“Engagement”–i.e. interactions with digital content like clicking, liking, commenting, or sharing–is literally as good as currency on today’s internet, whether people are engaging positively or rage-fully. Engagement fules both content creators who make their living from what their platforms pay them per-view (funded by ads, which get more views along with the creator), and brands or ad agencies looking to generate clicks or leads.

Turns out, it’s easy to generate engagement if people start leaving comments cussing you out, or even better, sharing their disdain with others. Even worse is the growing trend of spreading misinformation for this purpose.

I really enjoyed this https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8UYa9dE/Medium article by Debbie Levitt if you’re interested in learning more about rage bait and how to protect your peace online.

It might seem tempting to try this method out yourself, but be warned that your brand at high, high risk of to experience irreparable damage to its rep, plus you’ll be contributing to the decline of this era of internet and users’ mental health, and eventually forcing users away from your brand and even the platform you’re using to reach them.

Below are some positive alternatives to grab and hold attention, both tried-and-true and some new ideas–but before we start, some caution.

A hook is only as good as the content that comes after it; people won’t stick around for bad content after the hook wears off. And in everything, it must be clear that you are a brand with a message, because people hate feeling tricked into watching an ad (plus that’s illehttps://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8UYa9dE/gal). Make sure this is clear in the content immediately, or if you need the element of surprise, make sure your profile name and photo are clearly associated with your brand, as people will check that right AFTER the content itself.

The Classics

1. Numbered lists

Nothing beats a numbered list–it’s specific, informative, and helps people instantly ascertain how much value they’ll get by checking it out. You may note that this article is a numbered list. Gotcha!

2. Ask a question

Using a question as a title or heading for content is tried and true because it makes people curious automatically. Spend time considering questions people might carry around that you have the unique expertise to answer.

Examples of questions for a general audience could be “What is cat food made of?” “How does WiFi work?” “Why do we wear pants?” If you’re trying to appeal to your particular audience, you can get more specific: “What kind of mulch should you use?” “What is the Mohs hardness scale?” This is also great for your SEO.

Just make sure you actually answer the question.

3. Infographics

Informational graphics help people to digest information at a glance. This can include charts and graphs to illustrate data, but you can also turn the main points of your content into a graphic to summarize the information for this first touch-point.

4. Series

If someone sees “Part 3” in your title or heading, they might check your profile to watch other similar content if they enjoyed the first thing they saw. Formatting your content in a series also encourages people to follow you and come back for more.

5. Fun fact

People love to learn, and posting a quick-hitting fact that is USEFUL or INTERESTING (key words) feels like you’re giving something valuable away for free. The fact can be as closely or as tangentially related to your message as desired.

New Approaches

NOTE: While most of the following examples are videos, the concepts can be applied across any medium with a little creativity!

ANOTHER NOTE: Including your employees in content is a great way to show appreciation and recognition, showcase your workforce’s expertise, and connect with viewers. However, it’s critical to ensure that employees fully understand and approve where and how their image will be used, and for how long.

• Before filming, make sure either their employment contract includes a clause regarding appearance in published content (and employee is reminded of this for review prior), or they sign a media release form.
• Before posting, ensure the employees have a chance to review and approve any content they appear in.
  

6. Humor

Humor creates something unexpected to draw people in, and rewards them with a laugh. I think ads like this one where a funny “fail” video cuts into an aggressive ad, NEVER get old. There are infinite ways to incorporate humor into your content, but here are some ideas to get you started:

• Asking employees a funny question
• Performing a skit
• Lampooning your industry or product
• Addding a twist ending
• Using or testing your product or service in unconventional ways
  • This serves double-duty to show off your offerings!
• Participating in an online trend
  • USE WITH CAUTION! The line between the perception of “genius” and “cringe” is knife-sharp. Stay tuned for more of my thoughts on memes and online trends in marketing!
    

7. Playful confusion

I don’t watch sports. My algorithms never feed me sports content. Yet one day, this native post by the Buffalo Bills appeared on my feed, and they were talking about woodworking. Huh? I kept watching to decipher what was before me. By the time I figured it out, the players’ personalities and struggle to read an obvious script reeled me in to watch and laugh along to the whole thing.

You can catch someone’s eye with an unexpected juxtaposition of two very different things, and the resulting confusion can hold attention. Another example of this is a video whose background music clashes with the tone of the content.

Even better is when the juxtaposition itself can communicate something about your message or brand. It’s a great way to highlight people’s unconscious expectations, make a thought-provoking comparison, or create an analogy. See more examples here and here.

You can also create this effect with a good ol’ optical illusion followed by a reveal.

8. Art

Using real art (NOT AI-generated “art”) as your content will catch people’s eye and delight them (or maybe feel a different emotion the art attempts to convey). Collaborating with artists to create content also provides an opportunity to uplift them to a wider audience and support their career and the arts as a whole, which is especially impactful during an economically challenging time.

I always recommend hiring working artists with a distinctive style or medium for concepts like this. They have practiced thinking creatively to develop new ideas and established a visual and creative vocabulary, which, if you allow them the freedom to be creative, will translate your product, service, or goals into an extremely impactful medium.

There are many ways to go about this beyond simply hiring an animator for a video or a painter for an image. I love this example from Carhartt, who partnered with an artist to create a work for their flagship store. It’s worth noting that I found this video via the artist’s account, not Carhartt’s–collaboration can go a long way, and it’s an excellent form of digital word-of-mouth. I also loved that Carhartt held an artist talk to further highlight the artist (and of course bring in some foot traffic). People LOVE a process video!

Here’s another example.

9. The artful preview

Maybe you want to grab attention for your process or demo video, but not give everything away. Start your video with 2-ish seconds of the final product or a step near the end of your process, then launch into the beginning.
If people are interested, the preview won’t be enough for them, and they’ll want to watch the full thing.
Here’s a similar example.

10. Location awareness

Don’t just put up a billboard; call out by name the people who will be seeing it. “Denver is cold enough without a drafty house!” Personalization and recognition is very eye-catching.

Placing some publication ads? “Example Brand’s solutions for mechanics” should go in one magazine, while “Example Brand’s solutions for engineers” should be placed in another.

Be careful with this one or people might think you’re using data in a predatory way. Make sure it’s obvious how you knew to call them out.

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Being creative and unique are some of the best positive ways to accomplish your marketing or engagement goals. Need some support?