Did You Know Bad News Sells?

“Humans are wired for bad news but desperately seek inspiration”

It’s been proven that humans are wired to look for danger, and many love to seek out and share bad news stories, which is why good news is hard to find, even if you search for it.

I know this because a few years ago I set myself a challenge to find and share a good news story every day but gave up after a week as good news was too hard to find in the online media!

For this reason, I am really conscious when I write these weekly messages that it’s quite hard to get the balance right. We want to feel good, but we are naturally drawn to bad news. This means that in a world where people seldom read past the subject line or first sentence, the task is especially tricky. How does one craft a subject line that is sufficiently miserable to attract attention, for a post that makes you feel good?

What this means for every leader is that your audience – be they staff, clients or family – wants you to acknowledge how they feel (please listen to and empathise with the bad news I’m sharing) and inspire them with confidence and self-belief (make me feel good!). Confusing, isn’t it?

So, this week it’s a reminder that if the most positive and inspiring person is drawn to bad news, adding some bad news to your marketing messaging is probably a good thing.

Have a fabulous week!

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