5. Create a headline for an article about the SCC Advertising Program targeted to local graduating high school students. I am specifically not telling you what to do or the questions that need to be asked. Please provide the following:
a. Provide the headline
Choose your future with a 90% employment rate at St Clair
b. Provide an overview of the elements missing in the instructions required for this task.
-Platform?
-Style?
-What is your objective/purpose for the article?
-What action do you want your audience to take?
c. Explain the headline you created, why, and any other reasons/justifications you need to provide to me for the headline you created. (6 Marks)
I created this headline because the entire point of college is to succeed in your chosen field once you graduate, the employment rate is a large factor students consider when choosing a specific program, so, I decided for my headline, I wanted that to be the main hook point. I also find colleges tend to forget about this factor and it is not something they promote enough.
This headline grabs my audience’s attention by stating a fact and is followed by the school. It is simple and to the point, and it can be taken in and out of context. This is an important factor because if and when people share articles the only thing you see to gain any sort of context is the headline. If this were to be unapplicable in and out of context there would be confusion and this would lead students to veer away from our article.
Furthermore, it is written in plain language, ensuring people of any reading level can comprehend it, specifically, high school students. This will ensure it is not overly complicated and can be understood by everybody looking for colleges. This headline also promises something. It promises that after enduring this program and coming out the other side of things you are 90% likely to get a job and in students’ minds that is an awfully high employment rate as a lot of students coming out of university programs or other college programs often struggle finding jobs right out of school. Also, “using specific numbers and data in your headline increases click-through rates” (Briscoe, W6 – D - How to Write Headlines (W25).pdf, slide 10). On top of that, it is even better that the statistic is an odd number as “odd numbers help people digest and recall information more easily” (Briscoe, W6 – D - How to Write Headlines (W25).pdf, slide 10).
With the terminology “Choose YOUR future” I am making it clear I am speaking directly to my audience, as spoken about in class, this is one of the main points to making a good headline. Furthermore, even if students are unfamiliar with the Advertising and Marketing program, I believe this is something that will spark their interest and create a sense of mystery. Within the article, I would include things like the student’s innovation competition with the NHL, the marketing competition they won, and the videos of past and current students speaking about their current lifestyle – hook and sinker.
I kept the headline under 60 characters, eliminating the potential for it to get cut off, which in turn also eliminates the potential for confusion or lost viewers. As this headline is directed at LOCAL students, 99% of the graduating students will be aware that St Clair is there local and only college. With that being said, I chose to highlight St Clair, instead of the specific program as that is the more important piece of information, showing the potential students that this is from their local college. No, this does not highlight the advertising program directly, however, this creates an even larger sense of mystery. By stating this fact, potential students will be intrigued to want to know what program this could possibly be true for, leading them directly to the Advertising website once they click on the link.