The Three-Line Sprint: Headline, Subheadline, CTA

Marketing Academy · Field Work●Copywriting

MiniBuild the Asset· 20 minutes

Duolingo

Objective: Given a product brief, write a headline, subheadline, and CTA that follow the lesson's outcome-first, first-person-CTA framework.

Duolingo's team is testing a new landing page for a beginner-focused Spanish course bundle and needs three tight lines before the page goes into design.

Lead with the outcome, not the product name; make the CTA first-person and specific.

Before you start

What you'll need

Free path (everything below is enough to finish)

Google Docs

FreeDraft and compare headline, subheadline, and CTA options

Free, fast to iterate on 3 short lines

The process

1 step

Step 01 of 01

Writing an outcome-first headline and first-person CTA

The lesson's Step 1 says the headline must name a specific result, audience, or timeframe, not the product name, or visitors leave within three to five seconds. Step 6 says first-person CTAs like 'Start my free trial' consistently outperform 'Start your free trial.'

Given the brief 'beginner Spanish course, 15 minutes a day, results in 8 weeks,' what headline actually names the outcome, and what CTA matches it?

Google Docs— Draft 3 headline options in a doc, pick the one that names a specific result, then write the subheadline and CTA underneath it.

Procedure

Write 3 headline drafts: one product-name-led, two outcome-led
Cut the product-name-led draft immediately
Pick the outcome-led draft that names a timeframe
Write a one-sentence subheadline naming who it's for and the mechanism
Write a first-person CTA naming the specific thing the visitor gets

Sample output

HEADLINE: 'Speak conversational Spanish in 8 weeks, 15 minutes a day'
SUBHEADLINE: 'Built for total beginners, bite-sized lessons that fit before your morning coffee.'
CTA: 'Start my 8-week Spanish plan'

Healthy

The headline names a timeframe and outcome, and the CTA uses first-person language naming the specific benefit.

Unhealthy

Headline reads 'Welcome to Duolingo Spanish Courses' and the CTA just says 'Submit.'

What this means

A headline that leads with the brand name instead of the outcome is the single most common reason a landing page underperforms.

So what do I do about it?

Symptom	Action	Effort
The headline draft still opens with the product or company name	Rewrite it starting with the verb the visitor wants to be able to do	5 min

YouYou can do this yourself, no engineering access required.

Final deliverable

One finished headline, subheadline, and CTA ready to hand to design.

See a reference example

Sample output

Chewy autoship landing page (excerpt)

HEADLINE: 'Never run out of dog food again'
SUBHEADLINE: 'Autoship delivers on your schedule and saves you 5% every order, cancel anytime.'
CTA: 'Start my autoship plan'

Success criteria

You're done when you can:

Headline names a specific outcome and timeframe, not the product name
CTA uses first-person language naming the specific benefit