To Be Controversial Or Not?

Posted
1 May 2007 by: Jag Foo

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Nowadays, I've been noticing a trend. A trend which is the tendency to go down the controversial path when it comes to the crafting of headlines. When I talk about headlines, I'm referring specifically to those pertaining to a sales copy or a blog headline of an entry which is making a sales pitch or a promotion. Hey let me go on record to see that there is nothing wrong with being controversial. In fact, it is good, provided if it is applied the right way. It is a proven psychological trigger that invokes curiosity. And curiosity gets the click. However there must be a line drawn. You want to be controversial, but you don't want the headline to be misleading or offensive. If people comes in expecting a certain thing, but are given something else, it will only backfires. Worse still, you piss people off, only for them not to buy something from you again. I've seen a sales copy, or rather an AdWord advertisement, which headline goes: "Is product X a downright dishonest cheating SCAM?"That got my curiosity going and I clicked it only to find the sales copy giving a review and then subsequently promoting the product instead. While it wasn't what I was really expecting, it was still somewhat relevant, as the review was pertaining to the exact product that was mentioned in the headline. I thought it was a pretty good attempt at reverse psychology. To me such headlines are okay. However as we have more and more marketers using this same trick, I feel that such tactics are losing its effectiveness, but that is another point altogether. So this is an example of a controversial headline that is okay, at least to me. Now for those which I frown upon. 1. Using shock tactics that cross the line - stuff that offend 2. Use of sex to sell when the product is not even sex related - stuff that mislead. Let me give you an example with regards to point 1 - shock tactics that offend. "Marketer X is dead....."I saw it. I was shocked and I clicked it. Guess what? The next line goes: Marketer X is dead right about blah blah blah, and it goes on trying to sell something. Sorry nice try. You got my attention,.....and also my disgust mixed with a little anger! And nope, do not EXPECT me to reach for the wallet to buy, no matter how good that product may be. Trying to capitalize on controversial headline of that SICK nature is just crossing the line! It's a big NO-NO. Now, lets move on to using sex to create attention. I will not give an example of such a headline here. I shall just explain my point instead. There is no doubt that sex sells, but is the type of audience that comes clicking in deemed as targeted potential buyers? Or are they just coming in to satisfy their curiosity about the sexual headline? If the product is related to sex, it is still somewhat okay, but what if the product is not at all related? You will only get disappointment from the audience. Disappointment = NOT a fat chance in hell you will be making a sale! You are just not giving them what they are looking for! So the next time you are thinking about using the 'sex' factor to add some ommph in your headline, think about these 2 questions first: 1. Is the headline going to bring in targeted traffic? Are these visitors the kind that are likely to buy? 2. Is the headline related to the product at all? If not, don't waste your time and effort. Do you agree with what I say? Do you have other controversial examples to share and add on? I like to hear from you. tag:Business, Controversial, controversial headlines, Internet Marketing, sales copy sex sells

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12 Comments

Posted by
Robin Bal
1 May 2007 @ 7pm

Hey Jag,

I certainly agree with what you say, having a headline not related to the product or subject is just about the best way of pissing off your audience. There are so many ads which say click here for this or click here for that and its not even related to the subject. Todays world you need to be a lot more creative than that. Imagine a sexy picture on a post at my blog….lol, doesn’t work mate.

Good post buddy. Take care and Cheers.

Posted by
Yong Sing
1 May 2007 @ 7pm

Hi Robin,

I really can’t imagine a sexy picture on your blog. Your picture definitely looks good enough as it is. :)

Tell you another of my pet peeve - MyBlogLog users using sexy pictures of woman to gain attention when they are actually MEN!!! Talk about misleading!

Hate that tactic! Thanks for your comment!

Cheers mate!

Posted by
Robin Bal
1 May 2007 @ 8pm

I know that thing about bloglog users too mate…lol

Posted by
Yong Sing
1 May 2007 @ 9pm

Hey Robin,

It sure is irritating upon discovery…lol :P

Posted by
uncle sha
1 May 2007 @ 9pm

Sex and money the top drawer keywords … i’m not surprised it’s used over & over again successfully. there’s always a niche for these. linkbaiting at its best

Posted by
Yong Sing
1 May 2007 @ 10pm

Hi Sha,

I agree that sex and money are top drawer keywords. We should use it appropriately though. Doing otherwise is misleading.

An old SEO trick which used to be very successful was putting in the highly popular keyword ’sex’ into the site that is white in color on white background.

The resulting effect that comes out is invisible to the audience, and in the meantime, search engines will bring in readers who are searching for sex to the website, even though the readable content has nothing to do with sex.

It got found out very quickly by the search engines and anyone wanting to attempt such tricks will only get banned.

Yes we can get some traffic, but at what cost? If we don’t give information that people are looking for, they won’t come back again.

The point is, there are MANY ways to get targeted traffic without resorting to such means.

Cheers,
YongSing Jag

Posted by
Cade
2 May 2007 @ 3am

This is such a valid point. I think it is horrific what people do to try to take away from others. It is reliability and trust that wins people over. Not tearing down others. I appreciate your points.

Posted by
Yong Sing
2 May 2007 @ 3am

Hi Cade,

Yes reliability, trust and the ability to add value are the foundations and basis of a good relationship between a service provider and the customer.

Thanks a lot for your input.

Cheers,
YongSing Jag

Posted by
uncle sha
2 May 2007 @ 10pm

thanks for the tip. yes i’ve seen plenty of websites doing that, nowadays they know they’ll get banned by search engine if employing such ‘tactics’

Good SEO in the long run pays off. it took me 4 months to get my personal blog into a good rankings in the search engine. learned alot from SEO like yours & others

keep up the good posting yar!

Posted by
Yong Sing
2 May 2007 @ 10pm

Hi Sha,

Thanks for the encouragement dude.

While I do have some knowledge on SEO, I’m definitely no expert. So with regards to that, I think I’ll have to learn from you instead.

That said, I don’t really focus on SEO, because it is always a game of catch up with the search engines who are constantly changing their algorithm.

The best bet is still to put up good unique quality content on a consistent basis that keeps the readers coming back.

Cheers,
Yong Sing Jag

Posted by
Fantasy Art
14 May 2007 @ 1am

Well, I know for sure that controversy is always good. Regardless the subject :D

Posted by
Yong Sing
14 May 2007 @ 3am

Hi,

Ermm…you can say it’s good because you are sure to attract attention with controversy.

Jag