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Link to blog post: https://blog.ecopuregoods.com/2025/03/05/assignment-2-part-b-question-2/  

Yes, the headline was representative of the article. The article begins by stating the reason that these 13 drinks are being cut from Starbucks’ menu, with a percentage that explains that “the company looks to slim down its menu by 30%, speed up operations and boost its profitability”ⁱⁱ, which answers a key question that people will have when reading this headline which is “why”. Right off the bat, a crucial question is answered with a simple percentage and also a quote directly from Starbucks which states that the drinks that are being cut “aren’t commonly purchased, can be complex to make, or are like other beverages on our menu” and that cutting them will “help reduce wait times, improve quality and consistency, and align with our core identity as a coffee company”. After giving the reader a clear and easy to digest answer to why these drinks are being cut, the article goes on to list the 13 drinks in bullet points. First, the article reads that 9 of the 13 drinks that are being cut are Frappuccino’s, which are Starbucks signature frozen/blended drinks then lists the nine drinks, followed by a short sentence, “Apart from those, here’s what else being cut:” and then lists the remaining 4 drinks that are being removed from Starbucks’ menu. With this content that is also clear, concise and informative, it shows that the headline is representative of the article and follows the same rule of respecting the reader by providing them with valuable information as clearly and quickly as possible. 

Headline: 

“How to Thrive in 2^nd Year Advertising in 7 Steps (From a Second Year Student)” 

Explanation:  

This headline targets first year students and is coming from a second-year student (me) to add credibility. I began this headline using the “how to” strategy, which gives a clear promise of value to the reader because they know what they are getting out of reading the article. I used the odd number “7” because numbers add specificity, and the number 7 has been shown to increase click-through rate by 20%. The adjective “thrive” targets the younger generation (Gen-Z mainly) who use this word extensively and associate it with doing well. This is a promise of value and provides something useful to the reader, because it gives them what they want, which is information about how to do well in second year digital classes in this program. This headline promises something of value to the reader and is unique to their specific need, which is to prepare for and learn more about second year digital classes. Learning from someone who has already gone through it (me, a second-year student) adds credibility and value to the claim that the 7 steps within the article will make them thrive.  

The headline I created for an article about the SCC Advertising Program targeted to local graduating high school students is: 
“How to Land Your Dream Job (Hint: Graduate from St Clair Advertising)” 
Provide an overview of the elements missing in the instructions required for this task.  
The elements that are missing in the instructions are: 
The goal / objective of the article (Get them to apply to the advertising program? Go to the open house?) 
The specific characteristics of the high school graduates (have they shown interest in the advertising program already? Or are they unsure about what program they’re interested in? Are we targeting the parents as well or just the students?) 
 
Explain the headline you created, why, and any other reasons/justifications you need to provide to me for the headline you created. (6 Marks)  
Headline: 
“How to Land Your Dream Job in 3 Years (Hint: Graduate from St Clair Advertising)” 
 
Explanation: 
Given that there were elements missing in the instructions required for the question, I decided to target the needs of the students as well as their parents when searching for possible college programs. One of the number one things that students as well as parents consider when looking for college programs is job prospects after graduation. This headline is effective because it follows the four U’s and promises something to the reader. First of all, this headline is unique because it is unique and a bit “whacky” which as we discussed in class should be done when possible, to add a memorability and click-ability aspect to our headline because it stands out from competitors. It is ultra specific by specifying the key benefit of graduation from St Clair’s Advertising program, which is a dream job. It is also ultra-specific because it includes “in 3 years” which adds a tangible number and timeline to get the “dream job” in advertising. It conveys a sense of urgency with the “in three years” because it makes people feel like they need to take action to start the journey. The “hint” is an inside scoop into what the article will be going into further detail about. This persuades readers to want to learn more and further investigate St Clair’s advertising program through the article. Lastly, this article provides something useful by promising the readers knowledge on how to get their dream job in advertising, which for many high school graduates is the next big goal they are going after in life.  

Three different headlines I have written for the New York Times Cooking article “16 Cheap, Healthy Dinners for When You’re All Out of Ideas” are: 

1. “16 Healthy and Delicious Dinners You Won’t Believe Are Affordable” 

This headline is an effective alternative because it gets the message across in an easily digestible way while also including the number “16” for specificity. The headline starts with the number 16, which as we’ve discussed in class comes off as authentic and ultra-specific compared to round numbers that are often used like 10. Also, this headline contains the important information that the target audience for this content are looking for, which is “healthy dinners” and “affordable”, which appeals to people who need to stay within a certain budget but value a healthy lifestyle. This headline is easy to read and understand at a glance, while still being unique to the specific problem it is solving for people which is that it is giving them meal ideas that are affordable while being healthy and delicious. Based on class content, we learned that “You Won’t Believe” in a headline can create intrigue and persuade people to click the link, because as we know, the digital user is guided by headlines and wants to be surprised by the content they consume online. “You Won’t Believe” promises surprising and valuable information, while conveying a sense of urgency to click because of the “wow” factor of the meals being healthy and delicious while also being so affordable that it is hard to believe. 

2. “16 Cheap and Healthy Dinners You Can Make Tonight” 

The second headline I created for this article is effective because of similar key aspects to the original headline, but this time adding a clear CTA. This headline is clear and specific (52 characters) with the important information at the front, “16 Cheap and Healthy Dinners”, which includes the specific and authentic number “16” which lets users know how much value they will get out of reading the article. The CTA “You Can Make Tonight” is clear and persuades users that the recipes inside the article and healthy and cheap, while being simple enough that they can be made tonight. These action verbs also let the user’s image themselves making the dinners instead of just reading about them, it puts it into perspective that the meals are not complicated to make which motivates them to take action and click the link to further investigate whether they will make one of the 16 recipes for dinner that night. The specific verbs and action words “you can make tonight” is a promise and guarantee to the reader that they can make one of the meals “tonight”. 

3. “Get Inspired by These 16 Healthy (And Cheap) Dinner Ideas” 

The third headline I created for this article is effective because it takes a storytelling approach to tell the audience what they will get out of the article, which is to be inspired. As we have discussed in class, headlines need to tell a story at a glance and summarize the key idea of the article, which this headline does by containing the keywords “healthy”, “cheap” and “dinner ideas”. We know that we have seconds to grab the attention of the user before they are gone forever, so promising them something, which in this case is inspiration, is important to create value and adds authority to the article by being confident that readers will “get inspired” by the meal ideas. The headline stays under 60 characters which makes sure that it doesn’t get cut off in search engines, providing the full value of the headline to users without them having to guess. The parenthesis around (And Cheap) emphasizes the fact that the dinner ideas are cheap, adding intrigue and highlighting the benefit of affordability. 

Why are headlines so important in web content? 

Headlines are extremely important in web content, as discussed in class, as they are the first thing that the user reads and what makes them decide whether or not to click the link. Writing for the web is not a guessing game, it’s a craft that we must learn about and practice extensively to get it right. The most important part of writing for web is writing headlines, because the digital user is guided by headlines. As we discussed in class, the digital user wants to be told what to do next, is impatient and will move on to the next thing quickly, wants to be surprised, and gets a lot of content from social. Most importantly, headlines are so important because the headline is the “shiny hook that lures the fish” by grabbing its attention. Headlines that are made in service to the customer can accomplish that by being interesting and relevant to the target audience that it is made for. The headline is the single most important aspect of any marketing document, because it is our first and only opportunity to capture the attention of our audience. With the knowledge that most of the population has an attention span of less than 8 seconds total, we know that we have only a few seconds to promise our audience something valuable. That is what the headline is, a promise. It is how we convince our users that we have something that they want, and that if they click, they’re getting their time and attention’s worth of good valuable content. The headline is so important because it is what we must use to make an immediate instant impression on our audience. If a headline is weak and doesn’t get any clicks, the content within goes to waste because the headline wasn’t strong enough to convince users that they will receive something of value. Headlines that are direct and sell to the reader that they are missing out by NOT clicking the link are what gives the rest of the marketing document the chance to be seen by the target audience of people who will find value and act on whatever the content pertains to. A great headline is what people will share, because digital users want to discover and share things that are interesting and relevant. By crafting headlines that draw in the right kind of traffic, perform great in search engines, and stand out from competitors, we give our content a great shot at resonating with our audience and making a real and actionable impact on them. 

Headline I recently clicked on: 16 Cheap, Healthy Dinners for When You’re All Out of Ideas https://cooking.nytimes.com/article/cheap-healthy-dinner-ideas 

Why I clicked it: 

I recently clicked on this headline from an article in the New York Times Cooking subfolder, which I thought resonated deeply with me and would provide me valuable information on cheap healthy dinner ideas. First of all, I clicked this headline because the number “16” gave the headline an authentic feel and provided a tangible number to understand how much value I will get out of reading this article. I knew that if I read this article, I would have at least 16 more healthy and cheap dinner ideas to add to my rotation of meals I make for myself on a daily basis. Next, the word “cheap” in combination with “healthy” was very enticing to me and brought a lot of value to the content because, like many young college students, eating healthy while also trying not to spend a fortune is something that I struggle with. The combination of “cheap” and “healthy” makes me think that this headline was crafted with young health-conscious people like me in mind, who want to fuel their bodies with good healthy food but don’t have the financial ability to buy groceries without considering price as a factor. The last part of the headline, “for when you’re all out of ideas” also spoke to me and was a factor in why I clicked the link because I tend to get bored of meals if I am eating them too often, so I am constantly looking for new ideas for healthy meals I have not tried yet. The sub-head “let us make the decisions for you” ties perfectly into this idea that people like me want a quick and easy guide on some dinner ideas to make when we’ve run out of ideas ourselves. I clicked this headline because it promised value by communicating effectively and quickly to me that it will give price sensitive people like me who want to eat healthy on a budget 16 cheap and healthy dinner ideas.  

“Today is the last day to order these 13 Starbucks drinks” https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/03/business/starbucks-menu-drinks-eliminated/index.html 

A headline that I came across recently and thought was great was “Today is the last day to order these 13 Starbucks drinks” on CNN. First, I thought this headline was great because it follows the 4 U’s that we discussed in class on the topic of what makes a headline “good”, and it does these things while resonating with me as a consumer. First of all, the headline is unique because it is on the topic of Starbucks drinks that are being taken off of the menu “today” meaning that it is covering the issue while it is relevant and trending, on the last day that these items are available.  uses urgency as a way to entice readers to click on it by using the words “today is the last day to order”. This resonates with me because as a regular Starbucks consumer, it is not often that you see such a large amount of menu items get taken off at once, usually it is a couple seasonable drinks and food items coming and going. This unique and unusual move from Starbucks along with the Headlines clarity resonated with me, making it an attention-grabbing headline.  

Next, this headline is ultra-specific, which makes it a great headline and also adds to why it resonated with me. It is specific because it is specifically stating that “Today is the last day to order these 13 Starbucks drinks”, it’s telling readers specifically when (today), and what (is the last day to order these 13 Starbucks drinks) so that immediately the reader understands that 13 menu items will be removed from Starbucks menu after today. As we discussed in class, the best headline includes numbers and more specifically, odd numbers because they seem more authentic and specific. This resonated with me because it was easy to understand and recognize that 13 items will be removed from the Starbucks menu, so I wanted to know if one of my go-to orders could possibly be a part of this list.  

Also, another thing that this headline does well that makes it a “good” headline is that it conveys a sense of urgency. Urgency is one of the tactics we use in headlines to create priority and add some weight to the headline to make people see it as important and want to click it. This headline does this by using “today is the last day” and the CTA “to order”, which evokes a feeling of urgency to see what Starbucks drinks they must order today before they are gone forever. This urgency gives users a reason to click the headline because it evokes a need to hurry and order the menu items that they won’t be able to have again. As we discussed in class, “With 59% of people sharing content without reading it first, we need to make sure our headlines appeal to people who will”ⁱ, and this headline is one that will be shared by Starbucks enthusiasts (like myself) to their fellow Starbucks lover friends and family members before even reading the list of menu items. This action-oriented headline compels readers to do something immediately, which is order these menu items before it’s too late. 

Lastly, this headline is great because it provides something useful in around 60 characters, which as we discussed in class is the idea headline length. In 57 characters and all lowercase letters (except for the very first letter), this headline provides value and gets the point across in an easy to digest way that is still engaging and flows nicely. The headline “Today is the last day to order these 13 Starbucks drinks” provides useful information to Starbucks fanatics that “today” is the last day to order the 13 drinks they will find within this article. As wd discussed in class, clarity is KING. The emotive yet clear and simple wording in this headline is what makes it valuable by respecting the reader and their time, which is what also resonated with me. As we discussed in class, the average person has an 8 second attention span, so we need to grab the attention of the reader with our headline immediately. We need to provide them with value in the first few seconds to grab their attention and give them something they want to learn more about, which this headline does by being clear and providing valuable information on the removal of 13 Starbucks menu items. 

 a. What is your intended goal and why? (3 marks) 

My intended goal was to create a blog post that was concise, scannable, and contained valuable information. I followed the F pattern to place my key information in the title, subheads, and the first few words of each paragraph. The purpose of my introductory blog post is to introduce EcoPureGoods without sacrificing any key information. My primary goal was to RESPECT THE READER by giving them the information that they are looking for in easy-to-read chunks, separating paragraphs so that they are no longer than 3-4 lines. I used bullets, bold text and images (royalty free) to introduce EcoPureGoods as a company that uses clean and natural ingredients, to create powerful and safe cleaning products

c. What type of “Experience” will you be creating for the visitors? Please explain and justify your reasoning. (2 marks)  

In my first blog post, I am writing for environmentally conscious people who are actively searching for all-natural alternatives to traditional cleaning supplies that contain harmful chemicals. To reach them, I am writing for SEO. By using keywords that my audience will be searching for such as “clean living, eco-friendly, green cleaning, natural cleaning, sustainable living, sustainable products”, I am adding my blog to the search index which will allow it to come up in search engines when people search for those keywords. I am writing for environmentally conscious people searching for all-natural alternatives because I am targeting them at a time when they are already expressing an interest in switching from toxic cleaning products to safer and cleaner alternatives.  

b. Who are you writing for and why? (3 marks) 

In my first blog post, I am creating an educational and thoughtful experience for the visitors. The readers will gain a sense of trust in my brand as my blog post is authentic and transparent, sharing information about our products down to the ingredients that can be found in them. In my blog post, I even share that most readers will find the ingredients in our products in their own homes. However, I follow up with valuable information on why EcoPureGoods makes eco-friendly cleaning easy and convenient. This makes the experience of the reader educational, while also building trust. By respecting the reader, I provide relevant and easy to digest content that aligns with the fact that, “82% of consumers enjoy reading relevant content from brands.^x” With the authentic and informative content on my blog, readers will have a clear understanding of my brand voice and personality.