This is basically about how I accidentally proved headlines matter more than everything else.
Which strangely also includes audio.
So yesterday I screwed up so spectacularly that I accidentally proved the most important copywriting principle of all time.
So I’m out walking, feeling inspired, decide to record a YouTube short. (Which is the new thing I’m doing with my walks/hikes and NO you can’t see them…yet)
Just me riffing on some random topic while wandering around like a philosopher hopped up on all of the caffeine…
I’m dropping what I think are absolute gems of wisdom into my phones camera.
Two minutes of pure brilliance. Or so I thought.
I wrap up, feeling good about the content. Upload it straight to YouTube with a killer headline that I spent actual time crafting.
Then I get a notification about an hour later. 200 views. Not bad for a random walking video.
Except when I check the video.
No audio. None. Zero. Zilch. Not even subtitles of me mouthing off or anything.
There I am, gesticulating wildly at the camera like a mime having an existential crisis, while viewers watch me mouth words they can’t hear for two straight minutes.
And yet… 200 views.
It’s weird that people clicked on a video that didn’t have audio but stuck around long enough for the views to count…
The headline did ALL the heavy lifting. Not my brilliant insights. Not my engaging delivery. Not even basic technical dumbfuckery.
Obviously I’m not going to make a habit of testing this but I thought it was pretty entertaining anyways.
But there it was. Just the promise in those few words at the top. Cause as far as I know YouTube shorts don’t really allow anything else from an optimisation point of view, other than a headline and maybe part of the thumbnail of the clip.
And so I’d probably say that this is the copywriting lesson every creator needs tattooed on their eyeballs.
Your headline is important but it’s everything else too, It’s the bouncer that decides who gets into the club. It’s the salesperson that gets people to stop scrolling and pay attention.
Without a strong headline, your content could cure cancer and solve world hunger, and nobody would stick around long enough to find out.
With a strong headline, people will apparently watch you mime your way through a walking meditation and somehow find value in the experience.
The funniest part? I’m going to re-record that video tomorrow and make the whole audio disaster part of the joke.
If you’re spending more time perfecting your body copy than your headlines, you’re doing it backwards. If you’re writing headlines last, you’re doing it backwards. If you think good content can overcome a weak headline, you’re definitely doing it backwards.
Your headline is the promise. Everything else is just keeping that promise.
And apparently, sometimes the promise is strong enough that people will stick around even when you literally can’t deliver on it because you forgot to press the record button properly.
So before you write another email, post, video description, or piece of content. Write the headline first. Make it impossible to ignore. Make it create a curiosity gap so wide that people have to click just to close it.
Cause if my dumbass can make a silent video get 200 views based purely on headline strength, imagine what happens when you actually include the audio?
Stephen Walker.
P.S. This is why I don’t really do video. I have a knack for breaking things. I’m writer dude. I write words and sometimes they come out okay.