When You Don’t Know What to Say, Say Solution
Words. They still matter, yet you’d be surprised how many smart people don’t take full advantage of them. I know some people say “…Video is where it’s at” or they think we’ll all be using the modern day cave paintings of emojis to communicate, HOWEVER — it is a scientifically proven fact that people buy products and services only after reading the WORDS that make them want to buy those things. Words matter.
And not just any words will do. Marketing companies have a bad habit of stringing words together that kinda sound good, but lack any real meaning. This is a problem when dealing with audiences with an 8 second attention span who need their problems solved quickly and efficiently. Let’s look at a few marketing constructs that you shouldn’t use
Three words separated by periods that all begin with the same letter. Like — First. Focus. Family. It’s like some sort of word puzzle and I don’t have the answer key. This stuff does NOT make a good tagline either. This practice is dumb and it’s unclear. So stop it.
Trite words including “solution,” “robust”, “game-changing,” “transparent” etc. This is silly, unclear hype-filled drivel and I officially give everyone permission to just talk and not use words like this. Words do come in and out of fashion and people can get tired of them and they lose all meaning. Since the idea here is to CONVEY meaning, we want the meaning transfer. That is game-set and match.
Made up words or overly technical words — Use these at your own risk. You have eight seconds to make an impression and your audience will be off watching puppy videos. Go. Try not to make up words or litter your phrases with technical jargon. If you can’t tell the difference because you’re too close to it, hire a pro wordsmith to review it and fix it (Yep, I do this for clients and I’m a Certified StoryBrand Marketing Guide so you know my stuff will be CLEAR and SHARP!)
Being a great copywriter is about getting the message in your head into other people’s heads with as little interference as possible and that’s it. So write like you speak and ALWAYS review for clarity. And seriously, leave the marketing garbage for someone else. It really doesn’t work—and probably never did.
Always remember: If you confuse, you will lose.