They come in many shapes, sizes and numbers. Listicles and how-to’s served with an extra scoop of vagueness and a sprinkle of pop culture. The clickbait trend preys on human curiosity, which marketers have learned is a very powerful motivator.
Simply put, it works
Kissmetrics recently examined the effects an emotional headline can have on how a post or story is shared, and the results are unsurprising. Strong, emotional headlines drive clicks.
Clickbait brings in page-views and eyeballs bring in advertising dollars. Nothing new about that. Unfortunately, journalists, bloggers and brands are under more pressure than ever to develop headlines that drive clicks and shares. You can’t even browse your favorite news organization’s website without having to wade through a sea of clickbait to get to the content you came for. Even reputable organizations such as the New York Times have dipped their toes in the water.
The more it’s used, the less effective it becomes
What the websites using these tactics often overlook is how these click-tricks impact the integrity of the site. When the reveal doesn’t live up to the hype the headline suggests, the audience soon realizes that the visit is simply not worth their time. Before long, readers learn to overlook these links, and associate the site with the same guilty pleasure typically reserved for daytime soap operas. Entertaining? Sure…but how many of us have time to watch TV all day during the week? If the emotional or catchy headline always leads to an unfulfilling experience for the reader, eventually clickbait’s ability to drive traffic will wane.
On June 12, 2014, The Onion, known for their satire and news parody, launched a site dedicated to mocking the trend. "Clickhole” takes jabs at offenders by stealing their headline formats, quizzes and other nuances. So what are they hoping to accomplish with the website? Directly from their About page:
“We strive to make sure that all of our content panders to and misleads our readers just enough to make it go viral. You see, we don’t think anything on the internet should ever have to settle for mere tens of thousands of page-views.”
You’d be hard-pressed to prove the sites that they mock aren’t motivated by the same mission, though they’ll never admit it. The only real difference between Clickhole and the others is that Clickhole plays the drums after the punch line.
The beginning of the end
With the increasingly negative response to clickbait (at least from a social perspective), it’s clear that changes need to be made. In fact, some of that change may already be happening. Lotech reports that some clickbaiters are showing signs of maturing. Buzzfeed, for example, a pioneer in the space and an Internet-wide leader in web traffic, has started to make adjustments to their content strategy that aligns with this shift. Today, they’re producing real news content in the quick-to-consume format that’s worked so well for the other types of content they produce.
They’re also publishing plenty of long-form content, which is a fresh approach. Quick reads containing neat, organized, and scanable information is nice—but if we as consumers can only retain information if it’s broken down into a few bullet-points, we’re all in trouble.
If clickbait is part of your content marketing strategy, realize that it’s just like any other marketing tool. It’s important to weigh your options and ask the right questions: What are those page-views actually doing for you? Is there a better way to reach your audience and build affinity? Will the short-term benefits be worth the long-term implications? Above all, carefully consider how useful your content will be to your audience.
