Clickbait, viral, irresistible—all of these words are used to describe today’s titles, and while you don’t want to lure consumers with false promises, creative blog titles are an essential part of any business’s content marketing plan.
More than any time in history, there is a lot of noise out there in the world. From jam-packed schedules to the amount of blog posts uploaded every day, it’s easy to get overstimulated. Within that jumble, people want to find things that are helpful and enrich their endeavors, whether it be their quest for better health, a happier life, convenience, time savers, or improved finances and business.
So where do titles come in when marketing your product or service?
Titles are the doorway that leads customers to helpful, engaging, and valuable content—the kind of content that drives traffic to your site, builds brand loyalty, and inspires sales.
Many of us need convincing when taking on a new challenge. You may be asking yourself, but really, why should I invest time in titles. They’re just titles.
If you haven’t thought about your company’s voice, now is the time to do it. A voice is a distinction of your brand and style—it’s what makes you, you. In other words, unique. Ask your team, what do we want to convey? Are we bold, passionate, empathetic, excitable, serious, or inspiring? What words and characteristics define us?
Your voice is a product of that. For example, a bold voice may have a title that says, 5 Cleaning Hacks you Need to Have Now, while the empathetic company is more likely to have the title, Struggling with a Clean Home? 5 Shortcuts to Make Cleaning Easier than Ever.
Make it even less complicated for yourself; have a list of words on hand for each emotion you want to convey—then use them in your titles. The emotion should fit your voice. For example, bold (or confident) could have words like “now,” “definitely,” or “guaranteed.”
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It’s not unusual to have hesitation when diving into content. The whole concept can feel overwhelming. Questions swirl around your already overloaded brain: What do our readers want, what topics are going to be successful, or where do I even find topics to write about? Take a deep breath. It’s all about the baby steps.
Your title foundation is written. Now what?
Accuracy is a key part of titles. It’s the specific and targeted from your checklist. Readers don’t want clickbait that doesn’t accurately describe what the content is about. You need to be reliable, transparent, and consistent.
Pull key concepts from your topic. Look at ways to enhance those concepts. So, if you want to create readable content, ask yourself questions. Using the Create Readable Content example, ask what kind of readable? Maybe “highly readable content.” And what will it take to get to that readable content? Perhaps “7 tips” will help you achieve your goal, and maybe make them “easy.” All of a sudden you have 7 Easy Tips for Creating Highly Readable Content.
Be clear and accurate in what you are about to offer by fine-tuning those base concepts. In this case, you’d want to ensure that there were 7 actionable tips readers could take.
Titles, topics, and content shouldn’t be a solo endeavor. In fact, teamwork is what makes marketing strategies thrive.
It’s natural to feel you’ve got it all together—that your skills and expertise are all that’s needed to get the job done. But think about it: Many of the most successful companies allowed multiple people to contribute innovative ideas.
One brain can only come up with so many topics and titles. Plus, if you are doing it solo, you will only approach the problem one way. Take advantage of multiple approaches, using collaboration, creativity, and a team effort. Your team doesn’t have to be huge, but two brains are definitely better than one.
Another avenue is pulling in content strategists. These passionate people eat, sleep, and breathe content. They love working with clients to educate and create.
