⚡How to power up your power words

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 If you’re feeling half as good as me, count yourself blessed, lucky, whatever. 

Today I’ve got some easy pickins for ya in the Main Thing. Power words you can swipe to overpower your audience. Make them cry, laugh, or clutch their pearls. And hopefully buy from you.

After that, dig into Monday Marketing News.

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The Main Thing

How to Put Your Power Words on Steroids

There are countless power word lists that litter the interwebs.  

Power words are great for headlines. 

The problem? Most marketers don’t use these muscled-up words enough (as you’ll see coming up in a quick breakdown of their usefulness).

Also, we don’t mix power words up enough. 

Swiping power words off “common lists” can make us repeat ourselves with phrases and patterns. 

So here’s how to add hulk-like power words you may not find on a basic list or a puritan list or a scientology one either… 

How to Find Power Words to Wield Like Tom Cruise in that Samurai Film

My #1 tip: Read slower. And read things you normally don’t. It helps you spot power words that are new to you and hopefully your audience. 

No time to read more? Watching / listening to videos and audio outside your norms can achieve similar results.

You gotta get outside the box with your “inputs” before you can output anything that rattles your readers’ craniums. 

Examples of easy ways to do this:

• A Gen Zer could listen to 90s rap or 70s country music

• A Gen Xer could read a book written by a Gen Zer

• A Millennial could watch black-and-white films 

• A Boomer could read a magazine dedicated to Taylor Swift

Silly? Maybe. But how else can you find power words that aren’t overused? 

5 power words from a quick browse of YouTube titles:

1. “Trolled”

2. “Owned”

3. “Broke Loose”

4. “Under Fire”

5. “Slash”

Remember, attention-grabbing, conversion-causing words work in other ways besides headlines.

Benefits of Using Power Words

• Changing a single power word in marketing copy can boost conversion rates by up to 139%.

• Sprinkling a few powerful words into your copy can increase conversion rates by 12.7%.

• 70% of viewers who are very likely to buy a product were emotionally triggered by an advertisement.

Quick Examples of How Power Words are Used

News outlets use power words to stir up emotions:

• "Breaking" and "Exclusive" 

• "Shocking" and "Devastating" 

• "Revealed" and "Exposed" 

Headlines with specific terms to boost click-through rates:

• "Secret" to imply insider knowledge

• "New" to suggest fresh information

• "Facts" to promise authoritative content

Sales Pages & Power Words

The right power words show credibility:

• "Guaranteed" and "Proven" 

• "Certified" and “Expert”

Words that highlight benefits:

• "Transform" and "Revolutionary"

• "Exclusive" and "Premium"

Upselling or Cross-selling

Terms that create urgency:

• "Last chance" and "Ending soon"

• "Only X left" and "Limited time"

• "Exclusive offer" and "Special access"

Words that justify an extra purchase:

• "Upgrade" and "Enhanced"

• "Bonus" and "Complementary"

Check-out Pages

Terms that build confidence:

• "Safe" and "Guaranteed"

• "Risk-free" and "Money-back"

Words that prevent browse or cart abandonment:

• "Now" and "Today"

• "Instant" and "Immediate"

• "Don't miss out" and "Act fast"

Abandoned Cart Emails

Terms that drive recovery:

• "Running low" and "Almost gone"

• "Popular" and "Only X left"

Words that create connection:

• "Selected" and "Chosen"

• "Reserved" and "Saved"

Good swipeable words above. But, there’s room for improvement…

7 tweaks to the power words above (using uncommon words):

1. “Running Out”… changes to… “Even Shoplifters are gonna miss out”

2. “Exclusive”... becomes… “No Peons please”

3. “Instant”... converts to… “Whiplash-Speed”

4. “Secure”... changes to… “Hulk-Proof”

5. “Only X left”... becomes… “No idea how many are left, check-out’s been hell”

6. “Expert”... becomes… “Brainiac-Level”

7. “Shocking”... converts to… “Pee-Your-Pants event”

Now lets swagger into Monday Marketing News…

Please share Inbox Hacking with a fellow marketing genius or business owner. I appreciate you reading & sharing.

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

“Creativity without strategy is called art. Creativity with strategy is called advertising.” ~Jef Richards