A Guest Post by Marelisa Fábrega. Image by drmama.
Do you have a really good idea which you want to go viral? Is there a behavior you’re trying to modify in your blog readers, such as encouraging them to save, eat healthy, or start an exercise program? Are you looking for ways to persuade readers to purchase an affiliate product you’re promoting? If your answer is “yes” to any of these, then you need to make your writing stickier. In this post I’m going to share with you six principles which you can begin to apply right away to make your articles as sticky as urban myths, Aesop’s fables, the “Don’t mess with Texas” slogan, and JFK’s “man on the moon” speech.
In the bestseller “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die”, the Heath brothers, Chip and Dan, explain that sticky ideas–ideas that spread, that are remembered, and that people act upon–have six traits in common. Sticky ideas are simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and they’re told as stories (the authors use the acronym “SUCCESs”, with the last s omitted). Here’s an explanation of each of these principles:
Keep It Simple: It’s the Economy, Stupid
In order to make your message sticky, it has to be simple. This means that it has to convey a single, core idea that is meaningful and easy to understand. You need to make sure that your core idea stands out clearly from the very beginning, instead of being buried under an avalanche of facts, details, and abstractions. Keep in mind that simplifying your message doesn’t mean that you dumb it down; it means that you strip an idea to its most critical essence.
In addition, you need to prioritize. Psychology research shows that choice can hinder decision making. In one experiment cited by the Heath brothers, researchers took a group of college students who were planning to spend their evening studying and offered them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a lecture by an author they admired. Almost 80% decided to skip the study session and attend the lecture instead.
However, when a second “fun” choice was added—watching a foreign film that was getting great reviews-only 60% opted for one of the “fun” choices and 40% chose to study. That is, when students had to choose between two “fun” options, more students chose to study as compared to the scenario in which they only had one “fun” option.
When you have several good ideas about a topic it’s difficult to pick the single most valuable idea and make it as sticky as possible, but that’s what works. Successful trial lawyers know that if they argue ten points, even if they’re all good, when jurors get back to the jury room they won’t remember any of them. James Carville summarized the most critical issue of the 1992 U.S. presidential election when he said: “It’s the economy, stupid”. Narrowing the issues to that one sentence stuck with voters and helped Clinton get elected.
Another way to keep it simple is by using analogies so that you can capitalize on what your readers already know. Think about the following movie pitch: Speed is “Die Hard on a bus”. How can you compare your idea to something your audience is already familiar with to help create hooks so that they will remember your idea more easily? Analogies allow you to say a lot with a little.
Make it Unexpected: Lose Weight by Eating Fast Food
With all of the information that’s available, one of the biggest hurdles you’ll have to face is capturing your readers’ attention. You can get their attention by taking an unexpected approach. Then, you hold their interest by making them curious. Behavioral economists argue that when we have a gap in our knowledge, we strive to resolve it. We’ve all stayed up late at night reading to discover who did it in a murder novel, or watching a movie to see how the conflict is resolved. Make your readers curious from the very beginning of your article by raising questions they don’t know the answer to, and then gradually filling in the gaps as they read along.
As an example of doing something unexpected, Chip and Dan refer to City Year. City Year is a nonprofit organization which offers 17 to 24-year-olds the opportunity to engage in 10 months of full-time community service. Here’s a slogan that they use: “We envision a world in which, one day, the most common question asked of a 17-year-old in this country will be, ‘Where are you going to do your year of national service?’” That’s a powerful, unexpected view of what the world could be like, and it gets people’s attention.
Another message that was unexpected was the one used in the Subway Guy marketing campaign. Jared was a college student who weighed about 430 pounds; he created a “subway diet” for himself and started walking every day to his local Subway Restaurant to have a subway for lunch and one for dinner. With this diet, Jared lost over 240 pounds. Subway came across Jared’s story and they turned it into a marketing campaign which was incredibly successful and which increased their sales dramatically. People were captivated by Jared’s story, in part, because of the unexpectedness of someone losing weight by eating fast food.
Make it Concrete: What Do 37 Grams of Fat Look Like?
In order to make sure that an idea can be grasped and remembered later, you have to make it concrete. If you describe something in a way that allows your readers to see, touch, or imagine it in their mind’s eye, the chances are much better that you’ll communicate successfully with them.
In 1961 U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced the following: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth”. This was a concrete vision: it was very clear about what it required—get a man on the moon and bring him back safely–and when it would happen. It captured the imagination of the American people for almost a decade.
The Heath brothers explain that Kennedy’s speech would have had much less impact if he had said something abstract like the following: “Our mission is to become the international leader in the space industry, using our capacity for technological innovation to build a bridge towards humanity’s future.” What does that even mean? Make sure that you make your ideas tangible, instead of delivering them in abstract, difficult to understand terms.
Here’s a second example offered by the Heath brothers of how to be concrete: A health organization was trying to convey to the movie-going public how incredibly unhealthy movie popcorn popped in coconut oil was. A typical bag of popcorn contained 37grams of saturated fat, nearly double the recommended daily allowance. But movie-goers weren’t interested in statistics. The health organization had to find a way to turn the abstract “37 grams of fat” into something concrete which would get the public to stop eating the harmful popcorn.
So what did they do? They called a press conference and laid out all of the following in front of the television cameras: a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch, and a steak dinner with all the trimmings. Then they explained that a bag of popcorn had more fat than all of those meals, combined. If you think this was tangible enough to get the public to demand that movie theatres stop popping their popcorn in coconut oil, it was.
Make it Credible: The Surgeon General says . . .
If a message doesn’t seem credible it will be discounted, even if it’s perfectly true. Credibility can be achieved through status–such as citing a study conducted by a Nobel Prize winner–through prior performance, through the use of convincing detail, or through the appropriate use of statistics. When you use statistics, contextualize them in terms that are more everyday and human. A good example of making statistics more accessible is “The World of 100”, which presents different data about the world population in terms of a village of 100 people.
In addition, you can encourage your audience to test out your ideas for themselves. Chip and Dan explain that in the sole U.S. presidential debate in 1980 between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, Reagan could have cited innumerable statistics on the economy. Instead, he encouraged voters to test the effectiveness of the Carter presidency for themselves by telling them: “Before you vote, ask yourself if you are better off today than you were four years ago.”
Appeal to People’s Emotions: Make Them Care
Information makes people think, but emotion makes them act. You’ve probably heard of urban myths such as “the kidney-heist”and the Halloween candy tamperingstory. How do stories such as these spread across the country—and even the world–despite a lack of evidence? Why are they remembered and believed by millions? These stories are sticky. And one of the reasons that they’re so sticky is because they evoke emotion: in the case of urban myths, they evoke fear.
The authors of “Made to Stick” explain that in order for people to take action—donate money to your cause, buy your product, modify their behavior, and so on—they have to care about your message. You appeal to people’s emotions to get them to care. There are many different emotions you can tap into, such as a person’s “group identity”. When the Texas Department of Transportation was looking for ways to reduce litter on the Texas roadways, they discovered that most of the litter was being caused by truck drivers.
What was the best way get these truck drivers—characterized as “Bubba”—to stop littering? Applying threats and fines? Telling them about the impact they were having on the environment? What they did was much more effective: Bubbas love Texas, and the Texas Department of Transportation appealed to this pride. They cast Dallas Cowboys and Houston Astros in testosterone-soaked ads telling drivers: “Don’t mess with Texas”. With an emotional appeal to identity, the campaign managed to reduce litter on Texas highways 72% between 1986 and 1990.
Tell Stories – A Well-Told Story Jump-Starts Action
Research shows that when people swap stories they’re not just entertaining each other; they’re providing mental training. In “Made to Stick” the authors explain that when firefighters swap stories after every fire they’re helping each other create a rich archive of situations which they might encounter during a fire and the appropriate responses to these.
When we hear a story, we create a simulation of what’s happening in our minds. By providing a story in which the protagonist is in a predicament that is similar to our audience’s situation, we allow our readers to apply the story to their own situation.
In addition, Chip and Dan explain that a story is also important because it provides the context missing from abstract prose. Aesop’s fables—such as “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”–teach their morals through stories. By telling the story of a bored shepherd boy who entertained himself by crying out “wolf” on repeated occasions and watching the villagers rush to his aid, and who was subsequently ignored by all when a wolf really did appear, Aesop shows his readers how liars lose all credibility and aren’t believed even when they’re telling the truth. Telling this story is much more effective than simply saying to people: “Don’t lie”.
As a further example of how to use stories in your blog posts, the best way to promote an affiliate product is to use it yourself. Then share a true story with your readers of how the product helped you to solve a problem that they might be having as well. Invite them to try it on for size and see for themselves.
Conclusion
To summarize, you can write sticky blog posts that get your readers to take action by making your ideas simple, unexpected, concrete, credentialed, and emotional, and by presenting them as stories. You don’t need to apply all six traits to have a sticky idea, but it’s safe to say that the more of them that you’re able to work into your writing, the stickier your idea will be.
Don’t just read this blog post and store it away as interesting, new-found knowledge: take the six principles presented by the Heath brothers and begin crafting your stickiest blog post yet. Incidentally, I tried applying most of the “sticky principles” to this blog post. How did I do?
Written by Marelisa Fábrega. Marelisa blogs about creativity, productivity, and simplifying your life over at Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online. Marelisa is the author of the ebook “How to Be More Creative – A Handbook for Alchemists”.
People seem to like posts when people actually put their personality into them as well as not being so serious all of the time. If you just be yourself, you will realize that it will be easier for people to relate to you and also establish a better relationship
Great stuff. I will apply what I learned here to my blog. Thank you!
Great ideas for blogging. I personally like the concrete example method. If you relate an idea to something tangible that readers can understand and visualize, it can often lead to the “light bulb turning on” effect. Readers can instantly see the real world application, and start branching out from there.
I see too many blogs that just ramble on and never grab my attention. Make it personal, show me how it relates to my world, and I’ll sign up to follow, take action, etc…
Rob – LexiConn
Marelisa,
you did well in making your post “sticky.” I frequently use “Keeping It Simple,” “Appealing to People’s Emotions,” and “Telling Stories” in my posts. Thank you for the other ideas.
John Knox
http://twitter.com/johneknox
I liked the second point “Make it Unexpected: Lose Weight by Eating Fast Food”!
It grabs quick attention ( this very line did catch my attention too) and that can convert a casual browser of the blog or article an curious reader.
Thank you for the well written article.
Great story! A tactic I often use is compare it to a story out of my own experience. I started using this ever since I read an article on Site Sketch 101, where the author used an old story that his grandfather used to tell him. It really keeps me reading. This post is a nice adition to an article I wrote before called “10 steps to NOT making a List post (but still be interesting)”.
Thanks for this one. Very inspiring.
Well, I gotta admit, this post has a sticky potential. At least my head is already spinning with ideas I gotta put into action on my future blog posts. Thank you Marelisa!
There are a lot of nlp books on this topic too. They also help a lot if applied well.
This is a very well-written post. It seems to incorporate the six qualities into your post, it’s beneficial to have it planned out beforehand. Reading this has made me rethink how I’m going to write my next blog post.
Good stuff. I agree completely with this approach. If I have a favorite post, like the one I recently wrote about using Rejection to motivate me every day, I just keep it up for longer.
Thanks for the reminders!
Best,
FS
***Sorry, I’m resubmitting this because I have too many typos in the last one***
Marelisa,
Great tips!
I think I created an incredibly viral post last week and it was totally an accident.
I saw a feature on TMZ at 11:30 pm that night. I did a quick search and thought I’d wait until the next morning to write the post.
On Saturday morning I woke up and took about 20 minutes to write the post in question and I fetched 3 videos from youtube.
I wasn’t home for most of Saturday and Sunday of last week I had to attend a fitness summit.
When I got home and sat infront of my computer at 5:30 pm I was floored after refreshing my page and realizing that over 11,000 people had read that post that took me 20 minutes to write.
The title is “Burger King Japan and the 7-patty Whopper burger?” and I think something must of happened in the media that day … like a TV segment on that Sunday because my traffic just jump 20 times.
http://www.eatsmartagesmart.com/burger-king-japan-and-the-7-patty-whopper-burger/
Right now, the post is shy of 20,000 views (in less than one week) and I have to say that I look forward to creating more posts like that.
I should mention that my site is only 6 months old so these types of high volume traffic from one post are quite unusual for me.
Krizia
I started my blog with no real purpose except to get my ideas out into the “world”. That was a mistake. I have now started developing a purpose for the blog. We raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation…it’s what we do. It’s our story, our desire, and our dream. It’s very personal to us, so it’s how I need to approach my writing.
Very sticky post. Lots of ideas swirling around. Thanks!
Hey Marelisa,
The ultimate combination for Super-Glue writing: Simple, remarkable, concrete, credible, personal, story.
* If it’s simple, people get your message immediately.
* If it’s remarkable, people find your message irresistible.
* If it’s concrete, people don’t get confused.
* If it’s credible, people believe you.
* If it’s personal, your message connects with their emotions.
* If it’s a story, people can relate to your message.
Such a useful list. Thank you for summarizing the book, these 6 points are a great to constantly refer to and improve my writing,
Oleg
Hey Marelisa:
I have been looking for ways to improve my writing and it was struggling a bit, but I am definitely taking this advice and putting it to every day use.
Even though most of these are not something anybody hasn’t thought of before, it is a great way to have them all under one roof: SUCCESs. Easy and simple tor remember and most of all, you have six powerful tools at your disposal, which you can use any time.
Thank you so much for sharing!
Best,
Tomas
Just wanted to say I really enjoyed this post. I read Made to Stick and this was a great refresher of one of my favorite books and how to be more effective in communicating ideas.
When I think back to the blogs I work on that have had traffic spikes, its the stories that were the most successful. I suppose people can identify with a story and picture the scenario a little, making it more interesting too.
While everyone and their dog posts “Top 10 something” nowadays, a well written story will probably always be more effective since its often easier to connect to the idea.
Hi everyone:
I’m so glad most of you are finding something useful in this post you can take away and apply to your own blogs. I’m trained as an attorney and I find that sometimes I have a tendency to do so much research on a topic that I’m writing about that I “bury the lead”. I see a lot of my blog posts that have some very good ideas in them–if I say so myself–but that need to be simplified to make them easier to read and digest.
Great post. Keeping it simple can be a challenge. Trying to write something different for the sake of it tends to make a post complex and less easy to grasp.
I can also appreciate the point of making it concrete. People seek something tangible, something they can wrap their mind around. Details, specifics, numbers, all help in their department.
These are really great tactics! I’l definitely try to implement them in the future.
Great post I will surely try this
Yeah that’s true, the more you give your post sticky the more conversion you will get.
Before I didn’t followed this principal but after working and working I understood that we should keep it simple in order understand the readers.
To more you give simple the more people likes you.
Thanks for sharing it.
Alam
Thank you lots for this great post. As a blogger I always try to write some nice post on my blog, before writing a post I have study lot about the topic and then write.
I agree keeping it simple will keep the reader engaged as well as somethig off the wall.
I admire those writers who use the “unexpected” approach, this practice that I want to learn the most. This detail gives more impact and effect to an article. Well, you can actually have a good article by being direct and straight to the point but I find it interesting and cool to have a title that will make people curious about. This will able to magnetize readers and stimulate their mind to start reading, most probably this post leaves a thought in my mind.
Beautifully written!
Darren,
This was another excellent post that can make a difference in the blogging life of many of us. Thanks.
I especially enjoyed the item about the “World of 100 People,” the principles of which I employed, and continue to use, in my blog to explain what could be complex economic issues. I call it “desert island economics” and you can read that post at http://www.financialiteracy.us/wordpress/2009/08/12/desert-island-economics/ because it bears out exactly the point you’re making.
As I’ve said in these comments before, yours is the most valuable of the blogging gurus’ contributions. You seem, more than any of the others, to be most interested in improving our lot and less about what you have to sell.
Keep up the good work! I’ll do my best to keep it viral! :-)
Hey Marelisa,
You did a very good job of keeping my attention and is well done! It’s important to keep a readers attention, but you have to get it first. Since I’m a part time blogger, in a small amount of time I have to work on finding what is important to the reader.
In order to ‘practice’ tag lines and “get your attention” scripts, I sometimes practice on Facebook, email subject lines, and other media to see what works and what doesn’t but in a respectful way.
Jim
Good stuff. I agree completely with this approach. If I have a favorite post, like the one I recently wrote about using Rejection to motivate me every day, I just keep it up for longer.
Thanks for the reminders!
Best,
FS
I admire those writers who use the “unexpected” approach, this practice that I want to learn the most. This detail gives more impact and effect to an article. Well, you can actually have a good article by being direct and straight to the point but I find it interesting and cool to have a title that will make people curious about. This will able to magnetize readers and stimulate their mind to start reading, most probably this post leaves a thought in my mind.
This post is so sticky I want to print it, and stick it to my computer. So I can evaluate each new post as I write it.
Darren, can you add a “print this link” to the posts? I have wanted to do this before with other posts.
And thanks Marelisa for this very useful post. I am a dietitian, and think as a group we also suffer from long detailed answers. Concise and catchy is stickier.
After three years online, I learned that you should keep everything simple. As you said conveying a single idea instead of trying to mix everything in a unique message.
Your site, your logo, your product, your squeeze page, your blog. Everything should be simple and intuitive. just have a look at Google’s home page. This is simple.
Franck
How did you do?
Well I think this is one of the most useful posts I’ve read in a long, long time and you didn’t rely on links to take me off somewhere else to qualify your statements all the time. Well done!
I’m not confident I have the patience to include all six items in everything I write at this point but I’m going to give it a shot because the points you’ve made all make very good and clear sense.
Fabulous post, Marelisa. You totally got me in and kept me right to the end. This was a wonderful change of pace from Darren’s last few offerings. Thank you for making the Problogger experience even richer. Best regards, P. :)
A really good post — and it shows that I have much to learn.
Thanks for sharing such an excellent article.
Great advice, it seems so difficult at times to write a post that you think will click with the readers. Your suggestions are very helpful.
I’m using all these plugins. CommentLuv is very important, firstly because of the user interaction (getting something in return for the comment) and secondly (consequently), when a new reader visits your site and sees the amount of comments, he knows something interesting is happening there. And that is sometimes the reason to stay and read your post and coming back again.
Extremely useful stuff, thank-you! I must say, I’m quite tempted to steal a few of those titles for my blog, but perhaps I’ll focus on using the advice in your content for now :-)
Just anoter confused Blogger wishing to say ThankYou for going to such extreme depth explaining in a way that even I am getting the message. I’ve just hit your RSS button. Again Thanks a million
Bruce
Nice post and well structured. I think this post itself can be made sticky :)
Very good insightful tips. I think many underestimate the power of a story within their marketing. People remember stories and it can definitely motivate others to take action and connect on a more foundational level.
Thanks :)
– Matt
very nice blog it was amazing enjoy to read it.Thanks for sharing such an excellent article.
Network Marketing
Great post, so clear and well-written and bursting with info.
Thanks!
Excellent content…helps so much to narrow these things down and you did a really great and entertaining job. A keeper for sure!
thanks much–Kim
Marelisa,
Great post on a great book!
Best 5 minutes spent for me today. The article was written with great thought and would aid me greatly for my future blogging endeavors.
News and articles like you always wanted
Fantastic Advice.
I would also say the who authentic approach has worked well for us. Don’t pretend to be what you aren’t. Also, you have to have fun writing and adding to blogs, if you aren’t then your probably not the right person adding content.
WOw! Man, im trying to improve my writing and you are an inspiration for me! thanks a lot for the great content!
oh and i had to buy your book! 31dbbb. Already looking forward for the next one. Congratulations
Greetings from Brazil.
I swear each time I look at one of your blog posts I get excited about my own blogging efforts because you have such wonderful tips! The next step for me is creating viral reports and this post helps a lot. Thanks.
Thanx for sharing wonderful ideas !!
Interesting post!
Coincidentally I just listened to a podcast on a smilar subject. It’s a recording of a lecture by a guy called Andy Goodman at the rather wonderful Free Library of Philadelphia. The lecture’s called “The Four Connecting Points: Communication That Leads to Action”.
It’s mainly about how non-profits can get their message out and understood in an age of both ‘compassion fatigue’ and ‘too much information. He uses the specific examples of anti-smoking in Florida, HIV campaigns in Washington and ‘Dont Mess with Texas’.
This sounds a bit heavy but it’s a funny, witty talk.
IMHO, it’s worth a listen if you find the material in this post interesting.
FLP – Free Library Podcast
That book is one of the best I’ve ever read. I DEFINITELY recommend it to anyone who is in the business of communicating. Great post Marelisa!
-Edvard D