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Hey! Dan Nelken once said, "Great headlines aren't great sentences – they're great ideas expressed in words."

So today, I'll show you how a classic ideation method, Osborn’s Checklist, can be used to write headlines.

tl;dr

Now, let's break it down:

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1. Adapt

🤔 Ask:

• What could I adapt or copy?
• Emulate another ad or brand?
• Borrow from other industries?

• Can I take from the past?
• Borrow from pop culture?
• Try something else like this?

2. Modify

🤔 Ask:

• Is there a new twist I can add?
• A different color or sound?
• A changed format or layout?


• Can I change the meaning?

• Change the tone or style?
• Explore other possibilities?

3. Magnify

🤔 Ask:

• What can I add to improve it?
• To duplicate or exaggerate it?

• To add urgency or excitement?

• Can I add extra value?
• Make it bolder or longer?
• Exaggerate or dramatize?

4. Minify

🤔 Ask:

• What can I subtract?
• Tone down or delete?
• Split up or understate?

• Can it be miniature, lower, or shorter?
• Lightened, omitted, or streamlined?
• Smaller or more condensed?

5. Substitute

🤔 Ask:

• Can I use something else instead?
• Other ingredients or shapes?
• Different tones of voice?

• Can I change the rules?
• The processes or tools?
• Take a different approach?

6. Rearrange

🤔 Ask:

• Can I interchange components?
• Try other patterns? Other layouts?
• Reorganize sequences?

• Change the order of the letters?

• Flip the cause and effect?
• Adjust the pacing?

7. Reverse

🤔 Ask:

• Can I reverse roles?
• Switch positive and negative?
• Use opposites?

• Can I change negative into positive?
• Turn it backward or upside down?
• Approach it from a different angle?

8. Combine

🤔 Ask:

• Can I mix ideas together?

• Combine different stories?

• Merge words or languages?

• Can I combine two elements?
• Use two devices at the same time?
• Blend serious and silly?

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You made it! 🕺

Talk soon,
​Shlomo :)

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P.S. Want to learn how to come up with creative B2B ads? Check out my course – Boring Products, Fun Ads.

Loved by 300+ students from companies like Semrush, Apple, and TestGorilla. Naomi is one of them:

Naomi Soman Copywriter @ Similarweb