…see more
Recruitment writing, pt 7
Did you know the term clickbait was coined in 2006 by Jay Geiger?
Feels like it’s been around a lot longer, particularly as the idea is nothing new.
In journalism, a notable early example was the “Great Moon Hoax”, a series of apparently satirical articles in the New York Sun, which led to the sale of many papers back in 1835.
These exciting ‘discoveries’ of life on the Moon were sadly as real as the retro encabulator and are an example of ‘yellow journalism’.
Headlines sell papers.
We’ve all been suckered in by clickbait, and there’s a common element of dishonesty behind a headline that compels you to click through and find out what’s going on.
“You’ll never believe what we found when we opened up the basement!” leading to a 27-page web series that gets clogged down in adverts only to have no end.
Yet, what happens when you click through on an interesting headline and it leads you to exactly what you were hoping for?
That’s the right kind of Attention-grabbing, wouldn’t you say?
Perhaps the only difference between an excellent headline and clickbait is integrity.
But who is it exactly you are grabbing the attention of when writing with integrity in recruitment?
The one common type of audience across all recruitment is people who may be interested in a vacancy.
Knowing your audience and what will interest them is key to writing an attention-grabbing headline.
I had a beer with a friend yesterday, quite the high flyer in his career. He had seen Mitch Sullivan’s post comparing a copywritten advert with a generative AI bastardisation of it.
He preferred the latter and said, ‘I’d never read something that long’ of the original.
We also chatted about him thinking about moving roles next year, once his RSUs have vested.
I asked him what he would do if he came across such a long advert focused entirely on him and his needs.
“I’d read it of course!”
If it engaged him, how would it compare to a generic competitor’s?
This is the point. He’s welcome to be disinterested in an advert that isn’t for him and that also doesn’t make him think of someone else who may be suitable.
But, when it’s an advert that should speak to his aspirations, the message has to engage.
It doesn’t matter how great the overall content is if you don’t read past line one.
Much like all those great candidates whose poorly started CVs work against them.
More than that, how often does a potential reader have full access to a message that may be hidden in front of their eyes?
On LinkedIn, in your feed, you’ll typically see the first 1 to 3 lines of a post before the dreaded “…see more”.
So when you start off by saying
“*** New Role ***
Here at Seymour Limited, we are proud and delighted to be recruiting …see more.”
… can you see the problem?
Unless you’ve put a selfie or dog photo up, which is essentially clickbait to increase your dwell time.
Social media isn’t the only place you’ll advertise a role.
Other above-the-line mediums might be a job board or an industry rag.
Or below-the-line in emails, DMs and video messaging.
Understanding the limitation of what can be read is a good start.
Understanding why that limitation is in place is a good second step.
Social media wants to keep you committed to the platform and will give you what it thinks you want.
Summarising the feed to give as much content as possible, and then forcing action to engage you, makes a lot of sense.
They know that attention will be won and lost in the first couple of lines.
It’s the same for video. How many boring talking head videos do you watch for six seconds before ditching them?
Just me?
That’s why trailers are a thing in the movies.
The most exciting moments are distilled into 20 seconds to 2 minutes, to excite you to the point of maximum see more.
That’s why the Superbowl can charge so much per second of advertising.
Because Attention is everything and, if you can capture that, you’ve started the journey of securing a customer.
The brain works much the same way.
Think about how you consume posts, pitches and profiles.
If you’re not engaged in the first few moments, why would you want to …see more, …read more, …hear more, or …watch more?
I hear few people now leave voicemails because no one ever replies.
I do and they do.
Hardly the most creative message either, just conversational, in my voice, centred on their needs.
Understand how platforms and people ‘preview’ your content and how that content is experienced, and you’ll realise the first line has to be the grabber.
Think about how vacancies are listed on a job board, in a candidate search of “job titles” by location, where the first line of each preview is often the same genericism.
How could yours stand out?
This is why AIDA has stood the test of time. Attention, interest, desire, action.
Lead with your most attractive line and you’ll encourage better candidates to see more.
Perhaps I’ll write about my adaptation of AIDA to AIDE next.
Regards,
Greg
p.s. While you are here, if you like the idea of improving how you recruit, lack capacity or need better candidates, and are curious how I can help, these are my services:
- commercial, operational and technical leadership recruitment (available for no more than four vacancies)
- insource part or all of your recruitment on an individually designed basis for one client
- recruitment coaching and mentoring (unavailable until July)
- recruitment strategy setting
- outplacement support
Just hit reply to check if my approach is right for you.