68: Banish these words from your online marketing (and what to say instead)
In this episode of ill communication, I'm getting a little hot and bothered about some words and phrases that need to disappear from our online marketing.
These are words that are thrown around willy-nilly without really giving much thought to it.
Some of these words and phrases are just plain lazy, and they show you haven't really given much thought to your reader.
It’s time to stop using throwaway marketing terms just because everyone else is using them! Use these tips to put some thought and care into it by finding out what your customers actually want.
Trust me, it’s going to make your marketing materials so much juicier.
So grab a notebook and get ready to jot down some of these lazy words and phrases!
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
The words you need to erase from all of your marketing now
Why these words are just not working for your business like you think they are
How to brainstorm alternative words to add some pizzazz to your marketing
I hope you enjoyed these tips and that they inspired you to kick those boring and overused marketing terms to the curb so you can replace them with more exciting marketing words.
I need to know, what words do you want to banish from online marketing? Share with me on social media!
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[00:00:03] Welcome to ill communication, copywriting tips and sales strategies for small business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist, and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and change makers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts, and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soulmate clients. Let's get started. Empower. Challenge. Transformation. Learn. These [00:01:00] are all the words I want you to banish from your marketing. After today. Hey there and welcome to episode 68 of the Ill Communication Podcast. Now, today I'm getting a little hot and bothered about some words and phrases that need to disappear from our online marketing. These are words that are thrown around willy nilly without really giving much thought to it. Some of these words and phrases are just plain lazy, and they show you haven't really given much thought for your reader. So grab a notebook and get ready to jot down some of these lazy words and phrases. The first word that needs to go is empower. Oh, I see this word so often in the coaching world. I'll help you empower yourself from within, empowering you to build a better relationship. How to empower your teams. What the actual f does this mean? Now, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, empower [00:02:00] is a verb that means one to give official authority or legal power to someone or something to to enable and provide the means and opportunity to do something, or three to promote the self-actualization or influence of others.
[00:02:16] And this is the definition most people are using in the online coaching world. So yes, I think a lot of the online coaches and marketers are using the word correctly. But here's the thing your audience isn't talking about becoming empowered. They don't think that's their problem, and it's certainly not something they dream of being. I can tell you, I have bought a lot of coaching and therapy, and never once have I said, gee, I just wish I could feel empowered about my business. I would bet you a Taylor Swift ticket that none of your clients are lying awake at night wishing. Oh, if only I had more empowerment. So what should you say instead? [00:03:00] You simply say in plain language, exactly what you do and exactly what your clients say they want in their words. So instead of empower you to have better relationships, you might say, I give you the tools and support so you can stop fighting with your husband and fall in love again instead of empowering yourself from within. You might say, I help women stop second guessing themselves every time they have to make a big decision, even if other people won't like it. Instead of empowering your team, you might say, get the leadership and listening skills that will make your team members feel confident to speak up and take action without being asked.
[00:03:43] Yes, you will have to write more words, but I promise your audience will understand what you're saying and they will be curious to find out more. Okay. The next word to banish is learn. Want to go to any webinar or [00:04:00] PDF free download and you'll see this phrase in this webinar you will learn. Or in this mini course you will learn. The problem with the word learn is it implies work. Learning takes work, and learning isn't always fun, and your readers or audience don't want to invest time in learning something new. Instead, they want the tools, the fast path, the blueprint. Yes, they're going to learn something when they work with you, but don't sell learning. Instead, use a word or phrase like discover, find out, or get. As in. In this webinar, you'll discover X, Y, and Z. In this mini course you'll find out how to blank. Or in this program, you'll get the specific steps to whatever in your sales copy. Ditch the word learn and replace it with discover or find out. Now, the next word that's got to go is challenge. [00:05:00] And I mean, when you're talking about a three or a five day mini series or a live launch, you see there are some very prominent coaches who teach online marketers to have a five day challenge as a conversion event. You invite potential customers to a five day challenge, where you each day host a one hour masterclass or training. Typically on the third or fourth day, you make a pitch to join your higher ticket program.
[00:05:28] Now the thing is, a lot of people just take this word for granted and use it for their five day event. But it is very rarely a challenge where you're going against someone or challenging something like, we challenge people to a duel or to a race. You make a challenge in court and yes, we can challenge ourselves to do something difficult or new. But challenges imply hard work. There's an air of negativity to the word challenge. So you should really [00:06:00] ask yourself if your audience wants to sign up for a five day challenge. Now, of course, if you're hosting a post every day on social media for 30 days event, or if you're inviting people to drink smoothies every day for seven days, then I think it's legit to call it a challenge. I will allow it. The point here is, before you just automatically call something a challenge, stop, think and make sure it is indeed a challenge. Ask yourself if your audience is looking for another challenge or are they looking for an easier way, a faster path, a blueprint, something to actually remove the challenges from their lives? If it's not a true challenge, then find a different word or phrase to describe your event. You could call it a masterclass series, a boot camp, a three day intensive, or a five day experience. Just don't call a thing a challenge because that's what everyone else is calling it. [00:07:00] Put some thought and creativity into what your audience wants and needs and then call it that.
[00:07:07] Another word that annoys me and should be banished from our marketing transform. If you're going to talk about transformation and change, it could mean anything. So if you do use this word, make sure you paint a picture of what the transformation looks like. So instead of transform your body, say something more specific like drop a dress size instead of transform your business. Say something like dial in your lead generation system so you can make sales while you sleep. Another phrase you need to banish from your emails and marketing. I'm thrilled to announce, or I'm delighted to announce when you use this phrase, it's typically in an announcement email or on a sales page where you're selling something or opening the doors to something. But here's why this phrase is so annoying. Nobody really cares what you're thrilled about. [00:08:00] They care about the thing that you're selling and how it will make their lives easier or better. So instead of saying, I'm thrilled to announce my upcoming workshop, use a few more words to say something like finding clients during the holidays can feel really tough. That's why I created this workshop for you. Doors are now open to the find ten clients by December 10th workshop. See, just putting a little more context, putting it in the view of your reader makes it a stronger phrase. And the final phrase that needs to go is I hope this email finds you well. Seriously, it's almost 2024 and we're still using this phrase in our emails.
[00:08:44] Please, please, please, for the love of cheese, don't write that phrase in your email newsletters. It just feels very disingenuous and it's a little lazy. There are several memes about the I hope this email finds you well phrase, and it's [00:09:00] because people are still using this throwaway line. Instead, take some time to come up with a juicy line to open your email. Some of my favorite tactics is to start with a story, but don't just start with the story. Start in the middle of the story, near the climax, and then back up and tell the story. Something like I was about to experience my most embarrassing moment ever. And then you carry on. Or start with a line of dialog or a thought, as in quote Kim, watch out, you're going to fall. Quote. That's what my husband said as I leaned over the creaky balcony to take a photo. You could start with a single number, as in 75. That's the number of sales my client made in one day. The point here is you want to hook people right at the beginning of your email, so they'll want to keep reading. And I'm sorry, but I hope this email finds you well is just not going to cut [00:10:00] it. There are plenty of other marketing terms and phrases I really hate, like Tripwire and Squeeze Page, and I'm also not so much a fan of the term self-love, but I won't carry on any more with this little rant.
[00:10:14] What it really comes down to is not taking the time and care to really think about what we're writing to ask ourselves, is there a more effective, more specific, or more exciting way I could say this? Use an online thesaurus like word hippo or even ChatGPT to brainstorm different words and phrases to use. Think of the words your customers use and the wishes they have for themselves, and don't be lazy and just use some throwaway marketing term because everyone else is using it. Put some thought and care and pizzazz into creating juicier, more exciting, and less lazy marketing. But what about you? What are some of the marketing terms [00:11:00] or jargon you find annoying and think should be banished? Please find me on social media and let me know. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode. I challenge you to join me next week and every week after that. Bye for now. Hey, thanks for joining me for today's episode. But before you go, I want to make sure you've grabbed a new tool to help you assess the effectiveness of your sales copy. It's an easy to use tool that will help you identify what's working well and what could we improved among all of the copy assets you have in your business? Grab the Sales Copy scorecard right now to find quick and easy ways to improve your sales copy and boost sales. Get your free scorecard over at Khimki NHL.com Slash scorecard. I'll be back next week with another quick tip writing prompt or sales hack for you.
[00:11:54] See you then.
Resources Mentioned
Use my fave online thesaurus to find juicier words and phrases
Additional Resources
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