Hello all..
I’d like to tell you about a powerful but elusive emotional state that you can tap into, to increase traffic, click-throughs, and conversions. The stuff that draws ’em in and makes ’em buy!
If used properly, your reader/visitor can be drawn in, and will give you their complete attention right through your call to action.
The “emotional state” I’m referring to is:
Curiosity.
Yes, curiosity, that thing that keeps us glued to TV shows, movies, books, and websites.
So how do we trigger this curiosity strongly enough to get your customers to take action, click on a link, buy your product?
The key to writing curiosity-based headlines and email subject lines is to write from a place that goes against what your reader actually believes to be true, but keep it realistic as well.
It’s called “violating expectations“. You need to challenge what your reader believes.
Here’s one for an example:
“How to make more money by generating more sales!”
Well, duh. This headline just makes sense by itself. It doesn’t leave anything to the imagination, does it? Sure it might generate a bit of curiosity, but it doesn’t really jump out and make me want to learn more..
Try it this way:
“Increase your sales by 84%, in just 15 minutes per day!”
What does this headline do that the first one did not? It “violates expectations” by suggesting some small behavioral change (15 minutes) can drastically increase what your realistic expectations might be.
Now, unfortunately it isn’t that easy. Your headline also has to violate the right expectations based on who your reader is.
You have to try and focus in on, and highlight, a gap in your reader’s knowledge, and of course it has to be something they’re interested in.
Like this:
“These 2 inexperienced bloggers are making more $$ in a month than YOU do in a year! Here’s their 3-step profit system..”
This headline claims that bloggers with little experience can be hugely successful. If YOU are a blogger, it also suggests that THEY know something that you don’t know… and it promises an easy solution to fixing this problem that you have.
One important thing to remember is that most people tend to believe that they know more than they actually do. So when trying to grab their curiosity, you need to indicate that the information you have is something they have never heard of.
So when a headline reads:
“The 5 best list-building strategies that will explode your business..”
It would make the reader more curious if you said something like:
“5 weird and underhanded list-exploding methods that are so lucrative you’ll feel guilty using them!”
Which one do you think would make your prospects more curious?? Which one would they click on?
See what I mean?
Being able to trigger one’s curiosity is a powerful thing. If you practice and get good at it, you’ll be surprised how much it will improve your business (and your sales). Sometimes it will literally take hours for me to get the right copy done for something as simple as an email subject line! But in the end it’s worth it. If you’re wondering why nobody is opening your emails, check your subject lines for curiosity triggers.
So in a nutshell, remember these 3 things..
- Violate their expectations
- Zero in on a “gap” in their knowledge
- Make it seem there’s NO way they’ve heard of your information before
That’s how you do it. Have fun. Play with the words for a while until it sounds awesome when you read it back to yourself. This is a competitive business and this skill will keep you ahead of the game.
If this post has helped you out in any way, please click “LIKE”. Thanks!
Have a great day!
– Geoff Stephen
