Have you ever placed a bet on a sporting event and felt a twinge of anticipation as the game approached? Well, you’re not alone. Everyone around the world seems to have this feeling when it comes to sports, and it’s because of teasers. A teaser is a small piece of promotional content that acts as bait to attract readers and encourage them to keep reading a news article or to click a link in a blog post.
“Teasers are frequently used in digital marketing to tease potential customers with intriguing offers,” says David Jones, co-founder of sports marketing consultancy firm Outsports. “The strategy is to get readers to click on a link to access more content or to sign up for a newsletter. Once they’ve engaged with the content, the brand can then take them on a journey through a lead generation funnel to become a customer or potential customer.”
Why should you care about teasers? Simple: Because they can increase your conversion rate. According to HubSpot Blogs research, articles with teasers get 55% more clicks than articles without them. Additionally, 59% of readers said they liked reading articles with teasers more than those without them. Finally, 78% of respondents said they’d be more inclined to make a purchase after reading an article with a teaser.
So, if you’re looking to improve the engagement your readers have with your content, consider experimenting with teasers in your next blog post.
Types Of Teasers
There are many different kinds of teasers, and it’s important to understand the differences before you start implementing them into your content strategy. Here are the most common types of teasers and their advantages/disadvantages.
1. Premium Offers And Discounts
Many brands will try to lure you in with the promise of exclusive premium content, discounted products, or other special offers. These are all classic teaser tactics. While having exclusive content or discounts can be good for attracting readers, you have to be careful about taking advantage of them. If someone is trying to convince you to buy a product with the promise of exclusive content or discounts, chances are they are trying to sell you something.
The key is to offer something special that is valuable to the reader. In terms of attracting readers, it’s often said that you should never do a deal that isn’t beneficial to both parties. This is especially important if the product you’re promoting is something you’d be buying anyway (like insurance or vehicle maintenance) because you don’t want to look like you’re being forced into making a purchase you weren’t planning on making.
2. Short Promotional Videos
The rise of TikTok and other platforms powered by video means that short promotional videos have become a popular way to advertise. These videos generally fall between two and six minutes in length and are frequently used by brands to highlight new products, announce special offers, or promote upcoming events. Since they’re usually short and sweet, they tend to be effective at grabbing viewers’ attention.
The key to using short promotional videos is to ensure that the content is interesting and contains value. For example, if you’re using a video to promote a new restaurant, you might want to include some footage of the food alongside some short cooking instructions to make it interesting to the viewer. Or, if you’re promoting an upcoming event, you might want to include short clips from past events in the same series to show how the series has developed over time. This way, even if you don’t have the whole series yet, the viewer will still value the information because they’ll understand the context of what they’re seeing.
3. Event Details
An exciting event can be highly motivating for someone who doesn’t know about it or hasn’t heard about it yet. Details about an upcoming event, such as the date, time, and location, can help draw potential customers to it. Once you have that information, you can use it to create compelling content to attract more people to the event (you).
The key to using event details effectively is to ensure that the content is interesting and contains value. If you’re using an event to promote an upcoming sale, consider using the date and time to your advantage. For example, if you’re selling tickets to an event and the date and time of the sale is right after the event, you might want to consider creating content that encourages people to both attend the event and to buy tickets to it.
4. Product Details
A product detail is akin to an event detail, but instead of an event being the trigger, it’s a product that will attract customers to you. One example of a product detail could be an article about a new travel backpack that you’re promoting. In this case, the backpack itself is the product and the travel destination is the event. Your article could include information about the product, the reasons why someone would want it, as well as the places where it’s available for purchase. This way, when someone sees the article, they’ll have the option of purchasing the product (or visiting the places where it’s available) without having to leave the page.
A key benefit of a product detail is that it allows you to promote one product while also providing information about several different products. To an interested consumer, this can be highly appealing because it gives them the option to see multiple products they might be interested in purchasing. It’s the best of both worlds: you’re getting someone to come back to your site and make a purchase while also enticing them to search for other products you’re offering.
The downside of a product detail is that it can be difficult to set up. First, you’ll need to find a product that is available for purchase. Then, you’ll need to create content around it. And finally, you’ll need to promote the product with the content you’ve created.
5. Character Interviews And Q&As
An interview is when one person talks to another person, usually on camera. In a character interview, one person plays the role of a character while the other interviews them on camera. In a typical interview, one person is the interviewer and questions the interviewee. But in a character interview, it’s mostly the other way around because the interviewee is playing a character.
This format can be effective in getting someone’s attention because it’s frequently used in TV shows, movies, and podcasts. For example, in TV shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, It Means Business, and The Bernie Leach Show, people interact with a character known as Bernie Leach. So, when someone hears or sees about Bernie Leach, they’ll automatically think of your character interview or question and answer session because they’ve been exposed to it numerous times before.
The importance of a character interview for attracting readers is that it’s a format that can be both entertaining and informative. If you’re able to interview a popular guest on your blog or website, you’ll be able to draw in more readers with the character interview format than you would with just a standard interview. Additionally, respondents in one HubSpot Blogs survey said they’d be more inclined to make a purchase after reading an article involving a character interview or Q&A session.
The downside of a character interview is that it can be difficult to find guests who are willing to be interviewed by you and, even if you do find someone, they may not want to take the time to sit down with you for an interview. This, of course, depends on your character, but it’s an added step that most guests don’t want to take because they’re probably already over the peak hours of the day and, in some cases, the character may even be dangerous. In these situations, it would be best to just have the character speak for themselves. But, if you do decide to go this route, make sure that you have permission to use their name and likeness in the process.
How To Use Teasers Effectively
Since you’ll be pitching articles to potential customers, it’s important to understand how to use teasers effectively. Here are some tips to help you make the most of this content type.
Create Compelling Content
As discussed, content marketing is a form of marketing that involves creating and distributing content to attract, acquire, and retain customers. If you want to effectively use teasers in your content marketing strategy, you’ll need to consider creating compelling content. This should be something that will draw readers in and keep their attention throughout the content’s lifespan. Think of one of the most popular blogs in the world: ThriftyFun.com. Started and maintained by Lynn Moriarty, the blog features various tips and tricks on being more efficient. The content is usually fun and easy to follow, but it still manages to be informative.