It's All In The Title

We are exposed to over 5,000 advertisements each day. It has become increasingly difficult for companies to break through the clutter and reach consumers. Companies are now creating value conscious content that people are compelled to consume on social media. With consumers becoming more and more indifferent to content on social media, posting has become a science of intrigue and value. The challenge for businesses is to create attention grabbing material that rewards the consumer with something of value. Let's take a look at postings on my Facebook feed and determine how companies are trying to get the attention of consumers.

The key to content creation is having an enticing title that stimulates an individual's curiosity. The first posting is from Magnifier Magazine.   It's first title is "Netflix Has No Heart: November 2016 Edition". People love Netflix, so a title saying that Netflix isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread will cause a moment of pause. Now this first title wasn't enough for me to click into the article, but it was enticing enough that I wanted to read the caption of the photo. This reaction is probably similar to other consumers.

The caption reads, "Don't Look Now, But Netflix Just Got Rid of These Fan Favorites". If you want a phrase that peeks a persons curiosity, "Don't Look Now", would be it. Starting with this phrase drives people to want to click maybe for the simple sake of being a little rebellious. The rest of the caption tells the reader that Netflix is getting rid of some of its shows, but not just any shows, "Fan Favorite Shows". Any Netflix lover would be compelled to read the rest of this article to find out if one of their beloved shows was on the out list. And if it was, what a nice warning you have so you can watch the remaining episodes in your series.

This article captures the principle of attract attention then drive action. The value to consumers is knowing which shows are about to leave Netflix. This allows the consumers to know if they should quickly finish their current series, marathon one on their "Watch List", or warn a friend about the disappearance.

Since Netflix is a part of many consumers' lives, this article has great potential for user interaction through comments and shares. This posting by Magnifier Magazine not only captures the attention of Facebook users, it adds values to their lives.

The next posting is by Forbes. The title "10 Habits To Develop By The Time You Are 30" is great at capturing the attention of individuals younger than 30 and individuals older than 30. This article seeks to create value and capture value. People younger than 30 are likely to click on this article to discover the "10 habits" they should be developing. This provides an opportunity for them to learn how close they are to really being good at "adulting". The value people under 30 gain from this article is awareness of what they should be working on in their personal and professional lives in order to be successful later in life.

People older than 30 may be intrigued by this article as well. They may click on this article because they are curious what the ten habits are and how many they currently possess. These consumers gain the value of reassurance that they meet Forbes' "10 Habits" or learn something new from this article.

Since this article appeals to people of all ages it has great share potential, whether that be between a parent and a young adult, a teacher and his/her students, or among friends.  Individuals who also like this article may be compelled to like Forbes' Facebook page or subscribe to the magazine. In this situation Forbes has successfully created value for consumers and captured value from its readers.

The third posting by Everday Life, is titled, "What Happens When Rihanna Tries To Go To The Beach? I'm Speechless". This title plays with the consumers curiosity. It makes the consumer wonder what would happen if Rihanna went to a public beach and what did happen must have been pretty shocking since the writer is "Speechless" and there is an arrow pointing at something that of course we can't see. You must click on the article to get an explanation of what happened and to view the image that the arrow is pointing at. Like many of Every Life's postings, this one failed to deliver. The arrow was merely pointing at a person with a camera taking a picture of Rihanna at the beach. To be honest that isn't very surprising. It's not out of place for people to take picture of celebrities when they are out in public places.

This article promised an interesting event, but failed to deliver such news. This failure makes the consumer doubt the credibility of Everyday Life postings and feel like they did not gain any value from the experience. This can lead to consumers simply ignoring future postings from Everday Life. I know that I do. 

To break through the clutter on social media today, companies need to add value to consumers' lives. People are curious animals who want to discover interesting content on their social media feeds. Companies that respect the consumer's curiosity and deliver on its promises, will experience the benefit of reciprocity. Creating valuable content is a long term investment that will better the awareness and perception of a brand.