If you’re experienced in online copywriting, you know that “you” is generally considered to be one of the most effective copywriting power words, ranking right up there with free, new and save.
As direct marketing legend Herschell Gordon Lewis says in The Art of Writing Copy, “Unless the reader regards himself as the target of your message, benefit can’t exist. Benefit demands a ‘We/You’ relationship.”
Among Mr. Lewis’s other favorite copywriting power words:
- free
- free gift
- limited time
- right now
- surprise
- hot
- first time offered
- not sold in stores
- good only until [DATE]
- Don’t miss out
- I’ll look for your order
- Try it at our risk
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Online copywriting borrows from magazine covers
Today’s online copywriters are a hybrid of journalist and marketer, employing the best skills of both crafts. We—and I include myself in this group of online copywriting hybrids—have broader concerns that inform and influence the words we choose.
They boil down to two fundamental questions:
- What are the keywords that people use to arrive at your website?
- What words in email subject lines trigger the highest open rates?
Here’s a list of copywriting power words used by one of our former clients who was very successful in transitioning from a legacy magazine model to a digital-first business model. These words were posted on office walls, and were used interchangeably for newsstand magazine cover lines, promotional copy, and email subject lines:
- Improve
- Trust
- Immediately
- Discover
- Profit
- Learn
- Know
- Understand
- Powerful
- Best
- Win
- Hot Special
- More
- Bonus
- Exclusive
- Extra
- You
- Free
- Health
- Guarantee
- New
- Proven
- Safety
- Money
- Now
- Today
- Results
- Protect
- Help
- Easy
- Amazing
- Latest
- Extraordinary
- How to
- Worst
- Ultimate
- Hot
- First
- Big
- Anniversary
- Premiere
- Basic
- Complete
- Save
- Plus!
- Create
The list was compiled by Curtis Circulation Company, a leading national newsstand distributor of magazines, and Linda Ruth of Publishers Single Copy Sales Services, by studying best-selling magazine covers.
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Used judiciously in online copywriting, power words can grab a reader’s attention and help communicate and persuade. But they are not a substitute for formal structure. Good online copywriting requires an orderly format that moves the reader along to a purchase decision.
Power words can be, well, powerful, but they do not work without context. Power words in online copywriting need to be used in cooperation with all of the other tools in the copywriter’s bag of tricks.
We also recommend tools like SubjectLine.com, and the Email Subject Line Tester to help develop effective, compelling subject lines that withstand sophisticated SPAM filters.
We also like CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer.
… and the old trusty Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer from the Advanced Marketing Institute.
Additionally, a newer tool is Sharethrough’s headline analyzer which gives you a scorecard after you enter your title.
Also, be sure to study Google Analytics to find out which terms consumers are using to get to your website, and use those liberally. Together, all of these tools can help you write more effective headlines and discover the online copywriting power words that work best for your company and industry.
What are the power words that seem to perform in your efforts? Let us know below.
This article was originally published in 2012 and has been updated.
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As an “old school” marketer getting up-to-speed with the online world, this article is very comforting and demonstrates that nothing has really changed in human nature and how to write convincingly – it is just the online vehicles that we now use. The bonus is we now have great access to analytics at our fingertips that old school measures of effectiveness would have taken ages to collect and analyse. Inspiring!
Great article.
Also, don’t forget the power of words like Powerful, Realistic, Amazing, Unbelievable etc.
Then there are the negative words like Also-ran, disgusting experience etc…
The essential purpose of any sales copy is to…
Make a connection with the reader.
Emotional words that connect with the reader therefore, are a prerequisite if you want to connect with your audience very well and sell more product.
As you mention, the word ‘You’ is a very powerful and strong word to use in any sales copy for any copywriter.
In essence, good sales copy is the bridge between the seller and the buyer.
The more powerful, emotional words you can use in your sales copy, the more you will strengthen the bond (credibility, trust) between both parties….enabling a sale to take place easily.
I think anything with a strong call to action is a word that will help generate some good conversions, whether online or offline.