bole — exaggerated statements
or claims not meant to be taken
literally — and straight up lies — in-
tentionally false statements.
Another reason people hate click-
bait is that it’s everywhere. Spend
any time on the internet and you
will be bombarded with THE MOST
UNBELIEVABLE THING OF THE
DAY. In the words of the Syndrome
from the Dinsey/Pixar film “The In-
credibles,” “When everyone’s super,
no one is.” It feels almost annoying
to be click-baited into something
that’s most likely not even some-
thing that you were interested in
the first place.
That being said, not all click-
bait is bad, believe it or not. In
fact, many creators use click-bait
regularly to grow their audi-
ence — without making viewers
angry. But how?
BEST PRACTICES FOR
GOOD CLICK-BAIT
OVERdeliver on the title.
Think about movie trailers for ex-
ample. A good movie trailer leaves
you wanting more, to the point
where you actually go out and see
the movie. Your content should be
the feature film and your title and
thumbnail should act as the movie
trailer; connected and part of the
same story.
I mean how upset would you
be if you got a ticket to a movie
and the movie playing was some-
thing else completely? Regardless
of what movie is playing, it’s not
what you bought your ticket to see.
When you’re building up an audi-
OPINION
When it’s OK to Click-Baitence, trust is a huge factor, people may click on your
video for the title, but if your content doesn’t back up
what they came for, you lose their trust and the pos-
sibility of them coming back. Give your audience what
they bought a ticket to when they clicked through to
your video.It’s undeniable. Sensationalism brings in views. But
there is a difference between hyperbole and deliber-
ate lies or misinformation.If the content itself is interesting enough, a simple,
descriptive title can sometimes work best.