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Do you also use NONSENSE words in your ad copy?

by IRichie
10 replies
Hi, from last few months I have seen a trend of using NONSENSE words in ad copies. I simply IGNORE those systems or atleast I assume those systems are just a crap which use NONSENSE words.

These words have nothing to do with internet marketing. So, why the hell internet marketers use these kinda words.

Some of the examples:

1. Cash In Hand Visitors (LOL! What do you mean by cash in hand + visitors. This is an accounting term, simply!) :rolleyes:

2. Red Hot WSO! (Just 'HOT' makes a sense, but what do you mean by RED HOT, you can't see the color of your hot WSO.)

3. SureFire Way of making money (Fire? From where the word 'fire' came to your mind, while selling your product?)

There are a lot of terms but I can't recall all of them at this time.

These terms shows either the seller is trying to be OVER SMART or he thinks that buyer is a NOOB.

Do you also use these terms?
What you will say about the offers using these terms... LOL!

Thanks
#copy #nonsense #words
  • Profile picture of the author kaanb1
    and I quote from my Mac's dictionary

    "sure-fire
    adjective [ attrib. ] informal
    certain to succeed : bad behavior is a sure-fire way of getting attention."

    I believe that there are no nonsense words (or equally, all all words are nonsense, since language itself is a metaphor...)

    Every word has its specific gravity, even if it is just a "marketing-ish" term to hype a product. The fact that every word is there, has to do with the marketer AND the product.

    The marketer's goal using words like the ones you described is to paint pleasing pictures to the minds of his/her prospect clients. Those phrases are meant to act as a metaphor! (ie create feelings, emotionally charged states and pictures in your mind)

    And you know why marketers use them? Because they WORK.... and they work well.

    I always forgive an amount of hype at any ad. Hype is everywhere! (its hype when your friend tells you that you definitely MUST see the latest super-frikin-awesome blockbuster movie)

    Maybe in the internet marketing universe we rehash the same expressions over and over again that's why we are a bit desensitized to the effect of those particular phrases.

    Kaan
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  • Profile picture of the author helenaldin
    I'm with Kaan on this one. My friend is a copywriter and she uses words like "gonna" all the time.

    The hype is just part of the copywriting process. People hate being sold to, but they love to buy.

    If you can tap into the specific emotions that make them say "That's for me!", they'll open their wallet to you ever time.

    The people you *should* be taking issue with are the TV commercial producers. The ones that play the really loud commercials. I hear those are done with the idea that, the louder you talk, the more people will listen. Now THAT's offensive!
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  • Profile picture of the author axelbrian
    I am not copy writer but I do not like nonsense words for speak or writing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Pusateri
    IRichie, please don't take this as a dig, but is English your first language?

    The examples you gave may not be the most persuasive or attractive, but do make sense to native English speakers.
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    • Profile picture of the author IRichie
      Originally Posted by Pusateri View Post

      IRichie, please don't take this as a dig, but is English your first language?

      The examples you gave may not be the most persuasive or attractive, but do make sense to native English speakers.
      Ah! I don't mind. English is not my native language but I think I own good knowledge of this language. Recently, I found there are more reasons why I HATE these words.

      - I got scammed by some 'gurus' by their methods and they used to use the words like 'Surefire way'.

      - Today a newbie, even if he doesn't posses any good knowledge of internet marketing, use the words like his product is 'red hot'.

      - I haveactually seen too many terrible seens of Avalanche of ice. So whenever I see the term 'Avalanche of traffic' I attach it with something negative or something terrible.

      If you people find that I could not make a point, then I am sorry. Because I feel that few people reading this thread might be using same vocabulary. :rolleyes:

      Thanks
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      • Profile picture of the author donhx
        Originally Posted by IRichie View Post

        Ah! I don't mind. English is not my native language but I think I own good knowledge of this language. Recently, I found there are more reasons why I HATE these words.

        - I got scammed by some 'gurus' by their methods and they used to use the words like 'Surefire way'.

        - Today a newbie, even if he doesn't posses any good knowledge of internet marketing, use the words like his product is 'red hot'.

        - I haveactually seen too many terrible seens of Avalanche of ice. So whenever I see the term 'Avalanche of traffic' I attach it with something negative or something terrible.

        If you people find that I could not make a point, then I am sorry. Because I feel that few people reading this thread might be using same vocabulary. :rolleyes:

        Thanks
        Thanks for this. It shows a different perspective.

        I think it also proves my point (made elsewhere) that Warriors should not hire offshore writers to write articles or sales copy. They do not understand idiomatic English and their writing is not effective.

        People should write for people in their own cultural context, and not try to write for people outside it. People in different cultures, or those for whom English is not a first language, for example, may be able to put words on paper, but they have no mastery of the motivational psychology required to make sales.

        The words IRichie dislikes are idiomatic English. The are the comfort food of English sales language and are perfectly acceptable to American buyers. Yes, they may be overly used time-worn cliches, but they are not nonsense words.
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        • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
          This kind of words and phrases are used often as shortcuts to a shared meaning. If you do not know the shortcuts, they are hard to figure out.

          English is my first language and whie I really enjoy a lot of sales language, sometimes phrases, in both sales jargon and otherwise, just leave me shaking my head becasue I am such a literal person.

          For instance, I know understand that "unscented" really means "nonscented" as in it has no extra smell added to it and NOT that the smell was taken away.

          And most of the "how to do copywriting" things I have read say that making use of cliches is a good thing in copywriting.
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        • Profile picture of the author kaanb1
          Originally Posted by donhx View Post

          People in different cultures, or those for whom English is not a first language, for example, may be able to put words on paper, but they have no mastery of the motivational psychology required to make sales.
          Please allow me to disagree...

          Let's take Arnold Schwarzenegger for example, who managed to inspire and "sell" himself to thousands of people (his voters) even though his accent is worse than mine. He managed to convince, inspire, motivate and persuade people to vote for him and accept him as their leader. (I highly doubt that his speaking skills are immensely superb)

          BUT He had a message, he communicated his beliefs congruently and apparently that worked great for him

          (yes, in my opinion the game of politics has a lot to do with marketing and yes I understand he had a team working behind him - still, my point holds up)

          I am NOT a native speaker of English (I'm Greek), I am NOT offended when I am corrected on my accent or my spelling AND I've found this to work to my advantage ...

          WHY? Because I can interpret and perceive English language literally. And that's important.

          In therapy and training (both my area of expertise), in sales, in marketing, politics ... every word that is uttered has a "literal" meaning, directly associated with the idiom or the metaphor it is being utilized in.

          People use idiomatic expressions everyday for a reason. It's not "just language".

          Every word justifies its presence in any sentence, mapping out the internal representation (or map of the world) of the speaker.

          Sure, my life would be much easier if I were a native speaker when it comes to copywriting...
          But you know what? I don't mind.
          I read again and again the text out loud making sure I have flow and rhythm, I double check the words I'm not sure about with the dictionary... I study proven copy of my favorite copywriters (that's Halbert and Carlton for me) and I ask my (Canadian) wife to double check my copy for me... It's still not perfect and I sit down and work on it again and again.

          But I guess all copywriters work in a similar way, native English speakers or not.

          As long as I believe in my products, my integrity and my message, I succeed.

          Now, IRichie wrote that he has negative emotions around those sales-y phrases because he has been scammed in the past by the so called gurus who happened to use such language in their copy.

          But, dear IRichie, that means that those exact phrases WORKED ON YOU. Something clicked inside you when you were reading their copy and made you decide to go ahead and buy their products.

          Instead of dismissing the phrases as "evil" and nonsense (which apparently they are not - since you fell for them), If I were you, I would attempt to understand how those words work and how they affect people (including myself) and influence buying decisions.

          I can understand your - justified - emotions but you can benefit by studying what makes people tick. You can then harness the power of those exact words and use them to your advantage, promoting your own products and services (unlike those aforementioned gurus, I'm sure you will do that in an ethical way with win win products)

          Here I go ranting again

          My message to all non-native English copywriters is to work hard, keep your spirit up and get out there with good products, integrity & honesty. All this will shine through your copy and will make up for ANY language weakness you may have. Buyers are smart.

          peace & love,

          Kaan
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          • Profile picture of the author donhx
            Originally Posted by kaanb1 View Post

            Please allow me to disagree...

            Let's take Arnold Schwarzenegger for example, who managed to inspire and "sell" himself to thousands of people (his voters) even though his accent is worse than mine. He managed to convince, inspire, motivate and persuade people to vote for him and accept him as their leader. (I highly doubt that his speaking skills are immensely superb)

            BUT He had a message, he communicated his beliefs congruently and apparently that worked great for him

            (yes, in my opinion the game of politics has a lot to do with marketing and yes I understand he had a team working behind him - still, my point holds up)

            I am NOT a native speaker of English (I'm Greek), I am NOT offended when I am corrected on my accent or my spelling AND I've found this to work to my advantage ...

            WHY? Because I can interpret and perceive English language literally. And that's important.

            In therapy and training (both my area of expertise), in sales, in marketing, politics ... every word that is uttered has a "literal" meaning, directly associated with the idiom or the metaphor it is being utilized in.

            People use idiomatic expressions everyday for a reason. It's not "just language".

            Every word justifies its presence in any sentence, mapping out the internal representation (or map of the world) of the speaker.

            Sure, my life would be much easier if I were a native speaker when it comes to copywriting...
            But you know what? I don't mind.
            I read again and again the text out loud making sure I have flow and rhythm, I double check the words I'm not sure about with the dictionary... I study proven copy of my favorite copywriters (that's Halbert and Carlton for me) and I ask my (Canadian) wife to double check my copy for me... It's still not perfect and I sit down and work on it again and again.

            But I guess all copywriters work in a similar way, native English speakers or not.

            As long as I believe in my products, my integrity and my message, I succeed.

            Now, IRichie wrote that he has negative emotions around those sales-y phrases because he has been scammed in the past by the so called gurus who happened to use such language in their copy.

            But, dear IRichie, that means that those exact phrases WORKED ON YOU. Something clicked inside you when you were reading their copy and made you decide to go ahead and buy their products.

            Instead of dismissing the phrases as "evil" and nonsense (which apparently they are not - since you fell for them), If I were you, I would attempt to understand how those words work and how they affect people (including myself) and influence buying decisions.

            I can understand your - justified - emotions but you can benefit by studying what makes people tick. You can then harness the power of those exact words and use them to your advantage, promoting your own products and services (unlike those aforementioned gurus, I'm sure you will do that in an ethical way with win win products)

            Here I go ranting again

            My message to all non-native English copywriters is to work hard, keep your spirit up and get out there with good products, integrity & honesty. All this will shine through your copy and will make up for ANY language weakness you may have. Buyers are smart.

            peace & love,

            Kaan
            You make some excellent points, Kaan, and I don't disagree with most of what you say. I think I was trying to say that there is a power beyond words themselves, and I'm not sure IRichie understands that. He thinks that sales cliches are nonsense when, in fact, they serve a useful purpose to those who understand why they are used. You have studied copy writing, and you understand.

            I do want to make it clear that I am not against offshore writers or those who do not speak English as a first language. I have traveled to over 30 countries and even lived outside America for 10 years, so I probably have more international experience than most. But what I am saying is that people ought to write for their own culture, whatever that may be. I don't think that Americans should be writing sales copy for a Greek audience, for example! We all communicate better if we are familiar with the idioms of the country/culture where the audience is. Again, writing clear English (in this case) is not enough... a sales writer must understand the culture of the buyers. The same applies to subcultures too... a lingerie expert should not be writing NASA manuals. In America, Canada and the UK we idiomatically say, "Horses for Courses." How do the Greeks idiomatically convey that idea?

            I agree with you that anyone who studies the American mind (or that of any culture), can write within the confines of the idiom, and has a lovely Canadian wife to double-check things, can succeed. But being able to write in English alone is not enough to earn wages as a IM copywriter or article writer, IMO. You have to also be able to understand the mind of the reader and what motivates the person to buy.
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            • Profile picture of the author kaanb1
              I get your point(s) donhx and I believe we think along the same line ...

              (btw Horses for courses would be something like "έκαστος στο είδος του" ~ word for word "each one on his field of expertise" ... {sounds much better in Greek though} ... )
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