# Post Title Formula Catalog

Full reference for the `copywriting-hooks` skill. Load when the user needs a deep formula dive or asks for title templates.

## EN Formula Catalog

### Curiosity / Gap

1. `The [Adjective] Truth About [Topic]` — "The Counterintuitive Truth About Go Generics"
2. `What [Group] Won't Tell You About [Topic]` — "What Recruiters Won't Tell You About Salary Negotiation"
3. `The Real Reason [Phenomenon]` — "The Real Reason Most Content Gets Zero Shares"
4. `[Number] Things Every [Audience] Gets Wrong About [Topic]`
5. `Little-Known Ways to [Goal]`
6. `The [Adjective] Secret to [Outcome]` — "The Counterintuitive Secret to Shorter Meetings"
7. `What [Number] [Data Source] Revealed About [Topic]` — "What 4,000 Developers Revealed About Code Review"
8. `The Hidden Cost of [Common Practice]`

### Contrarian / Negative

1. `Stop [Common Practice]. Here's Why.`
2. `Why [Common Belief] Is Wrong`
3. `[Number] [Myths/Mistakes] That Are Killing Your [Result]`
4. `Never [Common Practice] Again`
5. `The Worst [Thing] You Can Do for [Goal]`
6. `I Was Wrong About [Topic]`

> **Data:** Negative superlatives achieve 63% higher CTR than positive superlatives (Outbrain, 65,000 titles). Each additional negative word increases CTR by 2.3% (Robertson et al., _Nature Human Behaviour_ 2023, 22,743 RCTs).

### Specificity / Data

1. `I Analyzed [Number] [Things] — Here's What I Found`
2. `What [Number] Studies Say About [Topic]`
3. `[Number]% of [Group] Does This Wrong — Are You One of Them?`
4. `[Number] [Things] Across [Time Period]: What Changed`
5. `How [Company/Person] Achieved [Specific Result] in [Timeframe]`

> **Data:** Numbers in titles improve CTR by ~36% over no-number titles (Conductor research).

### List / Numbered

1. `[Number] [Adjective] Ways to [Goal]` — "7 Proven Ways to Double Your Open Rate"
2. `[Number] Mistakes to Avoid When [Task]`
3. `[Number] Things Every [Audience] Should Know About [Topic]`
4. `[Number] [Things] That Will [Emotional Outcome]`
5. `The [Number]-Step [Process] for [Goal]`

> **Data:** Odd numbers: +20% CTR over even numbers (CMI). Best-performing numbers B2C: 10, 5, 15, 7, 20. B2B LinkedIn: 5, 10, 3, 7.

### How-To (strongest for B2B / LinkedIn)

1. `How to [Task] Without [Painful Constraint]`
2. `How to [Task] Even If [Limiting Belief]`
3. `How to [Task] in [Timeframe]`
4. `How to [Task] Like [World-Class Example]`
5. `How to Turn [Problem] Into [Benefit]`

> **Data:** How-to posts average 3× more shares in B2B LinkedIn contexts than other formats (BuzzSumo, 10M LinkedIn articles).

### Social Proof / Authority

1. `Who Else Wants [Desirable Outcome]?`
2. `Here Is a Method That Is Helping [Audience] to [Outcome]`
3. `What [Experts/Role] Do That Most [Audience] Don't`

### Transformation / Before-After

1. `How I Went From [Bad State] to [Good State] in [Timeframe]`
2. `From [Problem] to [Solution]: What I Learned`
3. `Give Me [Short Time] and I'll Give You [Outcome]`

### Targeting / Tribal

1. `For People Who [Condition or Identity]`
2. `If You're [Audience Type], Read This Before [Action]`
3. `[Number] Things Only [Specific Group] Will Understand`

### Resource / Definitive

1. `The Ultimate Guide to [Topic]` _(performs well in search; weaker in social feed)_
2. `[Topic]: Everything You Need to Know`
3. `The Complete [Checklist/Playbook] for [Goal]`

### Format-Bracket Hybrids (+38% CTR — HubSpot/Outbrain, 3.3M headlines)

1. `[Normal Title] [Benchmark]`
2. `[Normal Title] [Interview]`
3. `[Normal Title] [Template]`
4. `[Normal Title] [Infographic]`
5. `[Normal Title] [Case Study]`

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## FR Formula Catalog

> Apply the **70/30 rule**: 70% information, 30% mystery. Tension and contradiction outperform urgency in French professional contexts. The term _putaclic_ carries strong pejorative weight — faux drama ("J'arrête tout 😱") is immediately flagged.

1. `Comment [Verbe] sans [Contrainte/Douleur]` — "Comment publier chaque jour sans s'épuiser"
2. `Comment [Verbe] même si [Croyance limitante]` — "Comment négocier même si tu détestes les conflits"
3. `Pourquoi [Croyance commune] ne fonctionne pas`
4. `[Chiffre] raisons pour lesquelles [Phénomène]`
5. `Tout le monde vous dit de faire [A]. Voici pourquoi je fais [B].`
6. `La vérité derrière [Phénomène ou pratique]`
7. `[Chiffre] erreurs que font les [Audience]... et comment les éviter`
8. `Le pire conseil que l'on donne à [Audience]` — contrarian via negative superlative
9. `Ce que personne ne vous dit sur [Sujet]`
10. `[Chiffre]% des [Audience] font ça. Est-ce que tu en fais partie ?`
11. `J'ai analysé [Chiffre] [Choses]. Voici ce que j'ai trouvé.`
12. `[Action normale] [Chiffre de résultat concret] [Contrainte honnête]` — "J'ai réduit mon temps de build de 60% sans changer d'infra"

> **Formulas à éviter en 2025+ sur LinkedIn FR** (saturées, pénalisées par l'algorithme) :
>
> - "J'ai fait une erreur, voici ce que j'ai appris"
> - "Ce que j'ai appris de mon plus gros échec"
> - Tout ce qui commence par "J'arrête..." sans vraiment partir

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## Platform Constraints Reference

| Platform | Length | Key rule |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Blog / SEO | 50–60 chars (600px) | Front-load keyword. No power words (-14% CTR in search). Google rewrites ~61% of titles — exaggerated framing triggers rewrite. |
| LinkedIn article | ≤150 chars | Under 100 for clean display. Indexes to Google — apply SEO conventions. |
| LinkedIn feed | ≤120–140 chars on mobile | Opening line = the title. Dwell-time signal: engineer a "see more" click. |
| Newsletter subject | 30–50 chars, 6–10 words | First 30 chars carry the signal. Avoid "Newsletter" (-18.7% opens). |
| X / Twitter | ≤200 chars (of 280) | First tweet = the title. Must stand alone. Vague framings consistently underperform. |

---

## Data Summary

| Study | Finding |
| --- | --- |
| Upworthy _Scientific Reports_ 2024 (8,977 A/B tests) | Curvilinear: too vague = confusion, too specific = no reason to click |
| Robertson et al. _Nature_ 2023 (22,743 RCTs) | Each negative word: +2.3% CTR; fear decreases clicks; sadness increases them |
| BuzzSumo 100M articles (2020) | Optimal length: 11 words / 65 chars. Numbered formats and how-to dominate. |
| Backlinko 4M Google results | 40–60 chars: +8.9% CTR. Power words: -13.9% CTR in search. |
| HubSpot/Outbrain 3.3M headlines | Brackets `[Format]`: +38% CTR |
| Outbrain 65,000 titles | Negative superlatives: +63% CTR over positive superlatives |
| CMI data | Odd numbers: +20% CTR over even numbers |
| BuzzSumo LinkedIn 10M articles | How-to posts: 3× more shares than other formats in B2B |