Want to increase your email open rate, white paper download rate, or registrations at your next speaking gig? Create a catchy title by turning the problem you solve on its head.

The contrarian approach gives readers an ironic break from the direct approach they are used to. It’s a very effective technique in marketing content strategy, and especially effective in B2B, where we’re all expected to be serious and straightforward.

I enjoyed this post by Chas Cooper, guest blogging on the Savvy B2B Marketing blog: “What Marketers Can Learn from Storytellers.” He recommends using the good guy/bad guy approach, and the cliffhanger, to surprise the reader and catch attention. The technique is great for case studies, which can get into a rut with the standby Problem-Action-Result formula.

We titled a white paper for demand generator PointClear: “Why Your Salesforce Needs Fewer Leads.” This title turned heads, and increased the open rate on the email campaign. And today, I received an email leading to HubSpot’s blog post, “7 Reasons Social Media is Bad for Marketing.” The post really is about seven bad practices. There is something compelling about the dark side.

The largest pool of a B2B’s prospects is made up of people who are unaware of the solution to their problem. Surprising, storytelling content grabs their attention, and raises questions that the unaware buyers need to be asking.