Advertising

When I was a kid, and I wanted something, my mother would always say What's the magic word? Advertising has magic words too. If you rely on advertising to make a living, you're going to need to know these seven magic words and how to use them.

So let's cut to the chase. The seven magic words are...

• You
• Instant
• Guarantee
• Fast
• Easy
• Free
• Now

Inject as many of these words into your ad as you can, assuming it makes sense to do so. For example, you wouldn't use the word “free” to describe something that cost money.

Knowing you, knowing me

The word “you” must always be used to refer to the reader of the ad. If I write a sentence, and use the word “you,” it implies that I'm taking to the reader.

This is a very good thing, because it personalizes the ad for the reader. Consider these two examples...

Everybody saves $50 — today only!

You save $50 — today only!

These two sentences say exactly the same thing, but the second is more powerful. It's much clearer to the reader that it's he or she that benefits.

Gimme gimme gimme right now!

Human beings are not patient creatures. Whatever it is we want, we want right now! We drink instant coffee, eat instant porridge, and buy fast-food in record quantities. Most products benefit from the instant treatment (exceptions are rare), because nobody likes waiting for anything.

Injecting the word “instant” into an ad has the effect of increasing it's power...

Double your sales!

Double your sales — instantly!

The above sentences both offer an attractive benefit to the reader, but the second example trumps the first by promising it now.

Guarantee

Doubt is your greatest enemy, and the most difficult to kill. The reassuring word “guarantee” helps you to overcome doubt in a skeptical world.

You make money instantly

You make money instantly — guaranteed

With the examples above, the first sentence makes a powerful promise to the reader. But the second injects more power by adding a single word! Notice the impact of that word on the overall excitement generated by the sentence?

Fast

Get out your thesaurus and look up the word “instant.” No doubt you'll find “fast” listed as a synonym. So yes, “fast” and “instant” are related. But they're not exactly the same.

“Fast” is an excellent word to use when “instant” doesn't apply. For example, if you have to ship a product, you can't use the word “instant.” But you can use the word “fast.” Here's an example that illustrates the point...

We ship instantly, so you get your widget fast

Other useful phrases that add immediacy to your ad include...

• “As soon as” instead of “when”
• “Quick” when “fast” doesn't read well (e.g. get rich quick)
• Add “now” or “right now” to an action (e.g. click here now

Easy

As a species, we're impatient. We're also lazy. Not only do we want it yesterday, we also want it spoon-fed. That's where the word “easy” comes into play. As shown in these three examples...

Five steps to wealth

Five easy steps to wealth

Five easy steps to instant wealth

Notice how each sentence is more powerful than the one that precedes it? It's an example of how to use the seven magic words to inject real power into your advertising.

Free

We've already established that people are impatient. We've also discovered that human beings are lazy. And guess what? We're cheap too!

I'm not being altogether serious (just in case you were wondering). The power in the word “free” doesn't come from any innate miserly tendency.

The word “free” is powerful because it removes doubt.

When an item is free, the potential buyer is not at risk of being ripped off. He or she can't lose when an offer is free.

This is the real reason why a free offer usually enjoys a higher take-up than a paid offer (all else being equal).

The great thing is, once the potential client has taken up your free offer and benefited from it, he or she is more likely to buy something from you.

There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that you've removed much of the risk that comes with dealing with a complete stranger (i.e. you're no longer a stranger to someone who has benefited from your free offer).

Now

The word “now” can be used in place of “instant,” but that's not how I mean it here.

This seventh magic word can also be used to imply that something has changed, and as a result of the change, there's now an important new benefit for the reader. Here's an example...

You get 250 million ads!

Now you get 250 million ads”

Notice how the second sentence seems that little bit more interesting? The implication is that you used to get fewer ads, but due to a recent change, now you get more.

Putting it all together

These seven magic words may not all fit in a single ad. I'm not suggesting you contrive to write some kind of crazy uber ad that includes every single powerful word in the English dictionary.

You must make sure your ad reads well. And it's vital that your use of these words makes sense. Simply injecting these words for no good reason will not produce a powerful ad.

Even so, with a little care and attention, you'll find some or all of these words will fit any ad you're using. Take a little time, and work over your ad.

You'll soon pump up the power, and make more money as a result.