What’s a picture really worth?

“A picture is worth a 1,000 words.” If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it 1,000 times. For those of us who write for a living, pictures don’t replace the words we write but give the words we do write a chance to sink in. How?

Pictures, images, even some of the very words we write used as pull-quotes improve readability. Instead of looking at a page entirely of text, the reader can pause a second to take in the picture or image. This lends favorably to the reader actually retaining something about what the written piece is about.

With people skimming through e-mails, newsletters, and articles at breakneck speed, adding images to a piece may not tell the entire story—but it will get the reader to slow down and maybe stay a short while, rather than clicking.

An Ugly Betty of a headline

Another trick copywriters use to write a punchy headline is to invoke some element of pop culture. The latest fad, a popular sitcom, even the number one hit on America’s top 40; all these make for handy attention-getters for your headline.

Case in point, a recent client’s client, an asphalt maintenance company, was holding an Ugliest Driveway contest. Not exactly a topic that lends to a mass audience. So, we came up with a headline that catered to a larger demographic:

“If Ugly Betty can win a Golden Globe, your “ugly driveway” can win you a luxury night out!”

That’s a bit more enticing than "Ugliest Driveway Contest, winner receives a luxury night out!” And since topics like driveway generally appeal to a more masculine audience, we made the headline more mainstream by including a show that’s very popular with women.

That’s not to say you want every headline to have some pop culture reference. Pick your spots. Just make sure it’s something that is fairly well known. A pop culture reference that’s not terribly well known or appropriate for a particular audience can really fall flat on its face.