Yesterday, an article I wrote was published on Entrepreneur.com entitled Misleading Marketing Copy. The article discusses words and phrases that businesses should avoid or at the least use very cautiously when writing copy for ads or marketing materials. These words and phrases could not only invite bad press, but they can also open advertisers up to potential legal problems.
Aside from negative repercussions, some words and phrases are so overused in copywriting that they have completely lost their meaning. Instead of catching an audience's attention, words that were once powerful have become mundane and succeed not in driving customers to action but rather in boring them.
In the article, I provide five examples of words and phrases to avoid in copywriting:
- Free (no cost, no investment, etc.)
- Guarantee (promise, etc.)
- Lowest price
- Risk free or no risk
- Up to or at least
Follow the link to read the full Misleading Marketing Copy article to learn more about how these words and phrases can damage otherwise great copy.
Can you think of any other words and phrases that can open an advertiser up to legal troubles or negative publicity? Alternatively, can you think of any other words and phrases that have lost their power and become fairly meaningless in advertisements?
Wow, Susan - congratulations, that's wonderful that your article was published! Great tips, too.
Posted by: Easton Ellsworth | January 11, 2008 9:00 AM | Permalink to Comment