The Salacious and Provocative Words Motivating Wine Lovers
The headlines that tug on our amygdala and trigger dopamine release: An analysis
For over three decades, I’ve spent a significant part of my working day conjuring up compelling story ideas to pitch to the media to help promote and market the wine clients I’ve represented. The effort is fundamental to what public and media relations professionals do.
It turns out that the best way to craft a story idea that wine enthusiasts will want to read is to lean in to the salacious, superlative, and provocative.
I’ve just analyzed more than 900 wine-related stories that have been featured in THE SPILL, my daily email that curates the best wine content on the web for subscribers. It goes out Monday through Friday in the morning and includes links to articles, podcasts, and video content.
The best possible headline to place on a story aimed at wine lovers would read something like this:
TOP TEN WINE SCANDALS INVOLVING REALLY CRAPPY WINES
My goal with THE SPILL is to expose the best wine content creators and authors and the best content to wine enthusiasts thirsty for interesting and informative information. Yet, while subscribers to THE SPILL do read the in-depth, well-written content, they are much more likely to click through to stories with headlines that promise salacious, superlative, and provocative content. There is human nature at play here that’s important for writers, publishers, content creators AND wine lovers to understand.