It’s a tricky tightrope to walk on for sure. I think your intentions matter most. If you know deep down in your heart you’re not just crapping out articles, then it’s fine to use elements of marketing to polish it.
I think as readers we can tell who’s just peddling words and who actually cares about their writing. I’ve seen pieces that come off as click bait initially, but then turn out to be thoughtful, so I do think it’s important to find a way to get them to engage with your content.
As long as the meat of the post is good, then it’s fair game.
