Ask your typical marketing professional which words truly sell and you’ll get all kinds of answers.
They’ll talk about value propositions, brand promises, SEO, proof points and more. They’ll also spend hours describing the difference between these communication practices, how they’re crafted and when to use them.
It’s enough to make you think you need a Ph.D. in marketing to sell anything, right?
In truth, all you need are well-written messages that do these three things:
- Articulate who you are and what you stand for.
- Appeal to the people most likely to buy from you.
- Describe exactly how you’re going to improve their lives.
In the process of creating TruPerception, I asked myself tough questions that clarified who I am and what I stand for, which in turn helped me to define my views on reputation management and my key theme: Good ways to deliver bad news. Then I determined who would benefit from my services, researched the words most likely to appeal to them and then used those words to craft my business-related communications—starting with my website.
So, what kinds of words can get people to buy what you’re selling? They are clear, familiar, unpretentious words that:
Capture the reader’s interest and address his or her needs.
- Convey a positive tone.
- Highlight results.
- Provide a course of action.
Period. The basics are that simple. Know your audience, what you want them to do and then clearly tell them how to do it. And exploit positive word-of-mouth and testimonials whenever, wherever you can.
It takes time and practice to master the skill of choosing words that sell . . . but it’s worth the effort.
Before you act . . .
If you don’t already, start documenting the words that people use to describe the benefits of your products or services. They’re there for the picking in customer surveys, social media comments and customer reviews.
