What B2B sites can learn from Clickhole
Clickhole, a sister-site of the satirical publication The Onion, has exploded onto the viral content scene with its spot-on parodies of Buzzfeed and Upworthy, fully living up to its slogan, “Because all content deserves to go viral”. The site seeks to skewer the idea of vapid content and is doing a bang-up job, with articles, quizzes and lists focused on the holy trinity of viral media: celebrities, cute animals and current events. While making fun of the idea of viral content, they are producing some of the most shared articles on the web. They have taken the Buzzfeed and Upworthy template and whittled it down its core elements. But wait. Clickhole is a joke so what could a B2B company possibly learn from them? A recent
New York Times article summed up the site’s aims best: “The core of the site is strong and scathing, with a clear point of view: that a large segment of online media has nothing interesting to say, but many creative ways to get you to read it.” Here lies the fundamental difference between your B2B website and Clickhole: You
do have something interesting to say. Now how do we present it to the world? Let’s look at a few ways Clickhole is succeeding and how to apply them to a B2B site.
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Hook Your Readers with the Title
How many times in the past few months have you seen “You’re never going to believe what happens next” or “Watch what happens when…” show up in your news feed? It’s hard to imagine an application for this style of headline on a B2B blog but here’s the rub: your title is going to draw people in and you’re not going to hook them without a little effort. Write a title that will stick with your readers and don’t be afraid to get the most important points out of the way in the title or the first paragraph since most of your readers won’t make it to the end, or
even halfway through your article. 
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Content Now!
Not tomorrow. Not a week from now. Take 30 minutes and produce! Get something out there and do it on the reg. Clickhole, like most successful sites (clickbait or not) publishes multiple articles daily. While daily posts are probably not necessary, aim for weekly updates. Even a short post will show potential clients that you are interested in engaging online.
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Vary your Content
Lists, quizzes, videos. These are the bread and butter of Clickhole and they can be your bread and butter too. Chances are if you are in B2B you’re thinking “There’s no way I can put up a list of cute animals on my company blog.” You’re probably right, but that doesn’t mean you should confine yourself to standard company news and product releases. Involve your colleagues with expert interviews, reach out to clients for reviews and incorporate various types of media to add some diversity to your site.
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Consider your Audience
Clickhole’s core audience is the whole internet. You, on the other hand, have working knowledge of your core audience and should be familiar with what interests them. This is an advantage, so use it! Working in B2B, it can be easy to lose track of the humans behind the company. Don’t forget that actual people read your site and don’t be afraid to insert humor and human-interest stories into your posts. A final note: Chances are your content is not going to go viral, but that’s not the goal. Expanding your audience with thoughtful, engaging content is possible! Further reading on how and why to blog here: (
https://www.ecreativeworks.com/blog/2014/05/05/why-you-should-blog-and-how/)
