3 - As discussed in class, why do you feel Headlines are so important in web content? Please provide me with an example of a headline you clicked on recently (submit the exact headline including a screenshot) and outline in detail why you clicked it. In question #1, I asked why it resonated with you. For this question, I am asking why you actually clicked on it. This cannot be the same headline as question #1 (8 Marks)
Headlines are a major component in web content because it is the determining factor in people clicking on your website or not. When you are surfing the web after a search query, you don’t come across an entire article, or bodies of text and images, you only see headlines and a pre-head. It is an advertiser’s introduction to the world of what that specific content and post is regarding. As discussed in class, headlines are often shared before viewers even read the content, it is the first impression you give to the viewer and will either capture the audience’s attention or send them away from your content.
Most importantly, headlines are the only opportunity marketers receive to draw in your consumers and outshine your competitors. Without a headline, audience members would have no idea what your content is about, no idea what they’re going to receive from your content and no idea why they should choose your website over another’s. For example, on a news website, the way you determine which article you’re going to read is based on the headline, the same way you see magazines in a grocery store and you choose which magazine to pick up based on the headlines on the front page. The headline is everything in a world of social media, summaries, short introductions, and short form content. You only get a few seconds to capture a viewer’s attention (literally 3 seconds or less), and that impression, opinion, and decision is instantly made through a viewer seeing your headline.
I have always been a fan of Poppi since they first came to the market. I love their product, it tastes delicious, it’s healthy, and I align with their values. I have followed their advertising journey since their first campaign and I have always loved their marketing tactics, I was especially a fan of the vending machines Super Bowl campaign. Poppi was delivering Poppi vending machines to a ton of influencers’ houses as a promotional strategy for their upcoming Super Bowl ad. However, I saw snippets on TikTok of people speaking about Poppi’s Super Bowl vending machine campaign being controversial. So, with that, I wanted to do some research of my own to figure out the truth, and that’s when I came across this headline. There were many reasons why I clicked on it. It uses plain writing, it implied giving me information that I didn’t know, it used a cliff hanger method, it intrigued me and created a sense of mystery and it also implemented a power word “backlash.” Also being in the advertising and marketing world, it could potentially give me a new outlook on the brand and/or this campaign that I might not have seen before.
The main reason I chose to click on this one is the plain writing, It perfectly matched my search querey but also implied that it would provide me with more. Some of the other headlines regarding the controversy used bigger words that made me question what it was regarding, and veered me away from their articles. This headline could be taken in and out of context, and it would still tell me exactly what the article is about.
Another reason that I clicked on it is that it intrigued me, created a sense of mystery and left me wondering… With the dot dot dot, aand the specific word usage, it implied there was more information to be told and that they would fill in the blanks for me. Because I know all about the Super Bowl campaign, it gave a sense of mystery. It’s not only telling me about the backlash but that there’s more to it regarding another issue that arose. This made me want to click on it that much more as it was implying that there is information I was unaware of.
This headline used the perfect amount of mystery while still providing me with enough information to click on it. As mentioned above, it left me wondering, but, it used just the perfect amount of mystery. If it had been anymore vague it would’ve led me to another article as it would’ve left me wondering too much but because they included the details related to my search query and than added “shows a bigger problem,” it gave me the perfect amount of information but left me with a cliff hanger, ultimately giving me the desire to want to know more.
Furthermore, the company that released this article is called “Business Insider.” Where the link is listed, next to it, it says “media” and “advertising.” This led me to believe it is coming from an advertiser’s perspective, and because I am currently working to be in that field, it made me wonder if the advertisers had a different perspective that I might not of thought about and potentially missed. Being in the advertising and marketing world has led me to think about things much differently. My brain recognizes things in ways I would’ve never thought about before. With this campaign, I was shocked to find out there was so much controversy and backlash because in my opinion, I wanted a vending machine of my own. It is something that had never been done before and it created tons of buzz for the brand. So, with the company releasing this article being an advertising business, it was more appealing to me because it made me want to know their opinion and why it was so different from mine.
Finally, I believe another reason it captivated me was using the word “backlash”. This is a word that automatically signals controversy, and drama. Backlash also implies it was not a mistake that the brand made but that It was something the public decided was not acceptable. Because I am a Poppi consumer and a part of their target audience this sparked my curiosity more than if a brand I wasn’t a usual consumer of had been in the same position.