How to survive the “clickbait” marketplace

I’m pretty sure you must have seen one of those YouTube videos that have titles/thumbnails that begin with:

- “Try this one trick that can…”,

- “You’ll be surprised what this person found in …”,

- “They Didn’t Know _________ . Then This Happened …”,

- “Dark secrets of…”,

and so and on (whew)…

They often have intriguing pictures on the thumbnail, and you might wanna give a try. So you go ahead and click the video. Not even halfway through, you might think that, “This is nothing special, it happens/I know this already”. At this point, I’d advise you to go to your watch history to read the title, and take a look at this video’s thumbnail. This will make the viewer realize the wide disparity in the title/thumbnail and the actual content in that video. If you got an idea of what I just told you, well, welcome to the world of “clickbait marketing”!

While it might be one of those misleading titles that help the video earn views on YouTube, it takes commercial sweet talk, aesthetic packaging, brand-flexing, celebrity endorsements, subliminal advertising, etc. where the selling of products in the modern market is concerned. A stroll across your local grocery store aisle may present to you those little chocolate bunnies in a super cute pink packaging, with the famous cartoon character on it. You might find it a perfect gift for your little one, so you finally buy it. Once you’re home, you open the box, and take out one of those bunnies, only to realize that they’re super light, tastes too sweet, and are hollow on the inside… But what made you buy it?

- The aesthetic packaging that made it stand out from its competitors in the same aisle?

- Maybe the famous company that manufactured it?

- Or maybe their colourful commercial that got this song stuck in your head?

- Is it the cute cartoon figure that your kid loves from his/her favourite tv show, that is printed on the box?

Well, this is the reality of almost every product that we consume in the modern world. The brands lay the bait, and we bite on it. They lay more and more until we get hooked completely, and there’s no way out! The commercial space operates by viewing their customer base as the potential to make those millions, and they do that by displaying exactly what the consumer wants to see, which indirectly compels them to reach into their pockets to hand out those precious dollars.

Now, it might be impossible to overcome the temptations from your visiting your favourite mall, but you can definitely be smart when it comes to your choices. Always have a list of what you need to buy. Window shopping might empty your wallet a bit, so you must try to allocate a budget for it. My mentor, a self-made millionaire in his mid 30s, often told me to look at that most appealing product that I’m compelled to buy, and ask myself these questions:

“Do I need it?”

“Do I really need

“Can I live without it?”

Keep answering these questions and somewhere down the lines, if you answer “no”, then put that product back, pick up your shopping cart, and walk away! I must tell you, these 3 magic questions helped me avoid countless impulsive purchases, save money, stay frugal, and be minimalistic.

All I want to say, friends, is to stay wise against the tactful vanity of the clickbait marketplace, and never let it push you to spend your way into debt!