Data Driven Strategies for Writing Effective Titles and Headlines

They coined the phrase “inbound marketing”, and pioneered the industry of content marketing with a marketing platform now used by more than 13,500 customers around the world.

We pioneered the industry of content discovery and deliver content recommendations to over half a billion people every month.

This partnership is definitely one for the content marketing books….ebooks to be more specific.

Together we’ve combed through more than 3.3 million paid link headlines and matched that with supporting data from the 2 million unique monthly visitors to Hubspot’s Marketing blog to offer never-before-seen insights that will assist you in your content marketing strategy.

Understanding User Behavior: What Causes a Click?

In order to be an effective content marketer, you need a plan, and to set that plan, you have to become an expert on what makes your audience tick. What compels them to click on, read, share or otherwise interact with content? And how will your understanding of their behavior propel you to greater business?

Enclosed in our joint report with Hubspot is a number of best practices to help you understand and leverage the first layer of engagement for any content marketing — the titles and headlines for your content. We hope some of this analysis presents new ways of thinking about this essential component of your marketing.

For example, we’ve found that:

• Headlines containing the phrase “how to” performed 49% worse than headlines without this phrase.

• We found that another instruction-oriented word, “tip,” also decreased CTR by 59%.

These behaviors highlight the difference between a reader in search mode and one who is in content consumption mode, a nuance all marketers should understand.

A Note on Our Best Practices

The best practices in our report are not intended as one-size-fits-all declarations. They are simply insights we’ve gleaned based on our shared experiences and data. You know your audience and your brand best. Our aim with this ebook is to help you leverage your expertise on both to maximize results.

Head on over to Hubspot’s landing page to download this free ebook. Download here!