🧲 How to hook your audience

In This Email

• 🧪 Hook Science:

  • A fun little headline technique to drive more views to a piece of content.

• 💡 A Content Idea To Try:

  • A list of “things” a beginner should know before getting started.

  • Headline template and AI prompt included 👍️ 

• 🔒️ 2 More Content Ideas:

  • Visible to Pro readers.

💪 Pivot U: July 2024 Power Bundle

Triple Your Content’s Views And Engagement With A 4-Part Bundle Of Psychology-Driven Video Lessons

Tired of seeing good content get ignored?

Each week, Pivot U releases a video lesson that focuses on a specific, psychology-driven strategy to increase clicks, views, or engagement.

All by doing one of three simple things: 

• Finding the right content idea. 

• Packaging it in the right way. 

• Presenting it to the right audience.

They’re essentially content cheat codes. 

🖐️ Every single Pivot U lesson is available with any Pro membership. 

But for the next 24 hours, anyone can get a bundle of these 4 popular lessons: 

• “How To Use Reddit And ChatGPT To Find Viral Content Ideas On Demand”

• “3 Headline Tricks To Make Your Content Look Too Valuable To Ignore”

• “20 Little Edits To Get Any Piece Of Writing 3x More Engagement”

• “The Controversial Emotion Proven To Make Content Go Viral”

Hook Science

“Self-Relevance”: A Little-Known Trick To Boost Your Clicks

Which of these headlines grabs your attention more?

• "7 Common Traits Of The Greatest Chefs"

• "7 Subtle Signs That You May Be A Natural Born Chef"

The content may be the same or very similar. 

But the second headline would be much more enticing to the target audience. 

It almost begs you to view the content.

Why Does It Work So Well? 

It comes down to a simple psychological effect: 

Self-Relevance: People are more likely to engage with and remember information that applies directly to them. 

When headlines suggest that we’ll discover something meaningful about ourselves from the content, it triggers curiosity.

How You Can Use This:

• See if you can frame a piece of content in a way that reveals “signs” or “traits” the audience can see if they possess.

• By hinting at criteria they may or may not meet, you can write irresistible, curiosity-inducing headlines.

Example: 

• Basic headline: “5 Techniques The Top Public Speakers Always Use”

• Self-relevance headline: “5 Tell-Tale Signs You May Be A Top 1% Public Speaker”

Try it out yourself — see what you come up with.

💡 Content Template #1

A List Of “Things” A Beginner Should Know Before Getting Started

Your Headline Template:

The Inspiration:

Why The Headline Works:

• Loss Aversion: "You should know" hints at potential mistakes that could be made — we view the content to find out how to prevent them.

• Accessible: The headline calls out newcomers — remember, there are far more beginners in your audience than there are experts.

How To Adapt It For Your Niche:

1. Define [X]: Identify a specific endeavor, process, or activity within your niche that beginners are eager to start.

2. List Your Items: A comprehensive yet manageable list of "things" a beginner should know before starting. Eg. tips, pitfalls, techniques, strategies, etc.

Speed Things Up With ChatGPT:

Not sure where to start?

Copy and paste the following into ChatGPT after filling in your niche and target audience:

Hi ChatGPT,

I'm a content creator in the [insert niche] niche and my target audience is [insert target audience]. I want to create content based on the following headline template:

[Number] Things You Should Know Before Starting [X] (Beginner's Guide)

This template is modeled on the following headline:

10 Things You Should Know Before Starting An Aerogarden (Beginner's Guide)

Generate 10 headline ideas for my niche that follow this headline template closely, replacing just the bracketed words. The content should cover specific topics relevant to the niche and should not be generic or broad.

Each headline should:

- Replace [X] with a specific endeavor, process, or activity relevant to my niche that beginners are eager to start.

Examples Using The Template:

For Creators:

• Photography: "8 Things You Should Know Before Starting Night Photography (Beginner's Guide)"

• Cooking: "5 Things You Should Know Before Starting Vegan Cooking (Beginner's Guide)"

For Businesses Creating Content (B2C):

• Realtor: "5 Things You Should Know Before Starting House Hunting (Beginner's Guide)"

• Interior Design: "6 Things You Should Know Before Starting Home Redecorating (Beginner's Guide)"

For Businesses Creating Content (B2B):

• Customer Service: "6 Things You Should Know Before Starting Customer Support Training (Beginner's Guide)"

• HR: “7 Things You Should Know Before You Start Hiring (Beginner’s Guide)”

💡 Content Template #2 (PRO)

This template uses positive framing and a bold claim to attract views and engagement.

Use the AI prompt to quickly turn it into content ideas for your niche.

Your Headline Template:

🔒️ 

Join Pen Pivot Pro to view Content Template #2 and Content Template #3 — both with breakdowns and custom AI prompts.

Creator Picks

• A simple guide to content marketing for small businesses.

• 22 Instagram post templates you can customize for your own business or brand.