Power Up Your Ads with These Words

Advertisements are mainly made up of words, spoken or printed. Which words you choose for your advertisements can mean customers in the door, or an empty store. Which one would you rather have?

To get customers in your doors, you must use powerful words—words that get people’s attention and draws them in. Color printing may help, but it’s the words that convey your message.

Here are some powerful words to use in your next commercial printing piece:

1. Secret. People are curious by nature. They want to know everything they can. Using the word “secret” piques their interest, and if you let them in on your secret, that makes them feel special. Another phrase along the same lines that works well is “little-known.”

2. Brand new. The word “new” has a sense of urgency about it. When something new comes out, people want it fast. They want it before their friends, family and foes. “Improved” is another word that makes people get out of their seats for a product. Using “new and improved” makes an even bigger impression. People want to hurry up and get it because it’s new and they’re curious to see how the product has been improved.

3. Power or powerful. Either one of these words evokes a sense of strength. If you have a “powerful cleaner,” you just know it’s going to get that stingy stain out of the carpet. When using “power” or “powerful” in a commercial printing piece, such as a flyer, make sure the font matches the word’s connotation. For “power” you would want a large, block, sans serif font to convey the strength of the word and in turn convey the strength of your product.

4. Magic. This word is for the lazy people that like the word “power.” “Magic” suggests you can do something without much effort. “Magic” also implies urgency, because magic in the movies usually happens pretty quickly. Snap your fingers and something appears. Wave a wand and something disappears. Magic is quick so you’d better get it while you can!

5. Insider or inside information. Again this appeals to people’s curiosity. This implies that the writer has something that not many people know about; only a special, select group knows this information. People want to feel special and they’re willing to pay for the “inside information” (or ‘inside scoop” as a variation) to feel special or to get an advantage over their competition. Notice how these words all play to emotions?

6. Free. This is a biggie. I don’t think I need to explain why people like getting things at no cost to them. Just make sure that when they show up for their free item or service, that it really is free. Doing anything else lessens your credibility. This word is considered overused by many, but if you really mean it and can deliver something for free, by all means do it.

7. You. Potential customers want to know what you can do for them. Also, you’re talking directly to the customer, forming a relationship. You can’t go wrong with this power word.

8. Guarantee. This works especially well with big-ticket items. People want to know that their satisfaction is guaranteed. They’ll be more willing to take a risk and buy your product if they know they can return it or that you’ll fix it if something negative were to happen. You may want to make this word a different, eye-catching color in your color printing materials. Make sure that people see it so that they’ll feel they’re taking a safe risk by buying your product. Anything that is guaranteed shows confidence in the product. And who would want to buy a product that the company making it doesn’t believe in?

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