This isn’t clickbait, but it’s about clickbait.
First, what is clickbait?
Clickbait is a modern term for a sensationalized message designed to drive clicks or increase views, but the concept of sensationalism to drive traffic has existed for over 100 years in journalism. We don’t need to go into detail, but the point is sensationalized material to funnel an audience somewhere.
A lot of clickbait is used for bad, like scam emails, useless content that you’d NEVER click on and often regret watching, and predatory advertising.
However, if used well, it can be a tool for good. If that sounds far-fetched, bear with me and read the rest of the article or watch my companion video on the subject!
Let’s start with an example. If you’ve spent ANY time on YouTube over the last few years, you’ve probably watched at least one or two videos by Graham Stephan, a creator focused on financial education.
Financial education is something that the American education fundamentally lacks yet is likely the most important topic a young person should know before going into college or starting their career. Because financial education is near nonexistent, so too is financial literacy in most Americans. As such, Graham and other similar creators fill an extremely important niche in YouTube for this education, but how was he able to grow so much? Good and educational yet entertaining content aside, it largely has to do with his clickbait strategy.
Now, you may be thinking, clickbait? That’s ONLY a bad thing?
I view it as a tool. How do you get people to click on something or learn about something they didn’t previously have interest in, like personal finance?
Graham takes otherwise dry financial topics and makes them interesting to the average, financially undereducated person.
“How to be a Millionaire in 10 years (starting from $0)” is a somewhat sensationalized title, but who DOESN’T want to be a millionaire within 10 years? This is actually a bait and switch to teach people the concept of compound interest and its importance in personal finance.
Without clickbait, the video would be closer to “What is compound interest? An overview,” which while to-the-point, isn’t going to go very far. Financially educated people wouldn’t click, because they know the concept, and financially uneducated people wouldn’t click, because they DON’T know the concept and don’t care. By appealing to the desire to get rich, Graham uses clickbait to teach financial education to an otherwise disinterested audience.
Another example would be his video titled “Roth IRA: How to be a TAX FREE MILLIONAIRE with $12 PER DAY.” A video titled “Roth IRA basics” would have the same problems as the last boring title, but this clickbait-framed video yet again teaches an extremely important financial concept, and this title isn’t even stretching the truth, it’s simply providing a sensational frame. You CAN acquire a million tax-free dollars with a Roth IRA on only $12/day.
If you look at the comments, on this and other videos, there is a vast majority of young people expressing gratitude for learning this concept.
When used well, clickbait strategies can help spread important messages to people who need them but aren’t looking for them.
At the end of the day, clickbait is a means to attract people who aren’t looking for or aren’t interested in your content and use some form of sensationalism to overcome that first hurdle and appeal to them.
Graham Stephan is a pioneer in this concept of “clickbait for good” in many of his videos, and while not all of his clickbait-y videos have the same level of important message, his channel overall has used clickbait to make a huge impact on young people.
Think about it – tons of other youtubers now can use dry titles like “How to invest in a Roth IRA” BECAUSE Graham brought millions of people to a baseline of financial literacy, and it’s all thanks to good clickbait
While I’m largely discussing the positive side of clickbait and how it can be used for good, remember that it is a tool. Many more people use it for scams, shams, and spam, so how can YOU use it for good like Graham?
Put simply, make sure the content of whatever you’re clickbaiting is worthwhile. There are multiple layers to this – WHO is it worthwhile to? WHAT makes it worthwhile? HOW does your clickbait appeal to WHO your content would be worthwhile to?
My most viewed video as of now is about poorly made ocarinas from Amazon and how to avoid them. The title is simply “NEVER Buy this Ocarina,” with myself making a disgusted face in the thumbnail holding an Amazon shopping result. The video itself is much more normal, but the title and thumbnail help me reach the WHO, new ocarina players who might make a huge mistake with the WHAT, guidance to prevent that mistake, with the HOW, visceral title and imagery.
If I took a pragmatic approach like “Review of an Amazon ocarina,” the video wouldn’t have performed nearly as well. The point is that I use a BIT of sensationalism in the title to capture the attention of people who would absolutely find this video useful. While this is nowhere near the best video I’ve ever made, it’s by far my most viewed and the biggest driver for growth on my channel.
The best clickbait is true. Don’t lie or drastically stretch the truth in clickbait. Be noticeable, but be honest.
Andy Cormier 