Words That Work And Words That Don’t

Posted by Lea

June 14, 2008

I first noticed that some words can still have a pretty powerful effect on me, when faced with rows and rows of fish & chip shops down in Devon a couple of weeks ago. Being an NLP practitioner and versed in the tactics used by copywriters everywhere, I’m always somewhat cynical when faced with marketing copy and advertising.

But if you’re faced with 5 equally empty fish & chip shops in a row, how do you decide which one to go for?

In the end, we chose shop #3 and the fish and chips were really delicious - fluffy dry chips with crispy outsides and perfectly battered white fish which flaked apart in chunks, doused with lashings of vinegar and sprinkles of sea salt mmm mmm mmm!

So how did we decide? It wasn’t a recommendation from a passer-by, nor did we choose based on price, colours on the sign, cleanliness of the shop nor any other factor…it was the fact that shop #3 had two words on its sign that the others didn’t.

It wasn’t any of the following words…

Exclusive
Best
Luxury
Designer
Leading
Only

But it could have been any of the following…

Award-winning (these were the ones on the sign)
Voted #1 by…
As used/recommended by [insert recognisable name of someone I do respect]

Why do they work? It’s the social aspect - the fact that it’s not just the company saying they’re the best/leading/only but that others have said it too. And with the current love of social networking and the re-growth of communities (albeit online), they’re the words that convey that others in the community agree.

A word of warning though…if you’re planning to use any of these words in your marketing copy to attract your target market, make sure you can back them up and you’re not just saying them.

Which words still have an effect on you?

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