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For Great Copywriters - Help Me Write a Blog Post on Getting Clicks w/out Clickbait (10)

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Hey Guys,

So I'm working for a local content-based advertising agency, and one of my first assignments has been to write a POV blog post on "6 Crucial Content Headline Tips For Getting Clicks Without Losing Cred." The goal of this post is to create a piece of valuable content that helps to solidify the firm (PM me for more info) as a leading expert in the content field. Casual tone and colloquial verbiage is recommended as well. The call-to-action is to convince the reader to hire the firm to write content/headlines for them, but should by no means be objectively forceful, as the article is meant to be more of an SEO foundation/"free" content to establish trust on the website.

Basically, I'm looking to educate my target audience (a VP of marketing/VP of sales/mid-manager) on how to draw in their leads without a too obviously clickbait headline. I need 6 tips. So far, I have 3 decent ones and 3 so-so ones. The article should be around 500-600 words total in length. Long enough to provide the reader with some value, short enough to have them read the entire thing! I can also practice my copywriting ability in the article itself, connecting with the reader and stringing them along until the final CTA! Here's my outline so far:

1. Your Headline is the First Thing Your Leads See - Keep it Shrewd (and Balanced!)
   
   
   1. Be personable with your reader (For People Who Need to Keep Traffic on Their Website...) but lose the objective claims (The #1 Solution to Your Bounce Rate Problem...). The latter headlines will make readers laugh and continue scrolling
      https://blog.kissmetrics.com/how-to-write-headlines/
      
   
   
2. Track Your Numbers Like a Mad Man - Use Your Data to Readjust Your Headline
   
   
   1. Iostudio source TBU
      
   2. Evidence/stats from other sources TBU
   
   
3. Know Thy Audience and Give Them Words They Want to Read
   
   
   1. http://www.iostudio.com/pov/start-writing-more-good
      
   2. Headline should address the target market, don’t risk being too professional at the cost of valuable clicks
   
   
4. Your Headline Formula is Like a Safe Path - Explore a Bit but Return if Necessary
   
   
   1. https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/headline-formulas-that-convert/
   
   
5. Use Certain Fonts to Accomplish Your Specific Goals - Keep the Comic Sans at Home
   
   
   1. Source: Drew Eric Whitman’s Ca4hvertising section on fonts/font size
   
   
6. Inbound Marketing Builds Trust, Outbound Marketing Kills It
   
   
   1. http://www.iostudio.com/pov/12-steps-for-inbound-marketing-domination
      
   2. TBU - this may be too far outside the realm of headlines (too specific to body copy)

What do you guys think of these tips? Are there any better ones you can think of? Should I focus solely on the headlines, or should I make the article about body copy as well? How can these tips be best applied to AM/eCommerce/etc. for our own purposes?

Once I finish the post I will share with the STM community. Most of its findings will be knowledge you guys know, but I can assure you you'll find some value in it!

Thanks,
$Train

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I really liked this post last year:

http://buzzsumo.com/blog/most-shared-headlines-study/

They analysed 100M headlines.

Includes clickbait-y headline formulas as well, but its really nice piece of work, which can help you understand what works on people.

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This is just what I was looking for, Erik. Many thanks indeed. I'll write the content this week and post it on STM once finished.

Do you specialize in the copywriting / landing page optimization part of AM, or just know the fundamentals? Just wondering since I'm a newbie and still figuring all of it out.

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Your section titles are too weak ...

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IMO - you've been assigned a no-win task.

There has been no research, as far as I can see, that marketing managers even care about headlines.
If I was a marketing manager now (and I have been in the past), I would not be interested in tactics, but would be interested in hitting my targets (z amount of leads with Y budget for example).

Now a case study on how you achieved that for a certain company would have me contact you.

So why is it a no-win?

You have been asked to write in a casual tone, it should be non-clickbait, yet the title will be "6 tips" and there should be no hard sell, but value for the reader. Yet the goal is to get people to contact the business?

The article should have one goal only and content-wise, should live up to the title and expectation you create.

Talk to whoever gave you this assignment and get this sorted out before you continue writing.
And as @cmdeal mentions, the writing needs some serious work.

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I will part company with @pekadis a bit. I think you can definitely make this work, you just need stronger headlines. There has been a tremendously rapid evolution of headline writing, to a point that even mainstream publications use clickbait. Look at BusinessInsider, Huffington Post etc, these are businesses that have been built on clickbait, and they are now considered pretty mainstream.

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Small tip from me ... tasteful humor always get's my attention ... work well with the right audience. Carefully picked inteligent humor can do wonders, but it must fit the audience you want to target.

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Every affiliate marketer here knows a bit here and there about copywriting as its part of our work.

So yeah, I would rather say I know some fundamentals and I always try to study and improve.

But by no means I would say I'm a copywriter.

I'm looking forward what you will come up with the feedback from here.

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Appreciate the helpful feedback, pekadis (and cmdeal and matuloo!). I'll admit that you're right in that my writing needs some serious work - I'll keep practicing. Anyways, just wanted to clarify a few things (and address the points you brought up.)

The goal of me writing this blog post for the firm (http://www.iostudio.com/) is a value-based content play: Write a helpful article, and in theory the people who spend time reading it will be more likely to hire iostudio in the future. I know, unfortunately they don't know much about performance marketing, which is why they're taking this approach instead. For me, as a part-time intern, at least I get to work on my copywriting skills as I write the section headlines and body copy.

The Goals of post, titled ("6 Crucial Content Headline Tips For Getting Clicks Without Losing Cred") are:

1.) Give something of value to spread on social media and attract views
2.) Provide an SEO base to build overall web presence (this is why I link to multiple iostudio blog posts as evidence, etc.)
3.) Further develop iostudio's position in the content field

Ultimate audience = future clients, marketing directors (I know, probably not the right targets as you mentioned), or a CMO.

I completely agree with your argument that a quantitative case study would be more convincing, and I'll talk to my colleague tomorrow about doing that in another post (it's too late at this point since he wants the post done ASAP). More importantly, I'll ask him if he's more concerned with the reader acting on the CTA or just writing an article to build up brand awareness.

I am curious as to how the article can be written as an innocuous "content-based play" fashion but still have people contact the business. Anyways, I'll work on my section headers and body content in the mean time as I await his response.

Thanks again for all the help - I'll keep you updated on how it goes. Lastly, it's hilarious how Iostudio seems to have no singular goal in their POV posts - compared to you guys on STM they seem as lost as a goldfish in the ocean. Just hoping I can learn as much as possible and help them out just a bit with the knowledge from this forum, so any feedback from anyone is greatly appreciated!

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Alright Guys,

I wanted to update you on how this blog post came out that I wrote. Keep in mind that the goal of the post is to 1.) Provide valuable content to potential readers (likely a mid-level marketing/advertising VP or a CMO). 2.) Build up an SEO base (which is why I was bias in linking to other iostudio posts). 3.) Allude to the call-to-action that they could hire us to help with their content marketing / advertising. I know that a piece of content/copy should only have ONE goal, but clearly iostudio has too many cooks in the kitchen...Anyways, let me know what you guys think of my section headlines, body copy, and general writing, since this is what I practiced while writing this. Also curious as to any suggestions you may have, and most importantly, any insight on how headlines (especially clickbaity ones) apply to AM and more broadly, info-products (courses, webinars, etc.), and eCommerce sales. Lastly, let me know if this is good enough to post more broadly on STM (and where?), and if not, the things I should change to make it more valuable to be worthy of STM's broad wealth of knowledge.

-$Train

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The Bait and Click
6 Ways to Get Clicks Without Losing Cred


“You won’t believe these 6 secrets that made this CMO generate 3x more leads with the same budget! (Number 4 is unthinkable!)” We’ve all seen and laughed at absurd headlines like this, but those “clickbaity” (or is it clickbaitish?) headlines exist for one simple reason: They work. You know you’ve clicked them. Not all the time, but you have. And you’re not alone. Buzzfeed alone has built a multi-million dollar empire out of perfecting them, along with half the internet.

But when you’re building content that’s going to represent your business, headlines that work might be the most important thing, but it’s not the only thing. The headline also has to be right for you. So the trick, the science, the art, is to take what works about those clickbaity copylines and apply it in a way that maintains your brand integrity. Here are six ways you can do that.

Start by giving your headlines more attention—and the reason why is so simple.

According to David Ogilvy, the father of advertising, “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” So, whether you’re trying to boost your content’s engagement or build out a substantial email list, a perfect headline is the first thing that needs to be checked off to reach your goals. Whether your marketing efforts are outbound or inbound, your content’s titles should always highlight your value proposition and state what it will do for your reader.

Make headlines specific (intimate, even)—but four out of four award-winning copywriters say to do one thing first.

Personal, specific lines grab attention. See how a vanilla headline like, “Top Ways to Maintain Traffic—Click Here” becomes enchanting when rephrased as, “You’re Losing Precious Website Traffic—Here’s How to Retain It.” Notice how the second headline speaks to a specific audience. Who wouldn’t want help retaining their traffic?

Here’s the trick: be wary of objective claims like “This #1 Solution Will Fix Your Bounce Rate Problem in Just 1 Day!” This last headline offers a promise that if not delivered, will destroy credibility with your future client or lead. In today’s world, people value reputation, reviews, and referrals nearly above all else. It’s just not worth the risk.

In fact, this may be the very most important thing to take out of this article: Deliver on the promise your headline makes. If you do this, your content can’t be considered clickbait.

Speak your audience’s language to bolster your cred—but you have to do this one thing first.

If a salesman dressed in a 3-piece velvet suit walks up to you and says, in a crisp British accent, “Fine sir, you’ll find my trusted secret to garnering more leads quite fascinating. Let me explain further.” You would be put off. Every single word in your headline affects the likelihood that a person will click to consume your content, and if you use ones your audience doesn’t know or like, you’ve wasted every one of those 80 cents Ogilvy says you spent on the headline. This is why writing strategically is crucial. Younger audience? Make your headlines more colloquial. College professors? Use your grown up words.

But here’s what you absolutely have to do first: research. You can’t speak to an audience if you don’t know them. It’s as simple as that. Although, in lieu of research, you can also hire someone who already knows your audience.

Stick to the formula, like you’re making a reliable mixed drink—but without the second half of this tip, you’re missing something major!

Like a classic cocktail, when it comes to a compelling, non-clickbait headline, there are tried and true formulas that lead to higher conversion rates. Plain language, with plenty of specifics, is best, like in this headline: “Do You Know Why Thousands of Cancer Survivors Gather in Central Park Every October?”

Here’s the other side to the coin: you have to experiment, tailoring your content to your audience. Like that mixed drink, you’ll never stand out in a crowd if you’re only following the same old formula. We prefer our old fashioneds with bacon. Why? Because experimentation gave us a better version of an old classic that matches our specific tastes. Use your headlines to speak to the specific tastes of your audience.

Maximize ROI by tracking data—but skip step 2 and all your data will be wasted.

Engagement. Views. Click throughs. Time spent on page. What do all of these have in common? They’re statistics that can be tracked to best maximize results. Just take a look at how we boosted conversions by tracking visitors during our successful campaign for our Army National Guard client.

Here’s the step most people miss: Cut headlines that aren’t garnering enough clicks. Optimize the wording, tone, and intent of your headline until you see better results. Unless you’re actively making decisions based on it, data is an entire waste of your time.

Save valuable time (and headaches) and hire a specialist within your industry niche.

Companies like Business Insider and Huffington Post are known to require copywriters to draft 30-50 headlines per piece of content before they narrow their selection. Sounds like fun, right? Here’s why: Striking the balance between anecdotally compelling and annoying clickbait is no easy task, even for practiced pros. That’s why more often than not it’s better to hire a seasoned team than to suffer through the inevitably tedious task of mixing and matching words. Bad copywriting can kill your credibility, but it can also cost you leads.

Lucky for you, you’re already in the right place to find a killer team of content pros. Start here.

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