Navigate
X

The 14 Most Powerful and Effective Words in Marketing.

I have a question for you. Let’s say you’re walking down the halls of The Home Depot, Target, Barnes & Noble, or any other retail outlet and you grab something on impulse off the shelf.

What made you do that?

Or here’s another one. Let’s say you’re surfing the web and you notice an ad for a red pair of shoes (that just happen to be the exact pair of shows you were looking at online the other day, by the way). You click through on the ad and before you know it, you’ve bought the shoes.

But when they arrive, you ask yourself, “Why did I buy these? I don’t actually need them.”

Here’s a final scenario — you’ve been told about a deadline to buy concert tickets, join a health club or even buy a car for 0% interest. The sheer power of the deadline or the false sense of scarcity gets your heart racing and mind spinning. Next thing you know, you’ve pulled out your wallet to buy the tickets, join the club or drive off in the new car.

It’s crazy, isn’t it?

What powerful words are being used to get you to make those kinds of purchases?

Well, I have some good news for you. Marketers actually know which words you’ll respond to — based on decades of research in the direct response industry. And I’m ready to share those words with you today.

Below, you’ll find the 14 most powerful and effective words in marketing. I first came across these in a book called 2,239 Tested Secrets for Direct Marketing Success (affiliate link).

These are the 14 words that direct marketing agencies have known about for years. They’re based on decades of A/B split tests that have proven which words get people to buy stuff and which words don’t get people to buy stuff.

With all that in mind, here are the 14 most powerful and effective words in marketing:

  • Free
  • Now
  • You
  • Save
  • Money
  • Easy
  • Guarantee
  • Health
  • Results
  • New
  • Love
  • Discovery
  • Proven
  • Safety

After decades of testing, these words have proven to be the ones that are the most persuasive at encouraging people to choose Brand A over Brand B.

What do all these words have in common?

Each and every one of them taps into an emotional trigger that originates from Sub-Cortical and Limbic areas of the brain. These areas are more commonly known as the “Lizard Brain” where our deepest and most instinctive impulses originate. (We’ll be talking about the Lizard Brain in a post scheduled for later this week.)

In addition, these words tap into the 13 Most Important Emotional Triggers for Consumers, which is what we’ll be talking about in tomorrow’s post.

How should you use these words in your marketing campaigns?

For starters, I’d encourage you to do an A/B split test with a paid search, direct mail or email marketing campaign. Use words like Free, New and Proven in one of your ads, and don’t use them in the other one. Then compare the results and you’ll see how much more revenue you generated from Version A vs. Version B. Will there be a huge difference? That depends on your product or service. But I can guarantee there will be a difference.

I hope you’ll come back tomorrow where I’ll be writing about the 13 Most Important Emotional Triggers for Consumers. That’s going to be a fun post to write and to read.

About the Author: Jamie Turner is an internationally-recognized speaker, author and business thought-leader. You’ll find him on the 60 Second Marketer and as an expert commentator on CNN. He is the founder of SIXTY, a marketing optimization firm that helps clients get more bang for their marketing buck. 

View Comments (41)

  • Hi, thanks for sharing the 14 powerful and effective words in marketing, they will surely catch the eye of those marketers. A good content is important, but it is equally important to get the emails to the inboxes of targeted audience. For example, Comm100 Newsletter can send free emails to the inboxes with 95% delivery rate or even higher. I think this means a lot in a successful email marketing campaign.

  • Started an account at sxsw...to vote for you...your link brought up a 2011 proposal...could not find a vote for location...Sorry...

  • Hi, Tom --

    I'll have to update this blog post -- the link above is for the 2011 SXSW (which I was fortunate enough to speak at). As soon as the 2012 nominations happen, I'll update it with a new link.

    Thanks,
    Jamie

  • I think the entire infomercial and in many respects most of the companies selling these impulse type products could and would not survive without impulse buying, and the accompanying failure to follow through when a customer finally realizes they have been duped... never actually returning the product rather they pile up in a spare room or basement.

    • Hi, USMC --

      Thanks for stopping by and making your comment.

      Certainly, there are a percentage of people who feel duped when they buy a product via infomercial, but I have to assume that the vast majority of them feel as though they got good value. After all, if everybody felt duped, then infomercials would have gone away decades ago.

      All that said, we appreciate you stopping by and making a comment.

      -- Jamie

  • I wonder if in five years, they remain the same - or they would be switched to other words like - quality, seo, social etc.

  • that really nice but some other words are also importand for long term growth that are quality ,approved,importantetc

  • Let me see if I understand how to apply what you are saying...

    The most IMPORTANT DISCOVERY of your life is here.  NOW YOU can get your own copy of the guaranteed system that’s designed to give YOU supreme self confidence.  I make it EASY because today YOU will SAVE 100% of your MONEY and get your own copy of my NEW book absolutely FREE... enjoy my full GUARANTEE that the healthy condition of your self confidence will start to produce the same PROVEN RESULTS that are typical of everyone who does the EASY steps this program lays out.

    In the SAFETY of my expert guidance YOU will discover the key that unlocks your ability to attract the opposite SEX, make far more MONEY, set your feet on the path leading to continuous improvement, wipe away your fears, create more loving and connected relationships, live with better HEALTH, and take on challenges that previously seemed too difficult.  YOU might choose to lose weight, overcome bad habits, live a longer and more fulfilled life, become famous for what YOU do, etc.  YOU will be among the elite and highly successful but relatively few who have taken advantage of these guarded secrets.  YOU will erase the uncertainty and doubt that has previously held YOU back.  E-mail TractionTraining @ yahoo.com today and my NEW and recently improved book “The Traction Guide to Supreme Self Confidence” is yours for the asking.  It’s loaded with value.  It’s written with the highest QUALITY content.  This is the most IMPORTANT book YOU will read in the current century.  YOU will absolutely LOVE getting EASY RESULTS with this step by step and completely PROVEN and guaranteed system.  Awesome! Limited time offer - act now while it is still available.

    Jess Mickelson
    The Traction Dr.

Leave a Comment
Related Post
  1. PPC Ads: Can They Be Used For Link Building?

    Businesses and website owners must be aware of both link-building and PPC ads. These two…

  2. Dogs in Advertising

    Using dogs in commercials often sparks viewers' emotions, building trust for the business, regardless of…

  3. Great T-shirt Advertising Ideas

    T-shirts are very versatile pieces of clothing to wear. All over the world, several billions…