If You Have Nothing to Say, No Headline Can Save You

Cool fonts and clever lines can’t cover up an empty message.

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A junior team once showed me a campaign deck with 18 slides on tone of voice.

…and not a single sentence on what the product actually did.

They had mood boards. Manifestos. A tagline generator.

But when I asked, “So… what are we trying to say?”

They blinked.

Then someone said, “Something empowering. Like, own your power?”

I wish I was joking.

It’s a trap I see all the time — especially with younger marketers.

We get so obsessed with how we say something, we forget to check if there’s anything worth saying at all.

That’s how you end up with campaigns full of attitude but empty of meaning.

Fluffy headlines. Cool visuals. No pulse.

And when it flops, the team thinks: maybe it just needed a stronger hook.

No. It needed a point.

Because the truth is, if you have nothing to say, no headline — no matter how clever — can save you.

So here are four brutal truths — and tips — every marketer needs to hear before…