How to use power words to generate more business

Kamreno | How to use power words to generate more business

You have most likely heard the quote “a picture is worth a thousand words” by advertising executive, Fred R. Barnard and, while we love and agree with this quote, we would like to challenge it slightly.

There’s no doubt that visual images in online marketing are very powerful, and they can be very effective in grabbing attention and influencing a potential customer but, the quote by Fred Barnard underestimates the power of using the right words.

Whether it’s in email marketing subject lines, website content or advertising, the right words need to accompany the right visuals – and one way to do this is with the use of power words.

What are power words?

Power words are words that you can use in your marketing to increase the chances of someone buying your brand. They add a certain power or weight to the overall message.

Examples of power words include proven, guaranteed or exclusive.

A stain remover product might carry the message “Proven to remove stains” rather than “Removes stains”, while marketing copy for a time-saving app might contain the words “Guaranteed to save you time”.

Adding the words proven or guaranteed increase the appeal of the offer. Would you rather buy a stain remover that removes stains or that’s proven or guaranteed to remove stains?

Some power words create desire or prompt the reader to take action. This includes words or phrases such as exclusive, limited time only and don’t miss out.

Power words can also be adjectives that describe a product or service (such as the word delicious in a message that says “try our delicious ice cream!”).

How to use power words

Power words can be used in all types of marketing copy and the exact words you use (and how often you use them) should depend on the context and what you are trying to achieve.

Here are some tips for using power words in your marketing to generate more business:

Include them when stating the benefits of what you offer

On your website and in adverts, you might have details on the features and benefits of what you offer. Make sure to include a small number of power words to highlight the strength of those benefits.

For example, use power words such as easy-to-use, quick and simple when describing a particular feature or benefit.

Customers are more likely to want to buy a software solution or central heating thermostat that has an easy-to-use control panel for managing devices!

Other power words that you can use when stating the features and benefits include new, improved and state-of-the-art.

Your tech products might have a new and improved design including a specific state-of-the-art feature.

Use power words in your call to action

A call to action (or CTA) is the key message in your marketing copy that prompts the reader to take positive action such as to get in touch with you or make a purchase.

Power words such as “now” or “today” can create urgency by adding them to make the phrase “To get access to this product, call us today”.

Other power words can be used to strengthen the benefit of taking action, such as the words unmissable deal, exclusive or limited time in the following examples:

Fill out the form below now to take advantage of this unmissable deal!

Call now to grab this exclusive offer

This product is only available for a limited time. Click the buy button now to avoid missing out.

Have power words in your headlines

When someone lands on your website or first sees your marketing flyer, the first words they are most likely to read is the headline. Your headline needs to grab their attention and be memorable (in a positive way). It needs to get your key message across succinctly and the best way to do this is to include one or two power words in the right place.

Note: headlines shouldn’t be too long and for this reason, we don’t recommend using too many power words. Preferably, one is enough and two at the very most.

A business coach can have a headline such as “Proven Business Coaching to help your business”.

This is much better than a headline crammed with power words that reads “Estabished Proven Business Coaching to help you dramatically increase profits and quickly grow your business”. If you lost interest halfway through that, we can understand!

Beyond power words

In this blog post, we have focused on power words and how they can easily be used to generate more business.

Great content, however, isn’t just about power words. There are various other ways that you can use words to make your marketing copy more effective.

An example of this is by using the power of asking questions.

We live busy lives and every day we are bombarded with information from various sources, and retaining the attention of our target audience is becoming harder.

If the headline doesn’t retain their attention, the potential customer will be easily distracted by other things. The power of asking questions helps to overcome this.

If your headline asks a question, it stops the reader in their tracks as their mind tries to answer the question. In many cases, asking a question related to your product or service is more effective than a headline that states the benefits of what you offer.

Call us… today?

There are many more examples of how the right wording in your marketing and help you to get the right results in your business. We can’t cover them here, but if you would like to know more about how great marketing copy can help you then why not give us a call today?

We would love to hear from you.

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