A 217% Lift Every Content Marketer Should Be Getting, But Will You?

Taking the time to test different headline options could give you a huge boost in the amount of traffic your content marketing can generate - it's worth the extra time and effort to test.

Over the course of almost two decades, Jeffrey and I have worked directly with hundreds of content writers. Many of them were our secret weapons in many of our most exciting client success stories. Once the writers understood the personas they were writing for and had a clear sense of the narrative flow of the scenario and the context (where their content piece fit with in that scenario), they almost always delivered content that was both relevant and persuasive.

However, a recurring theme is that few if any of them were testing headlines continuously.

“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” – David Oglivy

I’ll admit it wasn’t always easy to test your headlines (remember, in the 1990s through the early 2000s, the software didn’t exist) but in today’s environment of thousands of headlines, subject lines, and content titles assaulting readers, more like a dam bursting than a fire hose, you need to develop the skills to throw readers a virtual life raft for them to grab hold of.

Let’s take this recent example from one of my past columns. Which headline makes you want to click through? To read it? To share it?

  1. How to Manage a Legendary Brand
  2. The One Technique You Can Use Tomorrow to Get Amazon Results

Here are the results of my test:

headline-testing

It took a couple of minutes to come up with an alternative headline. We tested one and we got a 217 percent lift.

Not bad!

There was no change to the content; all I did was frame the title differently. What do you think publishers like BuzzFeed, Business Insider, or Upworthy are doing? They are choosing content that other people are creating and then framing the content and title from a different angle. They see spectacular results – go look at their traffic numbers if you have any doubt.

upworthy-growth

In fact, Upworthy has even created some fabulous SlideShares that tell you exactly what they are doing. It’s worth spending a few minutes to look through it in detail. Of course, I’ll share a couple of the relevant slides here:

The Sweet Science Of Virality from Upworthy

So what is it exactly that Upworthy is doing? Glad you asked.

Here is my take on what they say:

  1. They find good content that hasn’t quite reached its potential.
  2. They reframe it so that others want to click on the title, consume the content, and share it again.
  3. They amplify the content through channels.
  4. What they don’t tell you, but I will, is that they test multiple versions of headlines to see which produces the best lift.
  5. They enjoy the results.

upworthy-what-we-do

Here is another one of my recent examples:

  1. How to Convert More Blog Visitors
  2. Proven Techniques for Converting Blog Visits
  3. Is Your Blog Doing Its Job Effectively?
  4. Is Your Blog a Lead Generation Machine, If Not Here Is Why

Which one do you think performed the best?

Notice two of them, had a better than 100 percent lift and one had a negative lift.

headline-testing-blogs

This isn’t rocket science! It takes only a few minutes more. And it is obviously worth the additional effort,

How About Your Content?

Which headlines and titles are you running on your website or blog? Ones that get more people to click through, read, and share your content or ones that push people away?

What Do You Need to Do to Get These Results?

  1. Brainstorm a bunch of headlines, as Upworthy suggests in their SlideShare.
  2. Pick the best ones to test.
  3. Plug them into your site. If you are using a WordPress-powered site, I highly recommend the Headlines plugin by KingSumo (among the best $99 you will ever invest).
  4. Let the test run.
  5. Enjoy the extra traffic, readers, and business.

save-a-kittenPlease start testing your headlines. Please invest the time and effort. How about if I tell you that it will save a kitten every time you do?

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Whitepapers

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

Whitepaper | Mobile US Mobile Streaming Behavior

5y

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing habits. Streaming video, however, still comes with a variety of pesky frustrations that viewers are ...

View resource
Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups

Whitepaper | Analyzing Customer Data Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups

5y

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics f...

Data is the lifeblood of so many companies today. You need more of it, all of which at higher quality, and all the meanwhile being compliant with data...

View resource
Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people

Whitepaper | Digital Marketing Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people

2y

Learning to win the talent war: how digital market...

This report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...

View resource
Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy

Report | Digital Transformation Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy

4w

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Exp...

Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...

View resource