The Power of Words

Power words are those that plant an immediate seed in the reader. They spark curiosity, worry or urgency, making a person more likely to click through to find out more. Strong online marketing uses power words like a seasoning: lightly and in conjunction with all the best ingredients.

Where Do Power Words Go?

Powerful language—content that conveys your message quickly and appropriately and helps the reader see your products and services at work in their lives—should be the aim of all your marketing content. But specific power words don't have to parade through every paragraph. Instead, concentrate on ensuring they're present in important locations, such as:

• Meta titles and descriptions
• Page headings and subheadings
• Email subject lines
• Calls to action
• Text for online ads

5 Types of Power Words to Use

Power marketing words tend to run in packs—it’s not about remembering a list of individual words but about understanding how language impacts the people reading your message. Here are some types of words to consider including in your marketing.

Words that demonstrate value: Free is the most powerful of these, but others include deal, best-selling, new, bargain, budget, best and lowest. Percent and dollar signs also help convey that your message might help someone save money or score a great deal.

Words that evoke emotions: When someone has an emotional reaction of any kind, they're more likely to take action or remember your message. Words that convey emotion or motivate the reader to feelings include discover, tempting, bold, unusual, create, inspire and epic.

Words that create urgency: If someone is teetering on the fence of a purchase decision, a few well-placed words that create urgency can push them over. These words include options such as urgent, now, limited, hurry, only, temporary, rare, exclusive, act, instant, today and immediate.

Words that foster fear: You certainly don't want to fear-monger, but throwing in an occasional word that aligns with the fear of missing out on value or making a mistake in purchasing can actually help people see your business as trustworthy and helpful. Some of those words can include beware, alarming, risk, avoid and costly.

Words that make people feel safe: On the flipside, you can use words that invoke security more often than those that embrace fears. Consider words such as safe, moneyback, tested, lifetime, no-obligation, verified, certified and authentic.

Can you simply string power words together through every sentence and paragraph? No. Many of these words say nothing if they're not used appropriately in context. And, you have to back up the promise of these phrases with something else. But peppering your content with power words can help drive more traffic and conversions, especially when you invest in experienced copywriters and marketing teams to create that content.