Clickbait in social media marketing has become an essential part of the internet today. It effectively drives clicks, hooks readers or viewers, and takes them where you want them to be. While all that sounds good, it has its controversies and downsides.

Many social media users find clickbait misleading, annoying, and manipulative. This is attributed mainly to the fact that they use titles that don't deliver on their promise, are seen to be offering false information, or even a facade. The good news is that there is a way to use ethical clickbait that will not mislead your audience. In this article, we will guide you on how to use clickbait ethically.

Understanding Ethical Clickbaiting

As noted earlier, clickbait is usually meant to attract clicks. Despite the negativity surrounding them, it is still possible to use them ethically. In ethical clickbating, the goal is usually to deliver on what the headline promises without any gimmicks or bluffs. You strictly avoid misleading, misinforming, or manipulating your audience.

In ethical clickbaiting, your goal is to lead users to helpful content they will engage with rather than just driving traffic to a site or page. You can use clickbait headlines for topics such as:

• Three herbs every cancer patient must use.
• Adopt these habits to increase your productivity.
• Become rich with these five money habits.

How Ethical Clickbait Works

One of the features you will find in clickbait headlines is that they don't provide complete information. They also spark curiosity, encouraging raiders to find out more. They do this using words like “You won't believe this,” “Seven Things to Look Out For or See What Happens Next.” 

With these headlines, you will notice that the topics leave you wanting to learn more. The psychological condition of wanting to know more is called the curiosity gap.

A 2015 article published by the MIT Technology Review tried to determine the connection between content that goes viral and the viewers' emotions. They did that by collecting and analyzing various website data. They concluded that there is a strong correlation between articles that go viral and three emotional responses. These are:

• Valence. Intrinsic pleasantness or unpleasantness of an article, situation, or event.
• Arousal. The emotion that arouses something inside of us, causing us to take action, such as clicking.
• Dominance. Provides us with a sense of control when we are reading a piece of content.

The article suggested that the posts that received more comments arouse certain kinds of feelings, such as anger, fear, happiness, or sadness. On the other hand, the posts that get the highest number of social votes inspire people.

The Benefits of Ethical Clickbait

Ethical clickbait can have various benefits, such as:

More Page Views

Whether you use the clickbait in your headlines, thumbnails, or description, clickbait will help you get more views. They are one of the best ways to get more page views and gain more followers on TikTok or any other social media platform. They effectively grab users' attention and entice them to click using psychological principles, such as curiosity, a sense of urgency, or other enticing things. 

More Social Shares

Ethical clickbait tends to receive many shares on different social media platforms. That explains why you couldn't resist sharing the clickbait content you saw online. Clickbait gets more shares because of its ability to trigger your audience’s emotions, which makes them more likely for the audience to share your content.

Higher Brand Exposure

When content containing ethical clickbait gets shared more on social media, it increases brand awareness. This leads to more people learning about your brand, its offering, and its unique selling point. Sometimes, clickbait content can go viral, causing much exposure to your content.

Tips for Creating Ethical Clickbait

As noted earlier, the most critical factor when creating clickbait is to deliver on the headline's promise. In addition, you can use the following tips to hook your audience to your headlines.

Unclear or Empty Pronouns

One of the tips for using clickbait is to use unresolved pronouns, providing the readers with incomplete information. When we see the information gap, this tempts us to find out more and is, therefore, an effective clickbait. Examples of such ethical clickbait are:

• This is the best money book I have ever read.
• Don't ever make these marketing mistakes again.
• Every customer must know this before buying an iPhone.

Suspense Language

One of the most effective characteristics of clickbait is the use of suspense in brand storytelling. This leaves the viewers wondering what could happen next, which they need to guess, encouraging them to click the link to learn more. Some of the clickbait that uses suspense language says: 

• You won't believe what happened next.
• I bet you have never seen anything like these beautiful islands.
• After seeing this, I bet you will throw away your sunscreen.

Use of Action Words

These kinds of clickbait consist of action words that imply the need to take specific action. This sets the viewer’s mind to action mode, making them click on the shared link. Examples of such kinds of clickbait are:

• Find out what this dog did after snipping the baby.
• Look at these amazing islands before you go on holiday.
• See the before and after photos before using sunscreens.

In this case, the action words are “find out”, “look”, and “see”.

Use of Numerals

Another effective way to use clickbait is the use of numerals. This works because it shows the reader or viewer that they will quickly get valuable information. Studies indicate that using numbers is an effective strategy for attracting clicks, especially when they are odd numbers. Examples of such ethical clickbait are:

• 27 fantastic gift ideas to buy under $30.
• 17 former stars living in poverty today.
• 5 most promising football stars who flopped.

Use of Reverse Narratives

In the reverse narratives, the crux or central part of the story is revealed before the backstory is told. These kinds of clickbait capture the reader’s interest and make them want to know the whole story. Examples of such clickbait types are:

• Experts swear by this supplement. But does it work?
• Doctors say this herb makes you 10 years younger. Is it true?
• Fitness enthusiasts swear by this vitamin. Why is it special?

Final Thoughts

Unlike in the past, when clickbait was used to spread fake news, sell counterfeit products, or promote fraudulent concepts, ethical clickbaiting works today. If the product you are promoting offers immense value to the audience, there is nothing wrong with using clickbait. You can use the above tips to make clickbait headlines that will lure your audience to click.