Category: Assignment #2

4. Second-Year Course Headline (4 marks) 

Create one headline promoting second-year digital courses in this program, targeted to first-year students. 

You must provide: 

a) Provide the headline 

b) Explain your reasoning clearly using class content

Headline: Ready for the Next Step? Learn Beyond the Basics in Second-Year Digital Courses

The headline I created aligns with first years and where they are in the program. My idea behind it is that in the first year you learn all the fundmential where in the second year you’re taking the next steps. Start with “Ready for the Next Step?” to grab their attention and have them wonder what they will be learning in the second year. The headline also make student look forward and get excited for the next year of their program, now that they learn those basic they can start to apply them in real-world scenarios. In class, we talked about capturing attention quickly, and that should be done first. Opening with a question is a great way to stand out and grab that attention at the start. 

3. SCC Advertising Program Headline (6 marks) 

Create one headline for an article about the SCC Advertising Program, targeted to local graduating high school students. 

You must provide: 

a) The headline 

b) An explanation of the information missing from the instructions 

c) A detailed justification for your headline choice based on course concepts You are intentionally not being told what questions to ask

Headline: Start Your Path to a Creative Career at the SCC Advertising and Marketing Program

The instructions only give information about this being an article about the SCC Advertising Program, with a target audience of graduating high school students. What’s missing are some important details in the instructions that will help make a strong headline. Firstly, we were not told that it needed to be unique from other schools, so I considered that when making it. Including “Creative Career” helps it stand out from other schools with advertising programs. Secondly, we were not given information on the classes and skills you learn in the program. From what I know about being a student in this program, I know that coming up with something about getting a good career align perfect with what high school students might be looking for.

When creating this headline, I thought back to what would get my attention when I was a graduating high school student. I like starting it with “sart your path to a creative career” to get students interested in their future and how applying to this program is the start of that. We discussed in class how important it is to get people’s attention right from the start to give them a reason why they should learn more if they keep reading. I know for me I had a bit of a hard time deciding what to do post-secondary, so by highlight carrer oppositions right at the sart is important for grabbing attention. Overall, I feel like if I were in high school and read this, I would want to read more because it perfectly highlights what someone in that position would be looking for. 

2. Headline Intent vs Outcome (4 Marks) 

Choose one headline you created in Part B, Q#1 Part B and answer the following: 

a) What is the primary intent of this headline? (e.g. curiosity, urgency, clarity, relevance, emotional pull) 

b) What action or response is the headline designed to trigger? 

c) Explain why this intent is appropriate for the target audience you selected.

The headline I decided to choose from question one is “Stop Overcomplicating Your Skin Care! Trends This Year Are Going Back to Being Basic”. The primary intent of this headline is to make people who are scrolling through content actually want to stop and want to learn more. This is an emotional pull that makes people wonder, “Wait, I think I am overcomplicating my routine,”  and “What does it mean by going back to being basic?” Now that we have their attention, the headline is designed to make them want to know what these trends are, so they will then click and read to learn more. The target audience is teens and young adults who follow social media trends, which aligns perfectly with this approach. People of this audience don’t want to miss out on any treads which is probably why this headline align whis me so much because I would say I’m a trend follower. Having this audience actually stop and think that they are overcomplicating their routine is a perfect way to pull them in. 

1. Headline Variation (12 marks) 
Using the article from Part A, Question #1, you are to create three (3) different headlines. Each headline must emphasize a different headline element discussed in class. (3X4=12 Marks) 

For each headline: 

a) Include the Headline 

b) Explain your reasoning 

c) Reference specific class concepts 

Headline #1 – Numbers 

Headline: Top 5 Skin-Care Trends of 2026 That Have Us Going Back to Basics

Reasoning: For this headline, I used a specific number, which is an element we discussed in class. This is used as a way to help increase engagement by including “Top 5” lets readers know that there will be 5 trends listed in the article. I chose the number 5 instead of a bigger number like 10 because most people don’t want to read much, so simplifying it to only 5 can get more people to click and read. Additionally, using numbers creates curiosity in readers because they are the top 5 trends, prompting them to wonder what they are. 

Class Concept: Using creative, specific numbers and data in your headlines. We learn in class how numbers can help increase engagement in your headlines. 

Headline #2 – Call for Attention

Headline: Stop Overcomplicating Your Skin Care! Trends This Year Are Going Back to Being Basic

Reasoning: This headline is written to get the reader’s attention. We discussed in class how a headline needs to capture readers’ attention when they’re scrolling through a ton of headlines. That very first word in the headline is important for this, so using a word like “Stop” can easily help get a person’s attention. Starting the headline off by telling them to “Stop Overcomplicating Your Skin Care!” speaks directly to them, making it more engaging. When a headline feels personal, like it’s speaking to you, it makes you stop and think for a second, “Maybe I am overcomplicating my skin care routine.” This makes the article feel way more interesting to read and stands out to someone when scrolling through all these articles. 

Class Concept: How headlines need to grab the readers’ attention when scrolling through large amounts of content. 

Headline #3 – Power Words for Curiosity

Headline: The Secrets Behind This Year’s Skin Care Trends

Reasoning: For this headline, I went with full curiosity when creating it. I chose the word “secret” to make the readers truly wonder what they will learn if they click. In class, we discussed how power words are important when creating a headline to make it more engaging to readers. For this headline topic i felt like the curiosity power words would work perfectly because they add a sense of urgency for the reader, as they don’t want to miss out on learning “The Secrets Behind This Year’s Skin Care Trends.” Removing the part of the original headline being “Going Back to Basics” and instead using “The Secrets Behind” adds so much wonder for the reader that it is more likely for them to click and want to know more.  Class Concept: In class, we talked about how different words, being the “Power Words,” can trigger interest in wanting to learn more.