What Is Ego Bait?
Ego bait is a type of content made to make someone feel good about themselves. It often praises a person, brand, or expert and shows them in a positive light. The goal is to encourage that person to notice the content, share it, or link to it.
Definition
Ego bait is a marketing and SEO tactic where you create content that flatters or features specific people. You might include them in lists, interviews, quotes, or reviews. Because their name and work are highlighted, they may respond by sharing the content with their audience or linking to it from their website or social profiles.
Why Ego Bait Matters
Ego bait matters because it can:
- Bring more traffic when featured people share your content
- Help you earn backlinks, which supports SEO
- Build relationships with influencers and experts
- Increase trust, because you show real people and real examples
When used honestly and respectfully, ego bait can help both sides. The creator gets more reach, and the featured person gets more attention and social proof.
How Ego Bait Works
Here is the basic process:
- Choose your targets. Pick experts, brands, or creators who are active online and related to your topic.
- Create real value. Make helpful content, such as a list of top tools, best blogs, or expert tips, and include them in a genuine way.
- Highlight them clearly. Use their name, photo, brand, and link to their work. Explain why they are in your content.
- Tell them about it. After you publish, politely message them by email or social media and share the link.
- They may share or link. If they like it, they might repost it, talk about it, or link to it, which brings you new visitors and authority.
Ego Bait vs Other Content
- Ego bait vs normal blog posts
Normal posts focus on the topic only. Ego bait also focuses on specific people and makes them look good. - Ego bait vs paid promotion
With paid promotion, you buy ads. With ego bait, you try to earn free shares and links by making people feel valued. - Ego bait vs clickbait
Clickbait uses shocking titles to get clicks, often with weak content. Ego bait aims to be truly flattering and useful so people are happy to share it.
Example of Ego Bait
Imagine you run a small marketing blog. You write a post called “15 Young Marketers to Watch This Year”.
- You add real photos, short bios, and links to each marketer.
- You explain why each person is impressive.
- After publishing, you email or tag each marketer and say, “I featured you in this list, thank you for your great work.”
Some of them may share your article on social media or even link to it from their websites. That is ego bait in action.
FAQs
Is ego bait bad or dishonest?
It is not bad if you are honest. Only feature people you truly respect, and explain clearly why they deserve the praise. It becomes a problem if you lie or flatter just to trick people.
Does ego bait always get backlinks?
No. There is no guarantee. Some people will ignore it. But if your content is high quality and you feature the right people, your chances of shares and links are higher.
How can I make ego bait more effective?
Choose people who are active online, write helpful and clear content, use strong visuals, and send a friendly personal message instead of a spammy copy paste note.
Is ego bait only for big influencers?
No. It can work with small creators, local businesses, or niche experts. Sometimes smaller people are even more thankful and more likely to share.
