wants, then take advantage of it. People love nothing more than seeing other people like them achieve similar goals. It puts everything into perspective and it makes it feel more achievable. And if you're willing to explain your methods and how you got there, people will listen with open ears. Examples: From struggling to thriving, how I built my recruitment business. From burnout to balance, my journey to a fulfilling career in recruitment. From average to exceptional, How I became a leading recruiter in my field. Headline number 6: Refute an objection. Over your lifetime, you've probably had hundreds, if not thousands, of objections before purchasing something expensive. What if it takes too long? What if I can't make it work for my business? What if I'm not tech savvy enough? What if I don't see any results? Your specific audience will have a bunch of objections before purchasing your product or service. If you can address their objections straight away in the headline, they're much more likely to read your content. How to get more people watching your content without having to post embarrassing selfies. How to speak to more candidates online without having to send thousands of spam messages. Revolutionize your recruitment strategy. The LinkedIn course that delivers results even if you're busy. Headline number 7, authority. The truth is a lot of humans trust other humans that are in authoritative positions. In most cases, those authority figures have demonstrated in some way, whether that be building a successful business or winning multiple gold medals, that what they say and do can be trusted. You can actually use that authority in your headline to build trust and intrigue. What Warren Buffett can teach us about hiring top talent. The recruitment lessons we can learn from Elon Musk. The talent strategies of Steve Jobs. How to attract and retain the best candidates. Headline number 8: Hit the extremes. This one is pretty simple, guys. There's so much competition online. There's so many things fighting for your attention. The more you can incorporate elements of extremeness, into your headline, the higher chance you have of grabbing someone's attention. Here's how this recruiter was able to build a strong and successful team from scratch in just 6 months. How a recruiter was able to improve employee retention rates and reduce turnover by 50%. Headline number 9: Make it weird. Curiosity is one of the most powerful human emotions that you can tap into. If you study all the best marketers in the world, one of their missions will be tapping into this curiosity in some way. An easy way to get people curious is to make something come across in a weird or strange way. The strange secret to attracting top talent. The bizarre strategy for hiring the best candidates. The strange trick for retaining top talent. The odd hack that will help you find the right candidates faster. And finally, because I love you, I have collated every headline that I've used in this video and more and put them into a nice, neat, convenient Google Doc, and you can download it in the links below. See you later.
