How to Use the 4 U’s Formula to Write Ridiculously Clickable Headlines
Hands up if you find writing headlines hard?
Me too! 👋
That’s why I love the 4 U’s formula.
It’s simple, straightforward and makes writing headlines just that little bit easier.
Put into action, the formula shakes out like this:
Be USEFUL to your reader
Make their problem seem URGENT
Be ULTRA SPECIFIC with as much detail as possible
Weave in something unexpected and UNIQUE
Your goal is to try to tick off as many of these in your headline as possible.
If you can only tick one, you’re all good.
More than one? You’re golden.
Let's take a look at some examples:
USEFUL — How to Get Your Kids to Sleep On Time
URGENT — Get Your Kids to Sleep Fast: Read This Before Tonight’s Bedtime Battle
ULTRA-SPECIFIC — 3 Sneaky Tips To Get Your Kids To Go to Sleep in 33 Minutes or Less
UNIQUE — How To Get Your Tween to Sleep With This David Attenborough Inspired Hack
All of these headlines could top the same blog post. Yet, they all tick a different box from the 4 U's formula.
Which one should you choose? It's up to you.
There's no right or wrong answer. Your ultimate goal is to write a headline that your target reader finds totally compelling.
When your headline focuses on at least one of the 4 U's, more people will read the rest of your copy.
And that means more people will take an action afterwards.
Whether that's to share, like, download, subscribe, sign-up or buy something.
... which is exactly what your clients want.
So use the 4 U's formula next time you want to write a headline that grabs attention and gets read.