Throwing Exclamation Points Around Like Darts

[Stephen Dean]

I started writing copy about 10 years ago. And in the beginning I learned from trial and error as opposed to reading the classics or hiring a coach (both of which I rectified over the years).

It's amazing how many people who start from trial and error use these: !!!

Not that they shouldn't be used. But these things (!) should be used with care.

Throwing exclamation points around carelessly is like carelessly throwing darts around: dangerous!

At my blog I likened the effect of careless exclamation points to a salesman pointing at someone in a crowd and shouting, "You, I want to sell you something!"

If every third sentence ends with an exclamation point, you're telegraphing that something is for sale. And that violates the maxim, “People hate to be sold but love to buy.”

And we're supposed to write copy like our prospect speaks, correct? Well unless our prospect is a sleazy under-performing salesman, we're probably in trouble. No one talks like this: !!!

So I try to use exclamation points with care.

The secret, as Michel Fortin shared with me, is to only use them if you want to accentuate the last word of a sentence. If the last word deserves highlighting, go ahead and add an exclamation point.

This keeps them rare and effective.

Cheers,
Stephen Dean

[David Babineau]

Good points.

But what do you make of this?

http://www.hardtofindads.com/home/ad...arge/file.html

(Clearer to see in Breakthrough Advertising than here, but anyway)

I think there's only a handful of sentences that DON'T have exclamation points...

Just different era - people not as immune to what now seems like "hype"?


Cheers,
Dave

[Stephen Dean]

Thanks Dave,

The era may have some effect. Hard to say without seeing what his audience sees everyday.

I suppose if no one is using exclamation points, the right thing to do may be use them.

Cheers,

Stephen Dean

[Ross James]

As ewen would say; test, test, test

-Ross

[wordofmouthmagic]

I still use Glyphius software from James Brausch. It was meant to check your copy and give it a score based on a huge statistical database of winning v losing ads.

The bigger your score the better.

So with Glyphius a ! gave you 20 more points.

All good, but if you used a simple full stop . - it gave you 77 points

As you know, the statistics are on your side Stephen.

[Stephen Dean]

Thanks Martin, I remember those stats as well. That's probably why I brought it up with Michel.

Cheers,
Stephen

[247Copywriter]

As with anything, use too much of it and it loses it's impact.

Use too many exclamations marks and the point you are trying to stress becomes more unbelievable. (In todays market)

Use too much underlining and your point/s get lost.

Use too much highlighting and nothing will stand out.

Sometimes less is more.

[Bruce Wedding]

When you emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing.

I keep it simple. If you want to argue for exclamation points, knock your lights out.

[vip-ip]

I agree with Bruce. I think it's kind of like cuss words. Imagine a professional copy, and in one part you want the reader to feel your anger. You might want to say "damn it" once (although, always consider your audience before picking your language), just for effect, but no more.

Best Regards,
vip-ip ...