I’ve tried to write about this for a couple of months now, but I always found that I have more to tell than I had originally anticipated. So I have decided to make this a series of shorter articles since there are many things that have been bugging me in recent times.
Between working in marketing and consuming a lot of content in the past years, I have been often exposed to ever-evolving techniques to catch, maintain and use our attention by marketing messages.
Every company wants to attract as many customers as soon as possible. The problem is that then the produced content suffers from unoriginality, and the consumers treated like small children. There is no more common decency in marketing today.
Well, that’s mostly true. There are still some brands out there that don’t succumb to the temptation of faking and over-optimizing their messaging for the sake of a quick burst of increased performance.
It’s no secret that we buy things based on our emotions and feelings, rather than rational thoughts. I know it, you know it, your customers know it. The problem arises when you are intentionally playing with people’s feelings — When you try to manipulate them.
What’s the key difference? It begins already right at the beginning: Your approach. Not just your approach to producing content, but also to your clients. And this is difficult to change — your approach defines the way you do business.
The base difference between which approach you’re taking can be determined with a single question: “What is the intention of your content?” Is it to sell your product or to help your customers? The answer to this then applies not only to your content, but your product as well.
And with this, we come to the two approaches: The Brand-centric approach and the Customer-centric approach.
The ideal goal of these posts is for you to recognize which approach your company is currently taking and show you why the brand-centric approach naturally dissuades your potential audience from you when they’re consuming your content.
So let’s jump straight into it — the first issue of this topic.
Headlines
Headlines are (arguably) the most important thing in an average marketing copy with the single purpose of gaining the interest of the reader. They are the first thing a reader will see and, if they don’t reach their purpose, the last one as well.
Because of this, marketing specialists have and continue to perfect the science (for it is more of a science than art at this point) of perfect headlines. The problem with this transition from art to science is the following: Every headline is basically the same.
Even if you don’t work in marketing, I’m sure that you could give me at least three examples of “optimized” headlines that you see in every media today: from ads to news articles. Let me give you some examples.
- Top 10 tips and tricks for successful work from home
- How to fix your printer in as little as 24 seconds
- Become happier now by asking yourself these 4 questions
- My proven recording technique that will double your Instagram audience
Looks familiar? There are, of course, many variations to these examples. There is one in particular that grinds my gears the most.
The Top X lists
When you don’t know how to do something, where do you turn to?
If you don’t have near you someone with decent knowledge about the problem, the next step you can take is watching a tutorial on YouTube. YouTube has become the second largest search engine and is only getting more popular as people consume more and more video. One could say that today there is a tutorial on YouTube for every problem you encounter and any activity you want to learn.
Well, it is similar with the Top X lists. Digital marketing has come so far that there is a list of the best available options for every scenario. Most often you can even choose between many — a buffet of numbers between 3 and 21 (usually).
And it’s, honestly, not a bad method. You share with your prospects some expertise from your field and luckily make some promotion for yourself and build some integrity along the way. It is a win-win situation.
There is, however, another consequence to these lists: Marketers have become lazy. And it is sad that creativity and the “art” of creating interesting titles have become abandoned for the sake of performance — for the sake of what works. There is barely any effort put into it, which is ironic, considering that it was supposed to be the most important element of every copy.
Of course, the top X lists aren’t the only ones guilty of it, but they are the most common. The problem is that among the headlines, these are still somewhat decent, unlike others. What do I mean by that?
Do you remember those terrible clickbait ads on the sidebars of many websites about 10 years ago? Those that we have been taught (either by others or worse, from your own experience) are a scam or even a computer virus? These ads ranged from scandalous titles about celebrities, to tempting offers to enlarge a part of your body.
In many ways, these were the pioneers of today’s digital marketing. Right now you can find such titles everywhere: news, online stores, educational sites and blogging platforms. Clickbait titles became normal and even encouraged within the marketing sphere.
Today’s buyers are intelligent (some more than others) and you should treat them as such, if you want to keep them. We didn’t forget what clickbait titles are. We just became complacent, since legitimate companies have started using the same method to promote their business, and the posts sometimes actually provide some value for the reader (at least it was supposed to).
So what now?
Well, look at you with all the tough questions.
I think what you, what we should do is, return to the basic understanding of how headlines work. The purpose of a headline is the same no matter the case (to grab attention), but the way we do it now is by targeting the reader emotionally. Usually, we do this by exploiting their fear or desire.
On the most basic level, you should ask yourself: “Does this headline sound like an ad?” Is this “an incredible offer you simply can’t refuse” or a genuinely helpful content for a reader you want to prosper? Beyond that, instead of aiming at fear and desire, try to pique the reader’s interest with a fact or a question. You don’t need to make it something banal or obscene. Just enough to want more.
You can also go beyond asking a question by providing an answer. You don’t need to tempt a reader by teasing something unbelievable or scandalous in the article. Use the fact that an answer is usually longer than what an optimal title length is. People are naturally curious creatures. This also means that you should avoid writing longer copies about questions that can be answered with yes or no.
You should always consider the reader before your performance. KPIs are not your goals when creating content, they are indicators. Bottom line, what good content helps you do is build trust. And it’s much easier to trust a person than a faceless corporate entity; a person who tries to help you, unlike a business only after your money.
