Welp, it works til it doesn’t, SpongeBoy

Few weeks back, I got “got” by an intriguing headline formula on YouTube.

The formula?

[Name of SpongeBob character] is a [surprising fact]?! in ALL CAPS.

The surprising fact?

Well, in 99% of these videos, the SpongeBob character was a rapper. Turns out, some guy uses AI to create modern day SoundCloud rap songs for SpongeBoy, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and others.

I’ll be completely honest with you too… some of the songs SLAPPPPPP.

They’re bangers.

(And this may be the best use case for AI yet…)

Until… well… they stopped being bangers.

At a certain point, every TikTok-esque hype video—YouTube calls them “Shorts”—I saw made me hate the fact I fell into this weird YouTube rabbit hole.

Worst part?

It didn’t even take but a couple of days to reach this point.

Why?

They used the same damn formulaic headline in every. single. video.

Which brings me to the rub:

Brands do this all the time with their emails, especially during promotions.

They figure out a clickbaity subject line that works and drives lots of sales, then they use the same formulaic drivel until their customers hate them.

Yes, there are certain things subject lines should do.

Yes, you should try to optimize your subject lines for open rates (sometimes).

And yes, formulaic stuff like this typically works.

Until, well, it doesn’t. And your customers hate you. And you have to keep offering higher and higher discounts for people to buy your products.

Or…

You could try a “weird” approach like mine, where we might not always get the highest open rates, but we do always maximize the conversions, revenue, and most importantly, the customer relationship.

Wanna see how this works?

Hit reply, and let’s chat.

John