A picture is worth a thousand words, but the caption makes you click through – and click throughs are kind of all that matters to anyone selling a product or service. To marketers followers, and likes are great but at the end of the day you need engagement people to click through to your website, blog post, landing page, or app to reach your ultimate goals: ROI, building lists, and sales.
What are these little gems we call power words? They are words that cause the reader to relate to an emotion, and/or trigger action. In social media (and marketing in general), short attention spans, and character limits make us choose words wisely, so with just a pinch more thought, you can create messaging that may help content go viral. Power words aren’t just for ad copy – they are important in emails, headlines, landing pages, buttons, pop-ups and basically anywhere you need your audience to take action.
How to create messaging using power words in social media marketing:
- Think about the main action you want the reader to take. Do you want your audience to submit their emails for a download, or click through to your blog to see who wore the best dress at last night’s awards show? If you are promoting a download (e-book or whitepaper)- anything guests must take an extra step for (like entering an email address vs. simply clicking a “like” button) you’ll have to use words that add value to the content you are promoting. For those extra steps to seem worth it to your reader, you need to make them feel this download will be fabulous. When creating messaging for click-throughs make sure you create the feeling of curiosity or involvement to make readers want to find out what the answer or solution on the other side of the link is.
- Consider your content, and what value it carries for the reader. Will it educate the reader, in turn making them feel empowered? Is it simply for entertainment? Let them know by using a power words that describe the content and hint at what they will get out of it. For example: “A short list of the only content creation tools you’ll need”
- Is your messaging okay but need that “little something more?” Sounds like an inviting power word can solve this issue. An example taken from Sumo.Me’s blog uses a headline from a Buzzfeed article titled “21 Sibling Horror Stories that Will Make You Cringe” – the blog article explains how “cringe” and “horror” both evoke emotions of anxiety and fear, while triggering the reader to ask themselves what could be SO cringe worthy?. The article goes on to point out how “21 Funny Sibling Stories” may not be as alluring of a headline for readers – all because of 2 little words that create a stronger emotion than “funny”.
Considering the 3 questions above will help you narrow down the emotions you want your messaging to trigger within readers. Now to help you choose what words to use more specifically are two of my favorite resources to reference for power words for social media marketing. They break down lists of words and provide excellent examples of how to use them in ads.
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