How to Make Your Advertising Headlines More Credible

Scenario: "Dude, just stick a period at the end. That tells them we will boost their bottom line, period. Yay!" Nice in theory, but probably won't work on most ad copies. Here's a better way: Just make that headline sucker freakin': Rhyme!

Why does rhyming your advertising headline work?

When you rhyme your advertising headline, according to two researchers, you're creating an easier way for your readers to process that information. When people process information easier, they understand the statement clearer -- so they take in more information. When more information flows into their heads, they perceive the rhymed statement to be more accurate than a non-rhymed one. Here's how researchers Matthew McGlone and Jessica Tofighbakhsh tested the effectiveness of a rhymed statement:

They took a number of rhyming sayings previously unknown to their participants and created parallel but non-rhyming versions of them. Their participants read some of these and rated each one for their accuracy. The researchers found that even though all participants strongly held the belief that rhyming is in no way an indicator of accuracy, they nonetheless tended to perceive the rhyming statements as more accurate than those that did not rhyme.

So rhyme everything?

Not quite. Sometimes a more effective advertising headline for you won't use a rhyme. By all means, it's up to you. When it comes down to it however, a great advertising campaign uses different advertising headlines (i.e. A/B testing). If you find a headline more effective without a rhyme, you know what to do. Just know that if you're deciding between these two samples:

1. Buy a car, so you can go far.
2. Buy a car, so you can go faraway.

If you test those two using an A/B method, the first one will likely win all the time. The rhymed statement boosts the ad's credibility. Bottom line: If you can rhyme the headline with a slight change to a wording, you're probably better off doing it.

To boost your advertising headline's credibility like a sucka, rhyme like a mutha flukka.

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