Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Headline Clickbait: PR Science or PR Fail?


A scan of current events this morning brought me to a news story angering me enough that I didn't need my morning coffee. 
To be clear, it's not the (tragic, local news) story that aggravated me. It's the misleading, headline clickbait that pulled me into the article. I'm interested in Instagram, and the odd nature of the headline lead me to believe it was being served up by The Onion.  It's not a parody story. So I've re-written it below for accuracy.
Couple Killed THREE HOURS After
Posting Sunset Picture to Instagram. 
My re-write wouldn't draw in readers. But it may make you wonder why someone would point out this ironic, but completely unrelated, fact in the headline.
The Headline That Cried Click (see what I did there?)
Sites like Buzzfeed, Upworthy and Viral Nova are pretty polarizing. They've even inspired spoof headline generators and entire parody sites trying to tap into the craze simply by mocking it.
Love them or hate these traffic-magnet, sharing-fueled sites, Google analytics proves that headline clickbait works. But even Upworthy is acknowledging its an issue. The site announced it's "on a mission to cleanse the web of content that exists primarily to be clicked on or shared."
No, I'm not suggesting you avoid proven best practices around headline generation. I followed three myself for this post's headline. 
I am pleading with you to consider the bigger picture behind any tactic. I'm willing to bet that whatever the goal is behind content you're publishing, you'd prefer to establish an ongoing connection with the audience your content attracts. 
Tricks for Clicks
Or ignore me and follow Time's lead. This once iconic, news magazine's Twitter bio reads: "Breaking news and current events from around the globe." 
And they're publishing headlines like "Watch a Baby's Face Sour While Eating A Lemon" and "Here's a Half-Naked Man Wearing 100 Pounds of Bees like a Coat." It's embarrassing to see them chase someone else's success. And it's costing them their hard-earned credibility in the process.
Tricks for clicks may get you a short-term increase in traffic. But it won't build audience in the long-term. If you're worried you won't attract readers without headline clickbait? Either spend money on headline syndication or come to grips with the fact that your content might suck. 
:: Kevin Dugan, @prblog
Image via xkcd

3 comments:

  1. And the rewritten headlines aren't rewritten, those would be new stories altogether. Those are opinion pieces, not hard news. Hard news headlines give fact, they give the story and intrigue in a few words. Those headlines are almost what you'd find in a tabloid, not what you'd find on the front page of a newspaper (online or print), which is what each of those stories were when published. Some almost seem comical despite covering sad events. I definitely wouldn't click on "watch this video of a terminally-ill child watching the challenger explode" or whatever you wrote. Why would I want to watch a dying child be sad because they're watching people die in a horrific explosion? As the head of a Chicago PR agency , I would turn these all down if they are trying to cover the original, serious story; if they are side stories taking another angle, then sure. Sorry, Kevin.

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  2. Anonymous12:39 PM

    I see headline clickbait most when I am scrolling through my Facebook timeline. A lot of times the articles are completely fake, but sometimes they are just misleading ways to get me on a real news story. I agree that clickbaits might get someone on the page, but they won't keep them there. If I click an article thinking it's one thing and get to the page only to learn I was completely mislead then I rarely even read past the first two lines. Clickbait is pushing the envelope on what is ethical journalism. It might increase the number of visits to your site, but it will have little effect on the number of people who actually read your article.

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  3. I completely agree with this post. What does an instagram photo have to do with a freak accident that happened several hours later? As a former reporter, I always struggled with writing the perfect headline for my stories - one that truthfully tells what the story is about without giving away all the details. You want the headline to be engaging while avoiding sounding like annoying tabloid headlines (ex. Is Kylie Jenner pregnant with Tyga's baby?, You won't believe XYZ!).

    I love this statement from anonymous: Clickbait is pushing the envelope on what is ethical journalism. It might increase the number of visits to your site, but it will have little effect on the number of people who actually read your article. You can make all the crazy headlines you want, but if the content isn't there, no one will stay on your page - and the chances of them ever clicking on links from you again decrease significantly.

    Thanks for the great article!

    -Alyssa
    Rivers Agency PR Executive

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