Why Clickbait Works And How To Use It
Clickbait — “(on the Internet) content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular web page.”
Clickbait is something commonly used on social media platforms, a big one being Youtube. Click bait is used as a way to gain more views and attraction towards the content you are pushing out. As a youtuber myself, I notice that when I put titles that clearly describe the video whereas titles that exaggerate a bit there is a clear difference in the number of views upon different videos.
There are two different types of clickbaits — the one where you exaggerate a bit then theres the one where you’re just lying to the point where people will just unfollow you.
This way of gaining views works most of the time because we are always on the internet searching for things to entertain us. Let’s be real when we see a catchy title, a flashy photo or something that makes our eyes open and jaws drop, we will click it no questions asked. Why? Because our brains are intrigued.
Clickbait will work to a certain point, but you have to know when and how to use it. Here are a few good ways to use clickbait:
Thumbnails:
Thumbnails are the absolute first thing a viewer will look at. Having a simple photo of you sitting there with some writing on the photo will attract 5% of viewers. You have to make your thumbnail fun, engaging and sometimes even exaggerate what is going on within the photo. Make it fun and make it something that you would have to click on because of how curious you’d be.
Titles:
Having a catchy and slightly exaggerated title is key. Have a title that will make someone click on it faster than they can even think. Another important factor in a clickbait title is to leave the viewer on a cliff hanger that they’ll need to click the video to see what happens.
Next time you publish a new video and want to use clickbait remember; nobody likes a liar but if you’re just exaggerating a bit there isn’t a lie there!
