When you think of bucket brigades, you probably think of a line of people running a bucket of water down a line to put out a fire. And you are right.
But in the context of copywriting, they are a metaphor for words and phrases that hold the reader’s attention.
Copywriters don’t use bucket brigades to put out a fire. They use them to ignite one within their readers.
Here’s the deal:
To see if the top content writers are using them, I typed “how to write interesting content” into Google. If a website page is in the top three Google results, they know something about writing content that holds readers’ attention (since the more time readers spend on a page, the higher Google ranks it) .
But I wasn’t looking for their advice, I was looking to see if they themselves use bucket brigades …
The best result is from Oxford-Royal UK. Indeed, it presents a brigade of buckets in the first paragraph; “Let’s see what they are.”
The second result is from Kissmetrics. In their first point they use the technical cube “Do you want a test?”
The third result is from Copyblogger. They use one in their introduction; “Do not buy it?”
It was three out of three – the top three websites use Bucket Brigades which have proven they know how to hold readers’ attention.
What is the end result?
Not only do they make your content more interesting, they can affect your Google ranking.
When someone lands on your Google article, they either stay and read the entire article or leave before finishing it. When people stay on your page, Google knows that you are providing a complete answer for the term they searched for. So Google raises your ranking.
Bucket brigades make readers stick to your page like glue covered velcro …
But before we take a look at why they make readers want to read on, let’s look at some classics. Here’s a list from SEO expert Brian Dean:
Here’s the deal:
Now:
What is the end result?
You may be wondering:
This is crazy:
It gets better / worse:
But here is the trick:
Do you want to know the best part?
You may wonder …
… Why do bucket brigades attract the attention of readers? Why arouse the curiosity of readers to continue reading?
They create curiosity for the same reason that movies make us wonder “What will happen?”; mystery novels make us ask, “Who did it?” and sports contests make us wonder: “Who will win?”
As Carnegie Mellon behavioral economist George Loewenstein conjectured, “Curiosity occurs when we feel a gap in our knowledge.”
Here is the trick:
When you give your reader all the facts, you leave them satisfied, and as if you don’t feel like eating on a full stomach, your readers have no desire to read on when their curiosity has been satisfied.
Readers really want to work for their reward. Think how much people like to struggle to find the last word in a crossword. When the answers are easy, it is boring. Too difficult, and yes, we can give up. But when it’s challenging enough, when it makes us wonder, we get readers’ attention.
Do you want to know the best part?
To pique readers’ curiosity, we don’t have to go out and search for compelling new stories or counterintuitive insights (although they help). We can use the information we have, but change the structure of our writing to create and maintain the interest of our reader.
We simply have to present a problem or question and retain the answer. We must create knowledge gaps throughout our entire article. And every time we fill a knowledge gap, for every answer we give, we must ask another question or reveal new information creating a knowledge gap.
Creating a knowledge gap is like ordering a menu item from your favorite restaurant. You are staying because a delicious meal awaits you. Knowledge gaps do the same, you keep reading because you know the article will satisfy your curiosity.
Just as we must continue to add records to keep the fire burning, we must continue to add knowledge gaps and use cube brigades to keep readers reading.