by Jonathan Gebauer (@jogebauer)
Do you really believe that Facebook’s recent announcement that they will reduce the rank of the famous clickbait headlines will make clickbait disappear? Well, maybe you should take a deep breath, and start thinking.
Food for thought #1 – Clickbait will adapt
Before you read on - we have various resources that show you exactly how to use social networks to gain massive traffic and leads. For instance, check out the following:
FREE Step-by-Step Twitter Marketing GuideFREE Pinterest Marketing Ebook
What are clickbait headlines? They are a way of making you click on a headline.
Those clickbait sites you all pretend to despise (while clicking on them in secret AND secretly enjoying what you get) will always use the headlines that work best for them. Do you really believe that just because Facebook downrates one type of headline they won’t find a way to write headlines that make you click?
Like any other marketing pro out there, the editors at those sites work on constantly improving their headlines and adapt to changes in the landscape. Just a couple of months back, they used headlines ending with “… and you’ll never guess what happens next” in almost 50% of their headlines. If you visit Upworthy today – that is not being used anymore. That is because they adapted to the fact that these were overused and simply don’t work anymore.
They are going to adapt to the landscape again. Just as fast. Because that is what they are good at.
Food for thought #2 – We all want to see clickbait
How much time do you spend on the web, daily? How much time do you spend on the web trying to find some entertainment? Relaxation? Or simply a good laugh to take the edge off your day?
Most web surfers today at least sometimes want that.
When Facebook says that people want to see descriptive headlines that allow them to know what the actual content will be about, that is only half of the truth. We all want some surprises in our daily routine. Especially when they are fun.
Clickbait does provide this. Otherwise Upworthy, Buzzfeed or Distractify would not have as many Fans on Facebook. The notion that they don’t provide “quality content” is not correct if you assume that quality content means that people get what they want from these.
Hey, before you read on - we have in various FREE in-depth guides on similar topics that you can download. For this post, check out:
FREE workbook: CREATE AWESOME BLOG POSTSFREE Beginner's Guide: START A BLOG
You know exactly what you are getting into when you are clicking on a post by Buzzfeed or Upworthy on Facebook. Stop complaining about “being tricked by the headline” – it says where it is coming from right below it. While it seems to be a sport now to flame about these sites, there is no denying that these sites built a lot of trust with their audience – or why did you become a fan of the site? Or at least, so many of your friends did? No one forced you – or them.
Half of their success is having built a brand and having built trust.
Food for thought #3 – We are all doing it, just not as good
I am pretty sure that every single blogger on this planet should learn how to improve their headlines. In my opinion, a good headline does two things:
- Catch your desired audiences’ interest
- Don’t give away too much so the readers still find something new in the post
This is exactly what clickbait sites have perfected. Giving a general idea for the topic, but not giving away the content.
Every marketer on the planet does the same – otherwise, he is not a marketer.
As said in the beginning: Clickbait is an optimization strategy, not a crime that should be punished. It’s not “cheating” and it will always exist. I do it. Everybody else does it, too.
So what…
