"Wow!"
A recent project had me spending significant time deep in the websites of arts organisations and concert venues.
Lordy, the copywriting is awful. There are some exceptions. But they are really few and far between.
I started making a tally of over-used words and phrases but got too bored and disheartened to keep count …
World class!
Not to be missed!
Breath-taking!
Stunning!
Enchanting!
Remarkable!
Unforgettable!
If you write promotional material for The Arts, here are two good reasons to ban all these words and phrases immediately:
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Stop telling your audience how to feel. If you do your job right, this is what your customers should be telling you.
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If you feel the need for all those ‘Wow!’ words to make your offering sound interesting, you have an altogether bigger problem.
When advising marketers on copy-writing for all types of business I like to draw on the wisdom of Rosser Reeves: if you don’t have actual interesting and unique claims to make about your product, you should ask yourself why it exists at all.
Kate Leury Nielsen
October 2018