In the last issue of Blue Chip Tips, I told you about the 13 Most Powerful Words in Marketing. While there are words known to be more successful at evoking a positive response from your audience, there are also words you should avoid - because they evoke a response from your audience, but not the response you want!

Now, if driving customer response were as simple as picking the right words and avoiding the wrong ones, my life would be a whole lot easier! As smart business people, you know that there are no "magic bullets" - particularly in our over-saturated, "always on" culture. Your customer's attention is pulled in multiple directions each minute of their day, so cutting through the clutter and capturing their interest is paramount to your success.

Your customers are some of the most savvy consumers to ever walk the planet - they are exposed to more messages and marketing vehicles in one year than our ancestors were in their entire lifetime! Because of this "saturation effect," it's critical that once you capture your prospect's attention your message resonates with them.

There are words that have been so over-used throughout the years in marketing that they've lost their power - they've become cliche' and meaningless to your prospects.

Get ready to be a bit surprised - here are the 5 marketing words you should never use:

Caring - as in, "We Care More" - Any company who remains in business for any length of time must care about it's customers - even your competitors. To say that you care more implies that your competitors care less - which not only can't be easily proven, your customers simply won't believe it.

Service - When was the last time you saw a company promising sub-rate service? It doesn't happen. Today, customers expect good service as a condition of doing business with you. So, while you should talk about all the ways you provide customer service (training, customer support lines, web support, etc.), to lead with a benefit statement screaming "we provide great service" will route your message right into the circular file.

Quality - Because "quality" means different things to different people, it's ambiguous - every service or product worth purchasing is "high quality" so stating that you offer "high quality" is redundant. Quality could probably win the award for the most overused word in marketing - too many marketers have relied upon it to the point where it falls on deaf ears with your prospects.

Value - Along the same lines as quality, value has also been tarnished by overuse. Value is arbitrary, depending on the buyer, what they are buying and the context of their purchase. Everyone provides excellent value - what do you provide that sets you apart from your competitors?

Integrity - Most customers will give you the benefit of the doubt in believing that you will operate with integrity. Companies who talk about integrity are frequently trying to cover up their lack of it (not good) which makes customers suspicious, or by saying they operate with high integrity they are implying that their competitors don't (a strategy that will surely backfire). While every company needs to have integrity, no company needs to market it.

Because every company wants - and is expected to offer - these things, too many have used these concepts as marketing strategies. Their overuse has degraded their power, making them ineffective choices for your marketing campaigns. When you are tempted to fall back on one of these words - or any cliche' for that matter - stop to think of stronger ways to convey the same thought and your powerful word choices will reap powerful sales results for your business.

About Melberg Marketing
Melberg Marketing specializes in powerful copywriting, compelling graphic design and professional marketing consulting that gets you noticed.  If you'd like to start marketing DIFFERENTLY, give us a call!

Ask us how we can put more power in your marketing campaigns...today!

Want to see more articles like this one? Visit our website and click on "learn more" from the home page - you'll find our past issues of Blue Chip Tips archived there for your reading enjoyment.

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Caroline Melberg • Melberg Marketing • caroline@melberg.com • 952-473-1007 • www.melberg.com

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