How to use clickbait in your content marketing strategy

This is an excerpt from my book: Attention Avalanche: 3 Steps to endlessly create meaningful content to attract, engage and convert more customersClickbait is about creating content and presenting in a more appealing way so to get more traffic and attention; when the strategies are applied ethically and deliver on what they promise to the audience: then clickbait is not evil. Learn to appreciate and leverage different forms of clickbait. Especially whilst everyone else thinks that it is evil and undesirable, because that means that few people dare to use it.Please understand that clickbait is not evil or unethical, but a very smart way to capture attention, get clicks and views. Clickbait, in the traditional sense, does have a bad reputation because people are often mislead by it. You can use the lessons learnt from clickbait content to your advantage, provided that you actually deliver on the promise, and value, that persuaded your audience to click on your content in the first place.If you deliberately mislead then you will annoy and anger your viewers, but as you use clickbait strategies for good and deliver on what you promise, then you can expect to get more online traffic. Clickbait is only "evil" if you use it for bad or misleading things.Combine different keywords with strategies to create clickbait titles, then you can capture attention from all over the world:Top 3 reasons why entrepreneurship is not gambling.The strategy to be fail in business.7 Books every entrepreneur needs to read to be a master marketer.Here are some best practises when it comes to creating titles that work and are clickbait-y enough to grab peoples' attention.Try these templates to create headlines:Number + Adjective + Noun + Keyword + Promise7 Steps to become a smarter entrepreneur.21 Examples of  a leveraged business.9 Stages an Entrepreneur goes through to avoid failure3 Applicable Blue Ocean strategies that businesses can use to grow faster.10 Peculiar businesses that entrepreneurs actually started.1 Straightforward principle to change how you make money online instantly.How to + Action + Keyword + PromiseHow to build a social media following efficiently.How to create titles to your content that people will actually click on.How to get your audience engaged instantly.How to get more comments and likes on your posts easily.How to get more viewers to your videos with little changes.Definition + Guide to +Action + Keyword + PromiseA thorough compilation of business ideas that can be started for less than $100.Almanac to the best principles for entrepreneurs to begin marketing.An easy guide to creating content that engages your followers perpetually.Your complete guide to inbound marketing and getting subscribers on YouTube.Definition + Number and/or Noun + Keyword + Promise or DetailsTop 53 sites to share your content on for free.Worst 21 sites to avoid because of the founder's dodgy past.The fastest ways to get more ideas for content creation.Negative Word + Action + KeywordThe worst ways to build your YouTuber subscriber count.Negative behaviour and habits to have as an entrepreneur.7 fatal mistakes entrepreneurs make every day.But, here are some ways to make your titles more appealing, for instances you could include numbers:Fatal mistakes made online.9 Fatal mistakes made online.Ways to be discovered online.3 Ways to be discovered online.Add attractive adjectives:Why most people unsubscribe from you.The simple reason why most people unsubscribe from you.A strategy to get followers.A straightforward strategy to get followers.Use call-to-actions:Use these strategies to get more sales.Leverage these techniques to increase your conversions.Read these free PDFs from my books.AdjectivesAbsolute, Accidental, Amazing, Attention-Grabbing, Beautiful, Big, Brilliant, Clever, Controversial, Crazy, Damn Good, Delicious, Disturbing, Easy, Efficient, Effortless, Epic, Essential, Fab, Fantastic, Fascinating, Fearless, Free, Fun, Gorgeous, Incredible, Indirect, Insane, Irresistible, Juicy, Key, Kick-Ass, Little, Little Known, Mind-Blowing, Modern, New, Outrageous, Painstaking, Powerful, Proven, Recommended, Required, Scary, Savvy, Seriously, Shocking, Simple, Sleek, Snazzy, Spectacular, Spiffy, Steal-worthy, Strange, Stunning, Successful, Surprising, Terrible, Trendy, Trust-Building, Unbelievable, Useful, Useless, Valuable, Winning.NounsAreas, Components, Concepts, Do's and Don'ts, Examples, Facts, Forms, Ideas, Ingredients, Lessons, Lies, Marks, Mistakes, Methods, Metrics, Principles, Questions, Reasons, Recopies, Resources, Rules, Steps, Stages, Secrets, Statistics, Strategies, Skills, Sins, Tactics, Tips, Tricks, Techniques, Templates, Tools, Types, Ways, The #-Step Process.Actions / Call-to-actionsApply, Ask, Be, Beautify, Become, Benefit, Break, Bring, Build, Create, Combine, Decide, Discover, Do, Double (Triple), Drive, Eliminate, Engage, Enhance, Exclude, Fail, Fix, Gain, Generate, Get, Get Rid of, Have, Illustrate, Improve, Include, Increase, Keep, Learn, Make, Maintain, Manage, Master, Manipulate, Maximize, Meet, Move, Optimize, Overcome, Perform, Play, Prepare, Produce, Promote, Prove, Save (Time), Search, Set, Shape, Show, Start, Spice Up, Think, Try This, Use, Write.Guide Definitions101, An Easy, A Step-By-Step, The Advanced, The Beginner's, The Complete, The Definitive, The Essential, The Fun and User-Friendly, The Ultimate, The Short, The Simple.Positive WordsAlways, Best, Biggest, Easiest, Ever, Fastest, Funniest, Greatest, Hottest, Largest, Most, Perfect, Strongest, Top.Negative WordsAvoid, By No Means, Don't, Never, None, Nothing, No One, No Way, Worst, Stop.By using these principles you can give you content a greater appeal and a higher chance of being consumed and not forgotten about.When they are presented with a title that gets them thinking about the answer, what the content could mean or what it is talking about, then that is piquing their curiosity and helps to capture their attention - this is called a knowledge gap. You know more than your audience, so it is wise to leverage that knowledge and let your audience realise that your content knows something that they do not. Ask questions of your audience relating to your content in terms of:Who?What?Where?When?Why?How?When you are presenting your content in the form of a question, highlighting some information or crafting a thought provoking title that they may not know to answer to then it spurs them into action so as to learn more from you. By getting people to think about your content then it piques their curiosity to learn more and thus click to satisfy their knowledge gap.Another way to create a knowledge gap is to invoke different emotions in your audience, so that they want to know more as they feel enveloped in a certain emotion at that time. Emotions such as:Amazement.Anger.Anxiety.Awe.Contentment.Excitement.Heartbroken.Humour.Inspiration.Nostalgia.Sadness.Surprise.Some of these emotions are mentioned in the customer persona template, but you can always add these, and other emotions, into your own template.Here are some key emotions to aim for, as these help spur action in people:Action.Amusement.Anger.Attention/unex... - realized they have a problem, expressed, they have symptoms, a potential problem.Awe.Consideration- given a name to the problem/opportunityDecision- they have defined the solution/strategy, they know what to do or who to hire...Desire.Empathy.Interest.Joy.Laughter.My Mistakes/weaknesses/ flaws.Story/ experience about the thing.Vulnerable.Question of the day: how are you using clickbait in your content?