Boost Marketing Outcomes by Leveraging the Curiosity Gap

When you’re curious about something, you have questions and want to know more than you currently do. Something about this thing, like an idea or a story, brand, or product, intrigues you, but you have limited information about it. However, that intrigue keeps it fresh in your mind. The more you think about it, the more you want to expand your knowledge and answer those questions.

WHAT IS THE CURIOSITY GAP?

The “curiosity gap” lies between what you currently know and want to know. In many cases, the gap can be moved multiple times during a customer journey, keeping them curious and engaged. Consider how a prospective customer might be introduced to a new product from your brand as follows:

• First, they want to know what the product is.
• Then, they want to know what the product does.
• Then, they want to know why the product is
• better than the alternatives.
• Then, they want to know how they could benefit.

These are just a few “steps” along the way, and moving customers from one spot in the journey to the next involves satisfying their curiosity while raising new things to be curious about.

Maintaining a spirit of curiosity is critical for brands looking to retain current customers and attract new ones. Novelty is closely tied to curiosity because you’re not likely to be deeply curious about something you’re already familiar with. Novelty is also a powerful tool in the marketing toolbox. One scientific study found that novelty can improve recall by boosting dopamine from specific neurons in the brain. When you keep customers curious, your brand stays on their minds. 

 

HOW CURIOSITY CAUSES US TO ACT 

When we’re curious, we seek out more information, and that’s the perfect opportunity for marketers to shine.

Curiosity, by its very nature, pushes us to action. Marketers can drive actions by promising leads that an X action will give a Y answer. Draw attention to the curiosity gap through a simple process:

1. Share a piece of information.
2. Highlight some second piece of related information that is missing.
3. Tell people how to obtain that second piece of information.

Curiosity operates at many levels. We can be curious about something simple or light, like a headline in a newspaper or a piece of gossip, and it entices us to find out more. At this level, curiosity is usually a straightforward question-and-answer process. However, another type of curiosity runs deeper and entails a search for understanding rather than just a specific answer.

That second type of curiosity drives us to act in more long-lasting ways and pursue “journeys.” In marketing, that’s the type of curiosity that drives long-term customer relationships. It might start with a simple question like a customer has a particular need that your product or service can solve, but curiosity-based marketing goes beyond that.

Marketing can drive customers to continue being intrigued by new things and go further by acting or pursuing a new side to their original query. It might involve sharing a new product or service or helping customers discover new ways to utilize the solutions they’ve already found. The goal is to keep the interest going.

USING CURIOSITY IN MARKETING

When marketers use the curiosity gap, they walk a fine line. If you fill the gap immediately, your prospective customers have the info they need and no longer feel the need to engage. If you wait too long, prospects may get frustrated or seek an alternative. To get the balance right, look for snappy ways to create and satisfy an initial moment of curiosity, then build a journey that guides customers to develop their curiosity in more personalized, specific ways as they move toward their decision.

You’ve probably seen some instances of leveraging curiosity in action. Think of clickbait headlines; how do they function? They tease out a bit of information, then tell you that you should be curious and will be surprised by how the “story” ends.

These oft-parodied headlines are designed to create a sense of curiosity over missing information and promise a payoff, which is precisely how curiosity can work in any marketing context. Social media and emails use curiosity to make the most of a small space. Email headlines or snippets of social media copy are designed to pique readers’ curiosity by calling attention to a piece of information that readers lack but want, and then by offering a simple solution. Just open the email, click on the link, and you’ll have your curiosity satisfied (and then, of course, have new topics of curiosity opened).

Direct mail techniques are similar, but they have to have a little bit more power behind them. It’s very convenient to click on a link in social posts or emails because the answer to your solution is right there. With direct mail, the curiosity must be a little stronger, enough to push recipients to take a separate action by making a phone call or typing in a URL, etc. Technology like QR codes can help by lowering the barrier to access. However, there’s still an extra step involved. The words and images must create enough of an impression for recipients to perceive the effort as “worth it” to get the answers they seek.

Humans are wired to be curious about the world around us. Savvy marketing taps into that, drawing our attention to what we don’t yet know and offering us what we want: more answers and more knowledge. It’s a powerful tool and one that marketers should always be embracing.