Trust. We all want our readers to feel it. Because without trust, how can we build close relationships with them?
Without trust, why would they ever think of hiring us?
In today’s world of buzz and hype, it takes a lot to get someone’s attention. We feel like we need to be outrageous. Smack them in the face with our message.
Be funny. Or cruel. Or crazy.
I’m seeing something more and more lately: blog post headlines written for shock value.
But the first rule of writing is this: respect your readers. It’s about trust. If you make a promise, keep it.
Did you know that your headline is your promise?
I remember one day, when I was seven years old, I was standing in line at Scott’s Market with my mom.
At the checkstand, I saw a National Enquirer:
Lucille Ball throws her life away! the headline screamed.
My mom, a huge fan of Lucy Ricardo, was beside herself.
“What? Lucille Ball killed herself?” she said.
It was the only time I saw her buy a National Enquirer.
She thumbed through the pages, looking for the “cover story.” She found the tiny article way back on page 47 (why are they always at the back?).
Seems that someone had found a Life Magazine in the garbage can outside Lucille Ball’s home.
A Life Magazine.
So, yes, technically, she had thrown her life away.
Now I admit. From a paper that later would later print stories like, “Mom boiled her baby and ate it,” this was tame.
But though I was small—years away from being a writer—I never forgot how it made me feel. I’d been tricked. Even back then, I had this fierce sense of justice bouncing around inside my brain.
It wasn’t fair.
The sneaky headline writer
Have we become so jaded that we only pay attention to over-the-top headlines? And we don’t care if we’ve been tricked into reading the post?
Recently, on a social networking site I frequent, a marketing consultant published an article. It was called,
“Why No Business Should Be Involved in Online Social Networking”
The headline’s promise? That we would learn why we shouldn’t network online.
Would you click through to read an article with a headline like that? Of course you would. In fact, at last count, 9,116 people had done just that.
But this writer broke the cardinal rule: Deliver what your headline promises.
Eight paragraphs into his article, he tells us that it’s time to stop referring to it as “social networking.” We should really call it “social marketing.”
I clicked on the headline that promised one thing, only to find I’d been deceived.
You can write a headline that attracts your readers without deceiving them
When we write with honesty, we build trust with our readers. If we break the trust, it can be more difficult to keep our audience.
And if we do it over and over again, well, they may stop reading our stuff.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for catchy titles. I’m especially fond of analogies and visual imagery because they make emotional connections with my readers.
A recent headline to a guest post by Scott Ginsberg on the Duct Tape Marketing blog was:
“6 Ways to Be More Referrable than Edward Scissorhands at a Lawn and Garden Convention”
Great title, unique imagery, and he delivered on his promise with six practical, actionable tips to get more referrals.
On the most recent post on my own blog, my headline was:
“How to Bring Hundreds of New Readers to Your Blog”
Now that’s an attractive title and it generates a lot of interest. Don’t we all want to learn how to do that?
The post delivers with the story of my personal experience. Yes, I did get hundreds of new readers with a Blogging Buddies program I started. And I give my readers the details if they want to start a group of their own.
What about you?
Does your blog post always deliver on your headline’s promise?
Do you mind if a blogger deceives you with her post title?
How do you feel about ‘headline trickery’?
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About Judy Dunn
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[...] crap. Judy Dunn, a blogging and marketing consultant, just did an entire post on what she calls “headline trickery.” The problem with overpromising is that it may drive some traffic to your blog, but if they feel [...]