Curiosity—the strong desire to learn more, to connect the dots, to know the answer—is an innate quality of all people, so it makes sense that it’s a potent force in marketing.

Companies, media outlets, and advertisers have always tried to tantalize their audiences, prompting them to watch longer or to ask more questions.  In the era of digital marketing, curiosity marketing has taken on many new forms. It can be clickbait or One Weird Trick advertising, which you obviously want to avoid, but good curiosity marketing can help you catch the eye of your potential customer and engage with them further.

What is curiosity marketing?

Curiosity marketing isn’t so much a strategy in and of itself, rather, it’s a principle that you can use to shape your content marketing strategy. The goal is simple: through digital storytelling, videos, or other types of content, pique your audience’s curiosity so they are compelled to engage further. This creates an expectation. How you satisfy your audience’s curiosity will determine the success of your marketing strategy.

How can I incorporate curiosity into my marketing strategy?

There are many ways to stimulate your audience’s curiosity; the most important thing is the curiosity gap. According to Copyhackers, the curiosity gap is “the space between what we know and what we want or even need to know.” Some methods for creating a curiosity gap include:

1. Showcasing the results of a service before revealing the specific details of its function.
2. Telling a story that cuts off too early, leaving the audience on a cliffhanger.
3. Offer new information, but delay your audience’s ability to learn more by selectively withholding your knowledge.

You can create a curiosity gap through visuals, text, or audio. Quizzes are highly effective for driving audience curiosity. Another form of curiosity marketing that has taken the web by storm over the past few years is the use of tantalizing headlines. Companies such as Upworthy, Buzzfeed, and AJ+ have gotten huge mileage out of their headline format, usually used in conjunction with the listicle.

It’s important to remember to not elevate audience expectations without the ability to deliver, because then they will feel let down once they do actually engage. The goal of curiosity marketing is not to trick your audience, but to build trust. This is the difference between clickbait and meaningful content.

What are the benefits?

Curiosity marketing can be used to boost sales and build brand awareness, but where it really shines is in increasing engagement. When people find their curiosity fulfilled, they will feel compelled to share your content, giving you the opportunity to go viral—the best case scenario of any digital marketing campaign.

As a component of content marketing, curiosity marketing is one of the best ways to catch the wandering eye of your potential customer. It’s also a chance to prove your value and promote your brand. Curiosity marketing is particularly effective because it harnesses the power of the brain’s reward center. By adding these techniques into a robust content marketing strategy, you’ll be able to drive engagement while also capturing and retaining the loyalty of your consumer base.

Sky offers bespoke marketing plans for your unique vision. Together we can design a strategy to peak your audience’s curiosity and stand out from the crowd. Contact us today for a free consultation.