Questionable Article Marketing Titles to Attract an Audience: Clever or Deceiving?
I was hoodwinked.
A few weeks ago, I was fooled into reading an article entitled, “Why No Business Should Be Involved in Online Social Networking.” Roughly halfway into reading this piece, the author explains that we should stop using the term ‘social networking’. We should be using the words, ‘social marketing’ instead.
Yes, that was the gist of the article.
Based on the title, I was expecting to read why social networking was a taboo for business.
I was ‘sucked-in’ like the eleven thousand or so other readers intrigued by the same headline. (Yes, the article received eleven thousand views.)
And that type of ‘Tomfoolery’ journalism bothers me.
Interestingly, the content of this article was rather robust with a good discussion about social marketing. So it was not a complete loss once I arrived to read the piece. It was the signage on this path which led me to the article that is bothersome.
But I wondered; did the End (good content) justify the Means (crafty title)?
Fellow commentator and blogger, Judy Dunn of Cat’s Eye Marketing and I both believed that the trick title stood out ‘like a sore thumb’ prompting both of us to write our own rebutted blog entries.
Judy makes some great points in her post, On Respecting Your Readers: Headline Trickery. She writes, “A headline can generate interest without deceiving the reader. When we write with honesty, we build trust with our readers. If we break the trust, it can be more difficult to keep our audience. And if we do it over and over again, well, they may stop reading our stuff.”
The author of the ‘social networking v. social marketing’ article had a follow-up piece which I never even bothered to read. As Judy mentioned would happened; the author lost my trust because he did not deliver what his title promised.
What captivated me the most from this experience was that a majority of the article readers did not object to being lured by the misleading title. In fact, several commented that they were glad the title was misleading because the content was well-written. Some claimed they may not have even read the article if the title had not been misleading.
I did not see it that way.
Misleading advertisement is a pet peeve of mine; particularly in blog posts and articles. I spend a fair amount of valuable time reading print and online material just to keep up with current marketing topics. As with most business owners, time-wasting activities eat into profits. A well-crafted article title is as important as the content it represents. I depend upon good article titles to determine if it is worth my time to read the piece.
It is my contention that we have been deceived far too many times by some marketers that we have come to expect that trickery is an acceptable means of promotion and sales.
Consumers have become desensitized to dishonest practices.
Over time, as we have become more comfortable with questionable advertising I surmise that passivity is the only means to survive the constant barrage of ads and promotions we see each and every day. It has become ever more difficult to discern fact from fiction. As a result the marketer has a more difficult time reaching the consumer without settling for ’shock-value’ ads or ‘misleading promotions’ in order to capture our interests.
Are consumer attentions stirred by negative marketing better than positive marketing receiving no attention at all?
Questionable and misleading article titles are like the ‘bad’ child who acts out just to get his parents’ attention.
In a 2007 New York Times article, “Anywhere the Eye Can See, It’s Likely to See an Ad“, the author writes “Yankelovich, a market research firm, estimates that a person living in a city 30 years ago saw up to 2,000 ad messages a day, compared with up to 5,000 today. About half the 4,110 people surveyed last spring by Yankelovich said they thought marketing and advertising today was out of control.”
The shear volume of media ads we view each day is overwhelming; more than the average person can handle. Filtering ads and their titles by accepting what we see is the only means to sort through the promotional mire.
As a marketing virtual assistant, article marketing is a service I provide to promote my clients’ businesses. It is not easy trying to come up with the next innovative title ‘hook’ that will allow my clients’ articles stand out from the crowd. I’m all for creativity but there is a fine line between being creative and being deceitful.
A good example of clever titling is Judy Dunn’s piece, “Swedish Cowboys and Scuba Diving Brides: 8 Reasons You Should Have a Niche.”
Judy had many click-throughs for this piece. She also gave the readers eight valid and solid reasons to have a niche. She promoted and delivered the goods.
That’s honest marketing and as a result, I have bookmarked Judy as a credible writer.
Isn’t being believable what all marketers really want?
Or do they?
In addition to working as a virtual assistant, I also work a few hours a week in a popular children’s clothing store. I took a seasonal position last year and was honored when the manager asked me to stay on as a permanent part-time employee. While news of layoffs was on every media channel, it seemed foolish to turn down any job and one that I enjoyed. The merchandise is of great quality, bright and trendy while the interaction with customers and co-workers served as a nice diversion from my frenetic but thriving virtual assistance business. Although managing my professional time around the two jobs has been a challenge, the flexibility of being a virtual assistant affords me such opportunities. 
If you need something on a high display, please do not grab the hook yourself and try to take it down. Ask me, I will help you and I can do it much faster. Someone can get hurt trying to use the metal hook.
