Marketing today is part art, part science. Great art makes us feel things, and great marketing does that, too. But marketing is also a commercial endeavor.

Artists suffer and starve for their creations. They may spend decades working on a piece that’s a critical flop. Marketers have to act fast and deliver positive results for stakeholders.

This is where the science part comes in. Tools that enable data-driven decision-making theoretically take some of the guesswork out of the art. If we know what people want, it’s easier to create something that fits those parameters, right?

Yes and no. I absolutely think that data and analytics deserve a place in the world of marketing. Having a way to quantify the messy, qualitative parts of what we do is helpful. But I also believe there’s a line. There’s a point at which the data and analytics stop becoming a part of the story and instead start dictating what the story is.

In my opinion, tools like headline and email subject line analyzers live right on that line. These tools use data and AI to help writers find the headline or email subject that will (theoretically) perform best. They assign a value to everything from character count to the emotional resonance of the words in the title.

Headline analyzers serve a purpose and can help writers tease out new ideas or refine already solid ones. However, they can also hijack the entire process and suck the life out of smart, conceptual work.

So how do we strike the right balance between science and art while using tools like headline analyzers?

Test out a couple of different tools

Different tools use different parameters to evaluate and rate headlines. It’s not uncommon to see vastly different ratings of the same headline or to receive conflicting advice from two separate tools.

Test a few of them out, and find one that aligns with your writing philosophy and your brand’s voice. Some of the tools will want you to make tweaks that sound clickbait-y to your ear. “The 10 Reasons You Absolutely Must Do XYZ,” will probably get clicks, but it’s not necessarily right for your brand.

Other tools will ask you to write a headline with a high Flesch Score, meaning the content is at about a sixth-grade reading level. That might be appropriate advice if you’re writing for a B2C brand, but what if your content is aimed at biomedical engineers?

At the end of the day, no algorithm understands how to communicate with humans better than you–a real, live human.

Start with your own brainstorming session

Before you begin feeding ideas into the computer, come up with a list of your own. When you feed the machine your first and only idea and begin tweaking it within the tool, you can quickly end up with a lifeless headline that checks all the boxes but sounds like it was written by a robot (because, well, it kinda was).

Instead, create your own list of four or five headlines that you like. They should each be different, highlighting a unique audience pain point or emotional hook.

Then, feed that handful of headlines into the tool. Which one performs best? That’s your winner.

Take what works…

When you’ve settled on the best of your headlines, it’s okay–encouraged even–to tweak it a little within the headline analyzer tool. There might be an easy, creative way to make some big improvements that please your ear and raise the headline’s score.

Sometimes exploring different permutations of the same narrow concept can help you polish a rough idea into a glittering gem.

…Release the rest

At the end of the day, though, no algorithm understands how to communicate with humans better than you–a real, live human.

If you find yourself too far down the algorithm rabbit hole, step away from the computer! Copy-paste your latest headline creation into a document somewhere, then close the headline analyzer tab.

Revisit that headline a few hours later and do a gut check. Is it any good, or does it sound like word salad?

If it’s garbage, chuck it in your trash folder. Go back to the headline you originally penned that the headline analyzer liked well enough.

Does this one resonate with you? If so, that’s all you need to know. Stick it at the top of your document or in your email subject line, and rest easy knowing you created something that speaks to a real human being.

Want some fellow humans to weigh in on your latest marketing efforts? Give us a call.