Use Curiosity to Drive Traffic..... #71
- Adrian Dionisio - business737 owner
- Jul 7, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Dec 10, 2024
Curiosity is a psychological tool that helps forge relationships with customers. This article includes the following;
Why curiosity is important in your marketing
How to create customer curiosity
What is a curiosity gap?
What is curiosity headline?
Why are headlines important & what makes them effective
Headlines vs sub headlines
Curiosity Headline Templates
Framework to generate curiosity
List of headlines for you to use
1. Why is curiosity important in your marketing
Curiosity intrigues prospects. It makes them want to learn more about the products and services of a business. Use curiosity to generate interest and attention. Curious minds can then be turned into customers.
Get attention
Generate interest
Improve engagement
Create expectation
Boost sales
Build brand awareness
Win loyal customers
The greatest impact is in increasing engagement. When people find their curiosity fulfilled they feel compelled to share content. This increases reach and visibility.
Curiosity is also one of the best ways to catch the wandering eye of your potential customer. It's a great way to grab someone's fleeting attention (read more). It gives a chance to prove your value and promote your brand (read more). Curiosity marketing is particularly effective because it harnesses the power of the brain’s reward centre.
By adding these techniques into a robust content marketing strategy, you’ll be able to drive engagement while also capturing and retaining the loyalty of your consumer base.
2. How to create curiosity
Attention is the key to attracting leads and making sales. Curiosity headlines and images grab attention and can help keep it.
There are many ways to generate curiosity and keep customers engaged.
1. Be provocative with questions and statements
2. Provide only some of the information
3. Provide a glimpse of value
4. Be aware of the audience's existing curiosity gap.
Provocative questions and statements are the most powerful ways to generate curiosity. Marketers also create curiosity in their audiences by creating a gap between what consumers know and what they want to know. They do this by providing information in small bits to maintain interest. Curiosity is triggered when people feel there is a gap between what they know and what they want to know.
3. The curiosity gap
The curiosity gap is the detection that new and valuable information is available, sparking people's desire to access it. The term curiosity gap refers to the psychological effect created when someone is aware of that discrepancy and is motivated to resolve it.
the space between what we know and what we want or even need to know
Some methods for creating a curiosity gap include:
1. Showcasing the results of a service before revealing the specific details of its function.
2. Telling a story that cuts off too early, leaving the audience on a cliff-hanger.
3. Offer new information, but delay your audience’s ability to learn more by selectively withholding your knowledge.
You can create a curiosity gap through visuals, text, or audio. Quizzes are highly effective for driving audience curiosity. So are tantalizing headlines.
It’s important to remember to not elevate audience expectations without the ability to deliver, because then they will feel let down once they do actually engage. The goal of curiosity marketing is not to trick your audience, but to build trust. This is the difference between clickbait and meaningful content.
4. What is a curiosity headline?
There's a reason why so many top media outlets use curiosity headlines: it works!
To begin with it is important to know your target customer. Discover their desires. Understand them, their wants, needs, hopes and aspirations.
Examples of mass desires
Women want to be attractive
Men want to be virile
All of us want to be healthy
To be financially stable
To have the option to work less
To be loved
To be happy
To own a certain car
To follow the latest fashion
To deck out our homes a certain
Connect to Your Reader’s Emotions
You can also create curiosity by using the power of surprise in your headlines, use words such as:
Astonishing | Breakthrough | Discovery |
Eye-opening | Little known | Myths |
Priceless | Secret | Undiscovered |
Unusual | Wacky | What |
Longest | | |
There are certain characteristics of curiosity headlines
Answers questions
Uses curiosity with specificity, tells what to expect
Transparent, not deceptive
Aren’t manipulative
Uses surprise, emotions
Focuses on reader benefits
Appeals to emotion using power words in a natural, subtle way
Don’t falsely advertise
Based on fact, research
It’s controversial
Questions naturally arouse curiosity
It speaks to our desire to be creative
It’s a novel topic.
It helps understanding
Anticipation — suggests this could be entertaining or scientific, or both.
It makes us want to click
Powerful, short words
A specific solution to a common desire
Addresses a common fear
Unexpected approach
Arouses curiosity
Be careful not to enter clickbait territory. It can be tricky, but it can be done. Be concise and show the value proposition right away. Find out what your audience is interested and communicate it. Often these headlines begin with a question;
Why | What | Where |
When | Should | How |
5. Curiosity Headline Templates
Headline template 1
<Number> <Topic> Lessons I Learned <Specific Result> in the Past <Duration of time>
Why it works:
A How-to without saying “How-to.”
Builds curiosity if you choose a topic many people are interested in.
Credibility from mentioning a specific timeframe and amount.
Example
9 Business Lessons I Learned Making $100,000 Online in the Past 3 Years
Headline template 2
I Wish I’d Known <Something> When <Some time>
Why it works:
Goes against our perception of something
Builds curiosity
There’s anticipation that it will be a shocking, entertaining, true story
Example
I Wish I’d Known My Mother Couldn’t be Trusted When I Was Young
Headline template 3
The Truth About <Doing something desirable> <Duration of time> as a <Role>
Why it works:
Anticipation
Curiosity
Reignites desire
Example
The Truth About Earning $15,000 a Month as a Writer
Headline template 4
<Number> ways to get more <desired outcome>
Why it works:
Numbers typed out as numerals literally stop the wandering eye
We expect facts or experience
Boosts credibility
Example
: 11 ways to get more (real!) Instagram followers
Headline template 5
How to <do something> without <common way people may think you have to do something>
Why it works:
We’re informavores: our brains lap up information the way it laps up food and sex
We’re hard-wired for curiosity
We’re always looking for faster ways to get sh*t done
Example: How to increase your website traffic without SEO
When all you want to do is submit your damn post as quickly as possible, headline templates are a great place to start.
6. Framework to generate curiosity
Use the following formula to invoke curiosity;
[New / Cool / Remarkable Thing]
+
[Desirable Outcome]
=
[Curious Reader / Viewer]
Here are five templates to use this formula;
How’d you like to learn about [new remarkable thing] that [desirable outcome]?
Ever wonder how you can earn [desirable outcome] with [new remarkable thing]?
There’s a way for you to [desirable outcome] with this [new remarkable thing].
If you heard about a [new remarkable thing] that could [desirable outcome], would you be interested in learning more about it?
The key to a [desirable outcome] is to make sure you use [new remarkable thing].
7. List of headlines for you to use
How To <Do something> In <Short duration>
How To <Do something many people are frustrated with>
Why I’ll Never <Strong feeling> <Something> Ever Again
<Number> <Topic> Lessons I Learned <Specific Result> in the Past <Duration of time>
My Powerful <Duration of time> <Solution> For Quick Success On <Topic>
<Number> Terrible Thing You Need To Get Used To As A <Role>
It’s Time To <Do something people relate to>
I <Did this — some shocking yet curious experience> And <Outcome>
How I <Do something> (And do something even more incredible) So Damn Much
X <Topic> Lessons You Might Have Forgotten
I Wish I’d Known <Something> When <Some time>
What To Do If You Ever Feel Like <Common struggle>
<Number> Steps to Changing <Something significant> (it boils down to this one thing)
Here I am. Still <Something personal you are working on and might be ashamed of> after all these years.
The Truth About <Doing something desirable> <Duration of time> as a <Role>
I <Did Something> With a <Something surprising>
<Some news>. Here’s <Something to make it work for you>
You Don’t / Are Not <Frustration>, You Just Haven’t <Done this — solution>
How Do I <Get something to change>?
<Firm passionate statement with “Doesn’t Need”>
The Science of “<Something that’s often said casually>”
How <Something unexpected leads to> <An unexpected result>
Thankfully, <Something people usually avoid>
<Surprising statement>, and <Reassurance>
Strategies to increase
◆ profits ◆revenues ◆ leads for business owners
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