(By Jeffrey Hedquist) Clickbait, or using intriguing headlines that lead us to click on a link, has been used for generations – long before we were clicking. Advertising pioneer John Caples was using “clickbait” as early as 1927. He wrote, “They Laughed When I Sat Down At the Piano, But When I Started to Play!”
The technique has continued to work because we’re all curious beings. We want to know the rest of the story. You’ll have our attention until we find out what happened.
Can this work in radio? Sure. Using clickbait in audio messages can encourage audience members to keep listening, but it can backfire horribly… You could offend your audience and get negative results for the advertiser by not following some simple rules:
- Audio headline: it’s a promise that needs to be relevant to the problems or challenges of your client’s typical customers.
- The promise and the content must deliver a benefit.
- The promise must be specific.
- The promise must be interesting enough to be “click-worthy.”
- The commercial needs to deliver on the promise.
As you know, “clickbait” is a negative term for something that leads someone to expect something, only to be deceived. What we’re talking about is the opposite – a promise to the listener that you fulfill.
This is a way to build an effective campaign – a series of messages, each with a tip, a little-known fact, an advantage, or an insider’s secret that will make the listener’s life better. The promise can have all the power of clickbait, but you need to deliver on the promise to establish trust. Establish trust and you’ll be part way to making a sale.
Use the lure of clickbait, but deliver the integrity of a promise.
Jeffrey Hedquist, “Advertising’s Storyteller,” has won over 700 awards and brought in millions of dollars for clients. His articles, ebooks, seminars, and coaching have helped stations nationwide prosper. Got a question about radio marketing? Email [email protected]. Read Jeffrey’s Radio Ink archives here.
