By The speed of propagation of provocative content catches up with the speed of light. Who benefits from promoting messages of this nature, why do people react so actively to them, and, ultimately, how to generate these same provocations effectively? The main news of marketing was analyzed in the material.
Contents
Weapons of Mass Attention
The word “provocation” is of Latin origin and means “challenge.” First of all, it seems to be a challenge to boring information streams. Agree; messages of this nature are easily distinguished among them. But, at the same time, it is an attempt to take a jab at the audience, and people wonder whether this marketing ploy works at all?
After all, the purpose of provocations is always the same – to evoke vivid emotions in readers/viewers/listeners. But, of course, they don’t have to be positive. The force is in the reaction. And every comment under a post or photo, even an outrageous one, followed by a heated discussion, is a good indicator of the effectiveness of the provocation.
Such marketing tricks are very popular with bloggers, especially with millions of audiences. However, they left a contradictory message – the subscribers, and often not only them, become more active. Voila! Success.
Topics that go hand in hand with provocativeness:
- Scandals, intrigues, betrayals, dramas, and so on from the personal lives of famous people.
- Nutrition (including vegetarianism, diet) and a healthy lifestyle.
- Body positive.
- Feminism, sexism, and other “isms.”
- Folk medicine, self-medication, homeopathy.
- Different approaches to raising children.
- Cruelty to animals.
- Ecology.
- Policy.
- Religion.
Provocation – A Double-Edged Sword
Of course, it should be borne in mind that the violation of sharp and contradictory topics can both lead to the desired results and play a bad joke. That is, on the one hand – likes, comments, reposts, a boom of subscribers. And on the other – hatred, condemnation, and loss of audience. The fact is that there is no single topic that everyone treats equally. Therefore, usually provocation = spread, popularity, growth of coverage, but ≠ a guarantee of success.
You should also keep in mind the rules of social networks and the corresponding restrictions due to which conflicting material can be removed, and the account blocked. Of course, saying that students get more benefit from an paper writing service MasterPapers than colleges won’t get you banned anywhere. However, publishing some provocative messages about gender, racial, or terrorism issues can easily have your account banned on numerous platforms.
Provocative Marketing: Education
It turns out that in today’s world, absorbed in digital hype and the struggle for attention, the topic of provocations is so relevant that it is even dedicated to some classes in schools. Yes, at Linnaeus University in Sweden, there is a course called “Provocative Marketing.” Even student-focused platforms like MasterPapers started to include related academic assistance services to cover the new courses and programs.
We have reviewed the textbook and collected an excerpt of important and interesting theses:
- provocation = attention = profit.
- the most widely advertised marketing campaigns in the field of provocative marketing belong to the Italian clothing company Benetton (bloodied uniform of a murdered soldier, a white child breastfed by a black woman, dying of AIDS) and the American brand Calvin Klein (sexual nature, pornographic nature).
- the growing popularity of social networks has led to the desire of companies to break through the noise and stand out from the crowd.
- common methods of achieving provocation in marketing are the use of humor, techniques of contrast, fear, music, elements of sex.
- people get used to provocations, so marketers who use such techniques are forced to maintain a tone of originality constantly.
- the use of provocative marketing on social networks is less risky than on other sites on the Internet.
How to Create Provocative Content: General Recommendations
First of all, you need to know your audience. Agree, feeding prunes to a person who can not tolerate dried fruit is not simple. Maybe, of course, but not easy. It is important to anticipate the audience’s reaction, even better – to consider potential feedback in terms of several segments.
A good option is to experiment and analyze: try different content options, dose sensationalism, track the reaction. At the same time, these will be steps towards a deeper knowledge of their readers/viewers.
Balance is needed in everything, isn’t it? Therefore, another recommendation – do not overdo it! There is talk of different frequencies of provocative content publications. On average, this is one reason for discussion, dissemination, etc. month. In short, people, after bright emotions, need time to rest.
Regarding the choice of topics, there are several vectors for development: to respond to current issues, to track information drives; to address eternal topics (from the list above, for example); focus directly on your own audience and write about what exactly will affect it.
Still, you have to remember that provocative content isn’t always the right option. Sometimes, it’s much better to create informative and engaging content rather than provocative ones, such as Comprehensive Reviews of 5 Best Academic Services in 2021. In this case, the students wishing to delegate their academic load will easily find the needed services, and the article won’t potentially anger anyone.
In Conclusion
It seems that provocative content in modern society goes hand in hand with negative connotations. Provocation is always about content that goes beyond the ordinary and mundane, about information that can evoke vivid emotions and generate public debate. The goal of the authors of provocative publications is to gain the audience’s attention. Whether to give them attention or not is up to you.
BIO
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