The Pimp, the Grocer and the Hit Man: Magnetise Your Headings Using the Power of the Unexpected

This guest post is by Aman Basanti of Ageofmarketing.com.

In addition to death and taxes, there is another bitter pill you have to swallow as a blogger. It is that pimps, grocers and hit men all have an unfair advantage when it comes to commanding attention in the marketplace.

Be it an advert, a news story or a how to article, those who sell sex, food or danger attract more attention than the rest of us. Our subconscious minds are programmed to take note of these three things, and disproportionately assign attention to them.

Beyond sex, food and danger

So does that mean the rest of us are ruined? Does that mean that we are forever subject to the tyranny of the sex-selling pimps, food-flaunting grocers, and gun-toting hit men?

No. Because we have our own weapon for attracting attention and it is equally as powerful as sex, food, and danger.

What is this weapon of mass attraction?

The power of the unexpected.

You know what happens if we catch you smoking here at Southwest, don’t you?

“If I could have your attention for a few moments,” said the voice overhead. The passengers looked up to hear what exciting message the flight attendant had for them that day, only to realize that it was just another in-flight safety demonstration.

You know: “fasten your seat belts, place your tray tables in an upright position, don’t smoke on the plane and, in case of an emergency, follow the lights along the side of the aisle.”

One by one, the passengers started tuning out as quickly as they had tuned in, going back to reading their magazines, peering out the window or whatever else they had been doing previously.

Then it happened.

“If you haven’t been in an automobile since 1965, the proper way to fasten your seat belt is to slide the flat end into the buckle,” unexpectedly announced the attendant. Suddenly the tired old message to fasten your seat belts sprung to life.

So did the one to follow the lights along the side of the aisle.

“And as the song goes, there might be fifty ways to leave your lover, but there are only six ways to leave this aircraft: two forward exit doors, two over-wing removable window exits, and two aft exit doors. The location of each exit is clearly marked with signs overhead, as well as red and white disco lights along the floor of the isle. Made ya look!”

As for the “don’t smoke on the plane” part, the attendant had a way of spicing that one up as well.

“Speaking of smoking, there’s never any smoking aboard our flights. You know what happens if we catch you smoking here at Southwest, don’t you? You’ll be asked to step out onto our wing and enjoy our feature movie presentation, Gone With The Wind.”

And just like that the flight attendant had attracted the attention of everyone on board. Even the most indifferent passengers were listening intently and smiling. Most importantly, for our purposes here, she did it without implying sex, showing food or threatening danger.

What was her secret?

The flight attendant’s secret

At the heart of her feat was the use of the unexpected. We all know what an in-flight safety demo is meant to look like. We have an existing pattern and picture of that situation. What the attendant did was to break that pattern. She used humor, which in itself works because it makes unexpected connections, to challenge and change, and thus draw attention to, the tired old demonstration.

As remarkable as the flight attendant example is, however, it is not instructive of how most bloggers can use it on their blogs. To understand that we have to look at the Freakonomics Formula.

The Freakonomics formula for writing killer headlines

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s books, Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics, have sold over 5 million copies worldwide. Apart from being controversial and insightful, what make the books attention worthy are their catchy chapter titles. By pairing two unrelated entities and connecting them in some way relevant to the message of the chapter, the authors create magnetic titles.

Here are some of the chapter titles from their books:

• What Do School Teachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?
• How is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents?
• How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa?
• What do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo have in common?

The titles work because you do not normally associate teachers with sumo wrestlers, nor prostitutes with department store Santas. They break existing patterns of association, evoke curiosity and result in, as the flight attendant put it, the “Made ya look!” phenomenon.

So if you want your blog posts to stand out give them catchy blog post titles using the Freakonomics formula. Find two entities and create an unexpected connection between them.

Here are some more examples to get your mental juices flowing:

• 5 Things a Bad Dog Can Teach You About Writing Good Copy
• How Are Entrepreneurs Like Young Children?
• What do Charles the Great and Genghis Khan Have in Common?
• Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
• 5 Diseases I would Pay Money to Get
• 3 Ways to Impress Your Partner by Being Less Romantic
• 5 Ways Porn Created the Modern World

Have you used magnetic headlines on your blog? How did they do at pulling crowds to your content?

Aman Basanti writes about the psychology of buying and teaches you how you can use the principles of consumer psychology to boost your sales. Visit www.Ageofmarketing.com/free-ebook to get his new ebook—Marketing to the Pre-Historic Mind: How the Hot New Science of Behavioural Economics Can Help You Boost Your Sales—for FREE.