How to Write a Blog Post That Pulls Your Readers In With Curiosity

by Derek Halpern
 
If you want to write a blog post that pulls your readers into your content instantly, curiosity is the answer.

You see, curiosity is an innate in humans, and every TV network, movie, blog, book, and other form of media takes advantage of it.

But it gets better:

What if I showed you how to use curiosity to increase your blog traffic, build an email list, and earn more sales?

Keep reading.

The Secret to Creating Curiosity: Information Gap Theory

When you write a blog post, how can you create curiosity?

George Loewenstein, a professor at Carnegie Melon University, came up with what’s called “the information gap theory of curiosity,” and it’s, hands-down, one of the best ways to create curiosity on demand.

Quite simply, curiosity, as defined by Loewenstein, is an innate human behavior that’s triggered when people feel there is a gap between what they know and what they want to know. (source).
Loewenstein then goes on to explain how this gap influences people to take action (aka buy your products, subscribe to your list, or share your article with their friends).
But the question remains: How can you do it?

How Curiosity Helps You Attract Subscribers and Sales

What’s the key to attracting leads and making sales online?
You must get attention and keep that attention.

As you know, your headline and image grabs attention. Curiosity, on the other hand, helps you keep attention.

I’ve said this before, but it’s important, so I’ll say it again. If you get people to read your first few sentences, they’ll read your entire article or sales letter.
And that’s where curiosity comes in…

Remember, when you create a gap between what people know, and what people want to know, they feel compelled to fill that gap.

So, if you want to pull people into your content, you should create that information gap early in your article.

Some people suggest you use curiosity based headlines because they work.

I, on the other hand, prefer to write curiosity-based introductory sentences.

How to Write a Blog Post That Piques Curiosity

When you’re staring at a blank document, the task of creating curiosity can be daunting.
So, how can you open your article or sales page up with a sentence that invokes curiosity?
If you’re teaching, like I do on Social Triggers, there’s a simple formula you can follow, and it almost always works. Here it is:

[New, Cool, and/or Hopefully Remarkable Thing] + [Desirable Outcome] = [Curious Reader / Viewer]

To use this formula, here are five templates for inspiration:

• How’d you like to learn about [new remarkable thing] that [desirable outcome]?
• Ever wonder how you can earn [desirable outcome] with [new remarkable thing]?
• There’s a way for you to [desirable outcome] with this [new remarkable thing].
• If you heard about a [new remarkable thing] that could [desirable outcome], would you be interested in learning more about it?
• The key to a [desirable outcome] is to make sure you use [new remarkable thing].

Couldn’t be easier, right?

What do you think? How do make your readers curious? Have you used the information gap theory to create persuasive messages before? Leave a comment!

Posted in: Blogging,Curiosity,Derek Halpern,Psychology