7 Words or Phrases You Should Never Use in Advertising
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Words to Grow By
7. Friendly There’s nothing wrong with being friendly to your customers. Quite the contrary. It shows that you enjoy your work, that you take an interest in something other than the bottom line and, perhaps most importantly, that you’re approachable – without grudge – for service after the sale. But here’s the thing. Unless you’re ...
Words to Grow By
6. Virtually “Virtually” is to advertising what the asp was to Cleopatra. Deadly. Insidious. And entirely unwelcome. Just to be clear, “virtually” means “almost” or “practically.” But that’s not how advertisers use it. They use the word to imply “totally,” or the next best thing to “totally” while trying to get you to remove words ...
Words to Grow By
5. Integrity Old-fashioned virtues, like integrity, have been so diluted over time that we’ve been forced to lower our expectations…either that, or we’ve been so dumbied down we barely even notice. Until, that is, some crafty advertiser reminds of just how much integrity they possess as either a primary or secondary reason to do business ...
Words to Grow By
4. Dedicated It’s good to know, in a world of advertising sameness, that some companies are more “dedicated” to my well-being or satisfaction than others. I know that because they keep telling me so. “We’re dedicated to your 100% satisfaction.” Good thing you threw in the “100%” part; otherwise, I might have doubted your sincerity. ...
Words to Grow By
3. Care Just what the world needs more of…advertisers who “care.” Not only have you seen it and heard it…you can’t avoid it. “We care about you.” Yes, but what if I show up without my wallet? Or, for greater emphasis: “We REALLY care!” Vs. what…you falsely care? Look, as your customer or prospect, I ...
Words to Grow By
2. Unique This is a unique opportunity for me to “slam dunk” one of the most abused and misunderstood words not just in advertising, but in the entire English language. See what I just did there? I abused “unique” myself to make the point that this and every other opportunity in life – let alone ...
Words to Grow By
1. Quality. From Fortune 500 companies on down, this word has been used and abused forever. Well, here’s the big bombshell, folks: the word “quality” is not, never has been, and hopefully never will be an adjective. It’s a noun…period. And yet in marketing far and wide, it’s almost always used as an adjective, as ...
Words or Phrases You Should Never Use in Advertising – Words to Grow By
7 Words or Phrases You Should Never Use in Advertising Remember George Carlin’s famous list of “7 words you can’t say on television”? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but this list is entirely wholesome, though hopefully still somewhat unsettling. Truth is, there are a bazillion words or phrases that should never, ever be used in ...
