4 ways to write better headlines and memes

Everything is going visual in communications—or so we hear. Yet headlines and text are all the more important in directing traffic for overwhelmed internet users.

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This story is taken from Ragan Communications’ distance-learning portal Ragan Training. The site contains hundreds of hours of case studies, video presentations and interactive courses.

We hear everywhere that visuals are essential in today’s communications.

You’d be forgiven thinking that humankind is regressing to a preliterate age—giving up the written word in favor of painting cave images of hunters spearing bison.

Yet text, in the form of headlines and subject lines, is the gateway to many of the images we consume, says Billy DeLancey, executive director of Lobbyists 4 Good.

DeLancey made his case in a Ragan Training session, “Create a visual story with your words: Tips on writing for visual communications.”

Citing the late advertising great, David Ogilvy, DeLancey says five times as many people read the headlines as the body copy.

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