“Retire at 40!”
“Buy your dream car right now!”
“3½ guaranteed crypto hacks!”
You see titles like this all over social media – often accompanied by the obligatory short video “Get rich quick! Start right now!”
And they can be very effective. People are drawn to the emotion, the speed, the simplicity.
But these things aren’t speedy and simple.
Compare this to the traditional posts we’re used to seeing – much longer, more detailed, containing more jargon (“compound annual growth rates” anyone?) – more nuance, more accurate… but less eye-catching.
Which is better?
- The exciting, eye-catching dopamine hit
- The robust explanation of best-practice
There are lots of answers to this question, of course. But mine is this – we need some of both.
Exciting alone might attract attention, but lacks the underlying robustness.
But if we rely only on facts, evidence, features, etc, there just isn’t enough to engage people. We can’t just say “Well, our stuff is superior. People will see through the nonsense” …
… Because they might not
Action Point
Review your messaging.
Where does it lie on the exciting–robust scale?
Where do you want to be on it?
Where do your readers want you to be?
What 1-2 changes could you make, to have even more impact?