How to write a good title? All the tricks for a “100,000+” title!

As we all know, the number of readers of public accounts , whether large or small, is declining significantly. In addition to the traffic being divided by other emerging platforms, another very important inducement is that if the title is not powerful, fans will not come in, let alone strangers on the Internet.

Originally I didn’t want to write about this topic because I have read many popular science articles with similar titles before. But there are still many fans and customers who ask me to come up with titles, write slogans, etc., and then I just think about finding a few relevant high-quality articles and sending them to them.

As a result, it doesn’t matter if you don’t search, but you will be shocked when you see it. What kind of crap is this? There are captivating titles and universal formulas. But after reading the content, it’s just a bunch of convoluted formulas and routines, too many to remember. I don’t know what the essence of a good title is?

Therefore, I still want to take charge of it myself and write about this topic more thoroughly and down-to-earth, so that even a novice in copywriting can get started right away after reading it. In addition, this article is not only suitable for writing pictures and texts, but to a certain extent, it is also suitable for writing activity plans, creating slogans, etc.!

Notes before reading

First of all, from now on, please completely abandon those common title routines such as shocking style, chicken soup style, etc.

Second, please forget those set of title formulas and rules in your mind.

Finally, start reading this article with a blank slate!

1. Strictly control the word count

What is the title? For the main text, it is a face, so which one looks better, a big face or a small face?

Therefore, a title that is concise, exquisite, and impeccable is always better than a big face that you have to look at for 15 days.

In addition, try to allocate as many words as possible to the keywords you want to reflect, and put them as front as possible, because today's users are accustomed to fast-food reading, and if users don't see what they want to read in the first few seconds, they may skip it.

Regarding the number of words, the general principle for testing a good title is: one more word is too much, one less word is not enough; if removing a sentence has no impact, delete it decisively!

2. Generalization

A year or two ago, I rarely clicked on Tencent News to read it. Why? Because when I read their title, I roughly know what the main content is about, so what else do I have to be curious about?

So, it is not comprehensive. As the name suggests, the title must be a high-level summary of your text and core ideas, but! Don't write too comprehensively, otherwise how can readers have the slightest curiosity to continue reading?

Therefore, copywriting masters all understand the importance of "still holding the pipa half-covered" in choosing a title, what about you?

3. Cue the target

If we suddenly hear someone calling our name or “handsome guy” on the street! Beauty! Don't we all take a look subconsciously, huh? Who called me? Why is this so? The reason is that we subconsciously feel that we are the target, and have an urge to explore or cater to it (I don’t know why, but there is an inexplicable sense of shame, hahahaha)

The same applies to choosing a title. If you can appropriately add the target group you want to cue in the title, such as: women, men, the elderly, children, parents, etc., once your target group sees it, they will have a feeling of "Is he calling me?" and subconsciously want to go up and click to take a look.

So, remember, if possible, the title should either directly cue your target group or cue the opposite or related groups of your target group.

4. Think differently

After you finish writing an article or making a plan, do you always look back to see how you wrote it? The same applies to choosing a title. After choosing one, you must learn to think from the perspective of your audience: If I were your audience, would I be eager to click on this title and read the full text? If you don’t want to do it, don’t be reluctant, change it immediately!

Another very important point is: never be clever or self-righteous.

The title follows the main text and is meant to be seen by everyone, not just a certain group of people. If a title offends another group of people in order to please another group of people, then the title is not only low-level, but also immoral.

The promotional video "Pick up your chopsticks and eat" by Italian fashion luxury brand DG, from the title to the content, not only insults China, but also insults all countries that use chopsticks. Especially when you look at the title after watching the video content, you will find this seemingly simple title disgusting. Although Europeans and Americans are not victims, when they see their compatriots insulting others like this, they would also feel that it is shameful to have such compatriots, right?

There is also a common negative example, which is to put the full name of the company or the name of the event in bold and capital letters in the title, and even call it a beautiful name: how can a grand title lack an overall image? ! We have the "high-end" image you want, but we are too lazy to look at it! Alas, every time I encounter such leaders and clients who instruct me to change the title, I have a smile on my face but I’m actually saying MMP in my heart!

Therefore, to choose a good title, we must not only consider it from the perspective of the precise audience, but also from the perspective of the overall situation to see whether the title is appropriate and relevant.

1. Benefits

From single-celled organisms to extremely complex humans, all of them seek profit and avoid opportunities. I believe everyone has learned this knowledge point in middle school biology textbooks. Well, directly or indirectly reflecting the interests of the target group in the title is a tried and tested trick!

Example 1: 4 secrets about salary increase that your boss will never tell you

Example 2: As a recent graduate, do you know these employment pitfalls?

2. Empathy

As long as one is a human being, he or she has emotions. Even if a person is in a vegetative state, if he or she keeps listening to the person she loves singing for her, she will wake up one day. This is an existing case and it is not surprising.

Human emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are all "dispatching tools " that can be fully utilized in titles. As long as they are used properly, the strong resonance generated will not only bring you 100,000+ reads, but it is no longer uncommon to occasionally get 100,000+ likes and 100,000+ rewards.

The top representative of using this element: Mi Meng

Representative works: "Marriage is not the grave of love, but the lack of love is", "I treat you as a friend, but you only want to collect my membership fee! 》

For those who have experienced this, do you feel a sense of resonance?

3. Trust

This is as important as emotion. Without trust, nothing can be achieved in transactions, relationships and interactions. Therefore, adding the element of "trust" to the title is mainly to help enhance the credibility of the content and thus improve its image status in the minds of readers.

Common ways to build trust include :

a. Use powerful entities such as celebrities, authorities, and officials to endorse trust;

Example 1: Cai Lan: I have lived, have you?

Example 2: The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs finally announced that... .

b. Give specific numbers to make people feel real and credible;

Example 1: You can’t avoid these 40 big life problems in your first half of life | 28,000 people’s personal experiences and self-narration

Example 2: We only use 3 tips to take photos that best suit your personality!

4. Curiosity

Curiosity is actually the first major productive force of mankind. If humans had not always been curious about flying into the sky, where would airplanes, rockets and spacecraft come from? That’s why some people sigh that Chinese people really love to join in the fun! Moreover, if fans are not curious, how can there be so many big-name reposters who make a living by hook or by crook?

Common ways to arouse curiosity include:

Contrast: 80-year-old grandmother knocked down a 1.8-meter-tall man in 2 seconds

Pretending to be surprised: A stupid method helped me learn spoken English in 3 months!

Keeping you in suspense: What five methods did Sakyamuni use to win the hearts of 1.7 billion people around the world?

Question: Money is turning into paper, how should we allocate our assets?

etc. etc.

In fact, there are so many ways to play with this element! More new ways to play are waiting for you to continue exploring!

5. Clear up doubts

As the name suggests, the title lets you know clearly that the solution you want is here and may be able to solve your problem! Then, driven by curiosity, you clicked on it. . Solving doubts + curiosity are often a brotherly combination.

Example 1: People with high emotional intelligence have these three characteristics

Example 2: Three tips to help you say goodbye to suicidal weight loss!

6. Pressure & Fear

This element is often "bundled" with the above puzzle-solving solution. Let me share a picture first.

What are sold above are called “pressure points”. The more you need something, the more I will give you. The more you fear something, the more I will dig it out and show it to you.

Of course, the core idea is still to solve your stress, anxiety, fear, worries and other problems, but this element is a very powerful tool that can be used when choosing a title.

Example 1: Would you want your baby to be sent to the hospital after eating these?

Example 2: What is more terrible than losing your job is that your child is about to lose his job

After learning the above, let’s review it first.

4 principles: strictly control the number of words, summarize but not be complete, cue the goal, and think from the perspective of others

6 elements: interest, empathy, trust, curiosity, clarification, and pressure

By the way, there is a scene that makes almost perfect use of the above six elements!

Selling health products to the elderly: first use small gifts such as eggs and tissues to gain the elderly’s trust , then use free trials to build a close relationship, continue to strengthen trust, and use the core interests of health and longevity that the elderly care about as a pressure point to create fear and curiosity , thereby proceeding to the next step of solving their doubts , and finally successfully sell the "noodle (bao) powder (jian) pills (products) that can cure all diseases"! Afterwards, they would occasionally play the role of filial children, calling the elderly "Dad and Mom" ​​as much as they could, creating strong emotional interactions in order to achieve the goal of continuous sales (pian) (qian).

Okay, now that we have finished talking about theory, let’s start with the title of this article and apply what we have learned!

《4 common principles and 6 elements of a good title, which many copywriting experts may not know》

Word count: 28 words (still a bit long, hehe)

I am only telling you that there are 4 principles + 6 elements.

Target group: Use copywriting experts as bait to attract their opposites - novices who want to learn how to write titles well

Conflict of interest: How to choose a good title?

Specific number: 4+6

Trust endorsement: Copywriting expert

This arouses curiosity: Why even many copywriting experts may not know this?

Solution: 4 principles + 6 elements

Empathy: I want to see what I don’t know! I want to see what the experts don’t know!

As for this seemingly okay title, it actually took Lord Ce about 6 revisions before he decided on it. In fact, even for a top copywriting expert like Mimi Meng, the title of each popular article is selected from multiple options and then voted on by a large number of fans. So, don't think you can just pick one and use it, brother, you are not at that level yet~

The above are the basic points about how to come up with a good title. They can be used alone or in combination to achieve a multiplier effect. Let me give you a few more examples! (Don’t be obsessed with formulas!)

a. Celebrity endorsement + curiosity: Wang Sicong praised this Taobao store

b. Curiosity + interest + fear + specific numbers: 3 ways to lose weight quickly without dieting

c. Answering questions and solving doubts + specific numbers: Mastering 10 basic points will help you become a master of hot article titles in 10 minutes

d. Benefits + Solutions + Curiosity: Ten tricks to seduce girls that most boys don’t know

e. Effect endorsement + curiosity + specific numbers + solutions + target groups: How magical is this educational theory that is popular in Europe and the United States and has improved the academic performance of tens of millions of children by 11%?

1. Record at hand

When you see a good title while browsing, copy it immediately to your own little warehouse!

2. Follow industry leaders

Through platforms such as Xinbang and Xigua Assistant, search for big names in the industry you are interested in and learn more about how they come up with titles for their popular articles.

In addition, it is also recommended to pay attention to knowledge payment platforms such as Qianliao , Lizhi Microclass , and Xiaodengta. Their picture and text titles are also textbook cases. Otherwise, how can they attract you to click in, read the course and buy it?

3. Data analysis website

Data analysis websites use third-party data mining websites to quickly dig out titles that are currently or have been highly read.

I would like to recommend Zimei Ka here. I have used many similar data analysis websites, and finally found that Zimei Ka is more useful and free. With just a simple filter, you can find many good titles with high readership.

1. The core of a title is precise expression. It doesn’t matter how fancy the tricks are. As long as the meaning is conveyed and can impress the readers, it’s fine. It’s not necessary to incorporate all the elements to be a good trick.

2. No need to memorize formulas! No need to memorize formulas! No need to memorize formulas! Just memorize the basic theory of 4+6. As long as you master it, what dazzling title formula can't be deduced from it?

3. Don’t choose exaggerated titles that are purely for the sake of attracting attention. This will make the content irrelevant to the topic. Readers will definitely curse you secretly after reading it, and will avoid you when they see you in the future. Unfollowing or blocking you is the least severe punishment.

4. If you want to easily and continuously come up with a good title for each one, you must collect more, compare more, practice more, and update more. A few years ago today, the shocking style was still very eye-catching, but today it is completely unpopular. So what will the title format of today’s popular articles look like a few years from now? Therefore, standing still means going backwards.

I hope that one day, after reading this article, you will be able to “have no library in your hands, have no library in your mind, write with gusto, and speak with eloquence.”

Source: The God of Strategy who loves sharing