The Clickbait Debate: Does It Work for a Social Media Strategy?

This is a post that may not have the answer you want to hear. If you look at the best social media hooks of the past year, the content that truly went viral—the ASL ice bucket challenge, Emma Watson speaking in front of the UN, Alex the Target eye candy—you would think there is something to be said for being bold, a bit crazy and out there, and gaining clicks on social media. But is it worth it in your brand’s social media strategy?

What is the Clickbait Debate?

For those who are unfamiliar, social media marketers and SEO specialists have been debating whether or not using clickbait is a positive strategy in getting online users to your site. The idea behind this strategy is to get as many clicks as possible. Period. Relevance and quality is only important if it’s going to lead to clicks. More often then not, however, it’s the headlines that get the clicks for a clickbait article, which is why they are so commonly found on social media.

According to Wordstream, clickbait typically offers an eye-catching or compelling headline and is easily read. Clickbait is often funny or offers memorable content, such as images and video. If it does not necessarily have a humorous tone, it typically appeals strongly to a specific emotion, and it is then meant to be shared on social media by the people who view it. Check out some great examples here.

The Upside of Clickbait

There is always a positive side to strategies like clickbait. People wouldn’t be debating it if it didn’t work for some, right? Plus, clickbait is also fun for social marketers to develop and it can be fun to develop really tempting and sensational headlines. Some of these benefits include more page views, a greater potential for social shares and increased content sharing, and increased brand awareness.

If you have all of these things, then your website will have higher metrics in certain areas which could help your advertising and help you earn more opportunities. If you get more clicks you also have a better chance that someone will click around and navigate to other pages of your site, so hopefully at this point all of your metrics will improve (conversions, downloads and signups, etc.).

The Reasons Clickbait Shouldn’t be Your Primary Goal for Social Sharing

While there do seem to be some positives to clickbait, in my opinion it is ultimately created for the wrong reasons. The intention is to get users to click and visit your site, but it doesn’t necessarily capture your intended target audience. So while you may be getting more visits, you are not necessarily capturing those who are genuinely interested in your brand.

Ultimately, the bad outweighs the good in this scenario. Here are some reasons why clickbait should not be the first thing you think of when you want to increase social media sharing. There are really three reasons I see that clickbait is a negative focus for your social media strategy.

1. Sensationalism does not have the attractiveness it used to in the past.

When something works well at first, it doesn’t mean that it works forever. There was definitely a phase where being as bold and eyes catching as possible, regardless of who you appealed to, generally worked. However, as we discussed earlier, your primary goal should be to address your target audience, and really capture the attention of those who are going to maintain an interest in your brand and not just those who are drawn in by your headline.

1. Clickbait that is misleading can damage reputation and kill trust.

Again, while clickbait has advantages for gaining attention and getting more visits to your page, your primary goal is the audience who will want to be returning customers. If those who really care about your brand observe that you are just trying to gain attention from anyone, you could lose your integrity and overall trust with those who should ultimately matter the most. Not everything has to be exciting and eye-catching—sometimes being honest and sincere can be the most attractive to existing and potential clients.

1. Pageviews really aren’t everything.

There is no doubt that clickbait boosts pageviews. In fact, this is one of the primary arguments for why clickbait works. However, the point that should be clear by now is that page views mean nothing if people aren’t taking a genuine interest in your brand. Sure, your ranking or SEO cold be boosted, but in a long term social marketing plan, it is far more important to gain a true and loyal brand following from those who really believe in what you have to offer. Many companies want high CTR so that their conversions can improve. If that doesn’t happen, then the CTR isn’t overly important.

The Solution to the Debate

So what is the solution and how do we resolve the clickbait debate, once and for all? There are some awesome opinions and solutions that I feel are important to draw on in this article, and there are a lot of wonderful studies on how to create interesting headlines. Below are a few tips that may make your social media strategy more appealing, while maintaining a sincere tie to your business model and goals.

Create the Best Content Possible

Your primary goal in social marketing should be to develop the best content possible. There is no sense increasing your clicks if you do not stand by the content that you are producing and associating with your brand. Do your best to create the best content possible, because once you do get that click, you want to be sure the content people land on is worthwhile.

Choose Topics Wisely

Before you set out to create content, do the proper research and spend time in making sure that what you are creating and associating with your brand is the best that it can be. One thing to consider is to search for trends that will help promote your ideas, and build a schedule that you can stick to day in and day out. Many find this to be the hardest part of social media marketing, so I recommend checking out this article to learn more.

Your Headlines Mean A Lot

One thing that can be learned from the clickbait debate is that headlines do make a difference. One thing that can help is using a tool like Headline Analyzer to help determine the overall appeal of your headline. This will help to insure that you are sticking to your guns, and overall idea of your brand, while also taking topics of interest in the social media realm into consideration.

The Takeaway

Ultimately, gaining clicks and page views is not nearly as important is the integrity of your brand, and specifically the content you are associated with your business. Gaining attention will mean noting if it is from the wrong audience. While you want to create interesting and captivating headlines, you also want to build the most successful social marketing strategy possible.

Do you have thoughts on the clickbait debate? How have you created alluring headlines while maintaining brand constancy and integrity? Let us know in the comments section below, we would love to hear from you.

from Darlene Milligan http://ift.tt/1Ntv2Le via transformational marketing
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1O5ApjI