COMPELLING HEADLINES sell papers and intriguing subject lines often cause people who should know better to click on spammy e-mail. Interesting cover art (such as items emerging from Aoife Duggan's sketchbook at left) also makes me want to click onto media objects and listen to them play their message. As I try to manage a flow of information on a small screen, I hear the sage comment of Neville Hobson inside my head, emphasizing the importance of crafting a compelling title. This good habit becomes a core skill for copywriters who sit in my lectures. One in 20 of these college students forget to include subject lines on their emails and that guarantees the mail will be trapped for a few days behinbd my spam filters. Others insist upon attaching heavy video clips to their emails instead of using Dropbox links. I don't pull down video clips as email but I will click on many links that students recommend.Today's emails and blog titles included memorable phrases like "toothless execution" of a State statute, an "unstoppable" train of events, "reading the fine print" of a travel site, and getting "good service is a joke". I'm reading all of these items because good copywriters attracted my eyes to the stories.
Written with Barry Doyle and Sheila Newman in mind.
