# Headline Matrix — 8 Systematic Headline Types

> **Loading rule:** Load when generating a **set of headline variations** (Mode 6 campaign package, ad sets needing 5+ hooks, A/B testing). For a single headline embedded in a 5-Act page, `patterns.md` (6 formula patterns) is usually enough. This file teaches headline types **by intent**; `patterns.md` teaches headline types **by formula**. They complement each other.

This matrix gives you eight distinct angles. The point is **diversity of attack** — when you generate variations, you don't want eight ways of saying the same thing. You want eight different psychological doors into the same prospect.

---

## The 8 types

| # | Type | Core mechanism | When it works best |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benefit | Lead with the outcome | Solution-aware audience; clear value prop |
| 2 | Curiosity | Open a knowledge gap | Cold/distracted audience; novel mechanism |
| 3 | Problem-Agitation | Surface their pain | Problem-aware audience with felt urgency |
| 4 | Social Proof | Borrow others' credibility | New brand; skeptical buyer; herd mentality |
| 5 | Urgency / FOMO | Time/scarcity pressure | Bottom-of-funnel; ready buyers stalling |
| 6 | How-To | Promise actionable knowledge | Searchers; educational content; lead magnets |
| 7 | List / Number | Promise structured payoff | Skimmers; content hubs; comparison shoppers |
| 8 | Question | Force self-identification | Top of funnel; persona-targeted segments |

---

## 1. Benefit Headlines

**Mechanism:** the headline IS the promised outcome. No mystery, no hook. Just the result.

**Formula:** `[Specific outcome] + [in/without/even if qualifier]`

### Examples

EN:
- "Get clear skin in 30 days — even if everything else has failed"
- "Learn Spanish in 90 days, 15 minutes a day"
- "Cut your AWS bill 40% without changing a line of code"

Additional canonical examples:
- "Clear skin in 30 days — even if nothing worked before"
- "Fluent English in 90 days, studying 15 minutes a day"
- "Cut your AWS bill 40% without touching the code"

### When it works

- Solution-aware to product-aware audience (Schwartz Stage 3-4)
- The benefit is **specific** (a number, a timeframe, an outcome they can visualize)
- The qualifier kills the loudest objection in the same line

### When it fails

- Cold/unaware audience — no felt need for the outcome yet
- Saturated market with bigger promises (Schwartz Stage 5 — needs mechanism)
- Vague benefit ("Be your best self") — sounds like every other ad

---

## 2. Curiosity Headlines

**Mechanism:** open a knowledge gap. The prospect can't NOT click to close it.

**Formula:** `The [adjective] [noun] that [unexpected outcome]`

### Examples

EN:
- "The 4-second exercise that resets your nervous system"
- "The boring spreadsheet that runs a $200M agency"
- "The one habit that 80% of millionaires share — and it's not what you'd guess"

Additional canonical examples:
- "The 4-second exercise that resets your nervous system"
- "The spreadsheet that runs a R$200M agency"
- "The habit 80% of millionaires share — and it is not what you think"

### When it works

- Cold or distracted audience — pattern interrupt
- New mechanism / counter-intuitive method
- Top of funnel — the click is the conversion goal

### When it fails

- The curiosity gap doesn't pay off in the body — instant trust break
- The "unexpected outcome" is too generic to be intriguing
- Sophisticated audience that's seen the formula too many times

---

## 3. Problem-Agitation Headlines

**Mechanism:** mirror their pain back to them in their own language.

**Formula:** `[Specific frustrating situation] — [emotional escalation]?`

### Examples

EN:
- "Tired of email lists that don't convert no matter how 'optimized' the funnel is?"
- "If your back hurts every morning, your mattress isn't the problem"
- "Working 60-hour weeks and still falling behind?"

Additional canonical examples:
- "Tired of email lists that do not convert, no matter how optimized the funnel is?"
- "If your back hurts every morning, the mattress is not the problem"
- "Working 60-hour weeks and still falling behind?"

### When it works

- Problem-aware audience that hasn't found a solution yet (Schwartz Stage 1-2)
- The pain is specific and recurring (not abstract)
- The agitation is honest — you know the pain because you've lived it

### When it fails

- Audience already has a solution they like — feels accusatory
- The pain is overstated (sounds desperate or manipulative)
- Used at bottom of funnel — they're already past the pain phase

---

## 4. Social Proof Headlines

**Mechanism:** borrow credibility from numbers, names, or named outcomes.

**Formula:** `[Number] [people/companies] are using [method] to [outcome]`

### Examples

EN:
- "How 12,000 SaaS teams cut churn 28% with this 3-step playbook"
- "The technique that got 47 of our students featured in Forbes"
- "Why startups with $50M+ ARR are switching from Notion to this"

Additional canonical examples:
- "How 12,000 SaaS teams reduced churn by 28% with this 3-step playbook"
- "The technique that got 47 of our students featured in Forbes"
- "Why startups with R$50M+ ARR are switching from Notion to this"

### When it works

- New or unknown brand — proof compensates for absent reputation
- Skeptical audience that needs herd validation
- High-ticket purchase where social risk is part of the decision

### When it fails

- The number is round and unverifiable ("10,000 customers!") — sounds fake
- The proof is generic (unnamed testimonials, stock photos)
- Audience that prefers exclusivity to popularity (premium / Kennedy-style)

---

## 5. Urgency / FOMO Headlines

**Mechanism:** time, scarcity, or loss of access creates immediate decision pressure.

**Formula:** `[Time / scarcity constraint] + [outcome at stake]`

### Examples

EN:
- "Only 47 spots in the September cohort — and 31 are gone"
- "Doors close Friday at midnight"
- "After tomorrow, this price never returns"

Additional canonical examples:
- "Only 47 spots remain in the September cohort — 31 already filled"
- "Enrollment closes Friday at midnight"
- "After tomorrow, this price will not come back"

### When it works

- Bottom-of-funnel readers who are ready but stalling
- The urgency is **real** (you have actual capacity limits, the price genuinely changes)
- Reinforced with specifics (a date, a number, a named consequence)

### When it fails

- Fake urgency — every email says "ends tonight" forever. Trust collapses.
- Top-of-funnel audience that hasn't built desire yet — pressure backfires
- Used as a primary headline strategy on a brand-new offer (no relationship yet)

**Hard rule:** if the urgency isn't real, don't use this type. Choose another.

---

## 6. How-To Headlines

**Mechanism:** explicit promise of actionable instruction.

**Formula:** `How to [desired outcome] without [common pain or sacrifice]`

### Examples

EN:
- "How to land your first 5 clients without cold-calling"
- "How to lose 10 lbs without giving up bread"
- "How to write copy that converts when you're not a writer"

Additional canonical examples:
- "How to get your first 5 clients without cold calling"
- "How to lose 5 kg without giving up bread"
- "How to write copy that converts even if you are not a writer"

### When it works

- Searchers (Google, YouTube — explicit "how to" intent)
- Educational content / lead magnets / blog posts / tutorials
- Content marketing top of funnel — promise teaching, not selling

### When it fails

- Closing-stage copy — the prospect already knows "how", they need to believe THIS works
- Saturated topic — "How to lose weight" has 10 billion versions. The qualifier ("without giving up bread") is what differentiates.

---

## 7. List / Number Headlines

**Mechanism:** numbers signal structure, scannability, finite payoff.

**Formula:** `[Number] [things] that [produce outcome] — [optional differentiator]`

### Examples

EN:
- "7 retention experiments that beat industry benchmarks (and 3 that flopped)"
- "12 hooks that consistently 3x ad CTR — with the data"
- "The 5 questions every founder must answer before raising"

Additional canonical examples:
- "7 retention experiments that beat the industry benchmark (and 3 that failed)"
- "12 hooks that triple ad CTR — with the data"
- "The 5 questions every founder must answer before raising"

### When it works

- Skimmers / time-pressed audience
- Content hubs (blog, newsletter, social posts)
- Comparison/decision content (5 best X, 7 ways to Y)

### When it fails

- High-ticket sales pages (numbers feel listicle-cheap)
- Premium/exclusive positioning — listicles imply mass-market
- The number doesn't deliver in the body — clicked then bounced

**Numbers that punch:** odd numbers (7, 13, 21) and specific weird numbers (47, 312) outperform round (5, 10, 100) on most channels.

---

## 8. Question Headlines

**Mechanism:** force the prospect to mentally answer — self-identification = engagement.

**Formula:** `[Question that mirrors their internal monologue]?`

### Examples

EN:
- "Are you making the #1 mistake that kills 84% of email funnels?"
- "Why is your team's productivity dropping every quarter — and what nobody is telling you about it?"
- "Stuck at $10K MRR for the third month?"

Additional canonical examples:
- "Are you making the #1 mistake that kills 84% of email funnels?"
- "Why does your team's productivity drop every quarter — and what is nobody telling you?"
- "Stuck at R$10K/month for the third month in a row?"

### When it works

- Top of funnel — segment self-selection (the right person says "yes that's me")
- Targeted ads where you know the persona's exact pain
- Lead magnets / quiz funnels

### When it fails

- The question is rhetorical / obvious ("Do you want more sales?") — eye roll
- Closing copy — questions delay the decision they should already be making
- Generic ("Are you ready to grow?") — feels like spam

---

## Type × Master genome compatibility

Different masters lean naturally on different types. Use this when picking which type to lead with for a given master.

| Master | Lead types | Avoid types |
|---|---|---|
| Schwartz | Type matches awareness level — Benefit (Stage 3-4), Curiosity (Stage 5), Problem (Stage 1-2) | Generic ones — every type used, but matched to stage |
| Halbert | Curiosity, Problem-Agitation, Benefit (long-form sales letter leads) | Question (too soft for direct mail) |
| Kennedy | Benefit, Social Proof (with named credibility), List | Urgency (over-used by amateurs), Curiosity (too tabloid) |
| Brunson | Curiosity, Question, How-To (storytelling/funnel-friendly) | Pure Urgency without story context |
| Georgi | Benefit + Mechanism teaser, Curiosity (mechanism-driven) | Generic List, vague Question |
| Ladeira (BR) | Question, How-To, List, Curiosity (irreverent twist) | Heavy Problem-Agitation (too dark for the brand voice) |
| Ícaro (BR) | Question (authorial), Curiosity (intellectual contrast), Problem-Agitation (calculated) | List (too commodity), pure Benefit |
| Diogo Gomes (BR) | Problem-Agitation, Benefit, Urgency (when real), Curiosity | How-To (too soft for the aggressive voice) |

---

## Type × Awareness level (Schwartz model)

This is the master crosswalk — pick a type by where the prospect is in the awareness ladder.

| Awareness level | Best types | Worst types |
|---|---|---|
| **Unaware** (no problem named) | Curiosity, Question | Benefit, Urgency, Social Proof |
| **Problem-aware** | Problem-Agitation, Question, How-To | Urgency, Closing-style Benefit |
| **Solution-aware** | How-To, List, Benefit | Pure Curiosity (already past it) |
| **Product-aware** | Benefit, Social Proof, How-To (specific to your method) | Question (too soft) |
| **Most sophisticated (Stage 5)** | Curiosity (new mechanism), Social Proof (specific outcomes) | Generic Benefit, How-To |

---

## Generation rule for Mode 6 / multi-headline output

When asked to generate a set of headline variations:

1. **Cover at least 5 of the 8 types** — diversity of attack matters
2. **Tag each headline with its type** — let the user choose by intent, not just gut feel
3. **Pick a primary** — the one that best matches awareness level + master genome + project tone
4. **Note WHY** for each — one short clause explaining what the headline does psychologically

Example output structure:

```
1. [Benefit] "Get clear skin in 30 days — even if nothing else worked"
   Why: Solution-aware audience; specific outcome + objection killer

2. [Curiosity] "The 4-ingredient routine dermatologists wish was more popular"
   Why: Pattern interrupt; opens knowledge gap on mechanism

3. [Problem-Agitation] "Tired of waking up to angry skin every morning?"
   Why: Mirrors daily pain; problem-aware segment

[...]

PRIMARY (recommended): #2 (Curiosity) — audience is mostly cold/distracted
```

---

## Anti-patterns across all types

- **Mixing types in one headline** — a headline trying to be Benefit + Urgency + Social Proof at once becomes noise
- **Borrowed specificity** — using a number you didn't earn ("Used by 50,000+ teams" without proof) breaks trust
- **Stacked qualifiers** — "How to [outcome] without [pain1] without [pain2] without [pain3]" — pick the loudest objection only
- **Cleverness over clarity** — if the prospect needs to re-read it, you lost them

---

## Source

Synthesis of:
- Schwartz, *Breakthrough Advertising* (5 awareness levels, mass desire)
- Halbert, A-Pile / B-Pile direct mail copy
- Hopkins, *Scientific Advertising* (specificity rule)
- Modern direct response data (CTR breakdowns by headline type, 2020-2025)
- Internal AIOSON copywriter genome (5-Act, One Belief, market sophistication)
