“What are power words” and “How to use power words in copywriting to improve conversions” are two commonly asked questions.
Let me explain the meaning of power words in copywriting.
Power words are the words and phrases that trigger the psychological or emotional response. Smart copywriters use power words in their content, headlines, and call to action because of the persuasive nature of these words that the audience gets influenced by them!
Curiosity Words
Curiosity is a strong desire to know or learn more about an interesting or unusual object or fact. You can refer to different theories and case studies to understand the effect of curiosity on human behavior, especially in sales & marketing.
Using curiosity words in the right places such as headlines, email subject lines, call to action, or marketing copy title makes users hard to resist to take further action in the predefined workflow.
- Astonishing
- Backdoor
- Banned
- Be the first
- Become an insider
- Behind the scenes
- Bizarre
- Black market
- Blacklisted
- Bootleg
- Censored
- Class full
- Classified
- Closet
- Concealed
- Confessions
- Confidential
- Controversial
- Cover-up
- Covert
- Crazy
- Cringeworthy
- Dark
- Elusive
- Extraordinary
- Eye-opening
- Forbidden
- Forgotten
- Hidden
- Hilarious
- Hush-hush
- Illegal
- Illusive
- Incredibly
- Insane
- Insider
- Interesting
- Invitation only
- Key
- Limited
- Little-known
- Login required
- Lost
- Members-only
- Myths
- Odd
- Off the record
- Off-limits
- On the Q.T.
- Outlawed
- Priceless
- Private
- Privy
- Psycho
- Remote
- Restricted
- Ridiculous
- Secret
- Secrets
- Shh!
- Shocking
- Smuggled
- Sneak
- Peek
- Spoiler
- Strange
- Stunning
- Supersecret
- Thought-provoking
- Top secret
- Trade secret
- Unauthorized
- Unbelievable
- Uncharted
- Unconventional
- Under the table
- Under wraps
- Underground
- Undiscovered
- Unexplained
- Unexplored
- Unheard of
- Unique
- Unlock
- Unsung
- Untold
- Unusual
- Wacky
- Withheld
- Zany
Greed Words
Greed is the strong natural human tendency or selfish desire to want more of something than he/she actually needs.
Greed power words trigger that tendency by playing on the principles of scarcity and loss aversion.
It creates a fear of missing out or makes something sound more valuable.
- Bargain
- Before
- Best
- Big
- Billion
- Bonanza
- Bonus
- Cash
- Cheap
- Deadline
- Discount
- Dollar
- Don’t miss out
- Double
- Economical
- Exclusive
- Expires
- Explode
- Extra
- Fast
- Feast
- Final
- First
- Fortune
- Frenzy
- Frugal
- Gift
- Giveaway
- Greatest
- Guilt-free
- Hurry
- Inexpensive
- Instantly
- Jackpot
- Last chance
- Limited
- Luxurious
- Marked down
- Massive
- Monetize
- Money
- More
- Nest egg
- Never again
- New
- Now
- Pay zero
- Premiere
- Price break
- Prize
- Profit
- Quadruple
- Quick
- Reduced
- Rich
- Running out
- Sale ends soon
- Save
- Savings
- Six-figure
- Skyrocket
- Soaring
- Special
- Surge
- Treasure
- Triple
- Ultimate
- Up-sell
- Value
- While they last
- Whopping
Irritation Words
Anger influences perception, reasoning, and decisions. It means that making your visitors and customers angry for any reason may hurt your company’s revenue and reputation. However, stirring the emotion of anger can do magic for your business, if it’s directed at something else.
If you succeed in finding things that irritate your potential customers, then you can offer the best solution to improve the conversion rate.
- Abuse
- Agitate
- Annoy
- Arrogant
- Ass kicking
- B.S.
- Backstabbing
- Beat down
- Boil over
- Bother
- Broke
- Brutal
- Buffoon
- Bullshit
- Bully
- Corrupt
- Coward
- Crooked
- Crush
- Diatribe
- Diminish
- Disgusting
- Evil
- Exploit
- Fear
- Force-fed
- Foul
- Greedy
- Hate
- Hostile
- Know it all
- Lies
- Loathsome
- Loser
- Lying
- Maul
- Miff
- Money-grubbing
- Morally bankrupt
- Nazi
- No Good
- Obnoxious
- Payback
- Pitiful
- Pound
- Preposterous
- Provoke
- Punish
- Raise hell
- Rant
- Revolting
- Ruthless
- Screw
- Sick and Tired
- Smug
- Sneaky
- Sniveling
- Snob
- Snooty
- Snotty
- Stink
- Stuck up
- Thug
- Underhanded
- Vicious
- Victim
- Violent
- Waste
- Weak
- Worst
- Wounded
Fear Words
Everyone wants to keep himself or herself alive, safe, and free from any risk or hazards. This mindset develops a powerful emotion called Fear.
Depending on your goals, you can introduce fear words in your copy to force people to take the desired action.
For example,
If you’re planning to build a targeted email list by the next three months, then you can motivate blog visitors to subscribe to your list by making them aware of what might happen if they don’t.
Ensure that marketing communication is clear and does not paralyze them completely. Always offer a relevant and actionable solution when you add fear words in the marketing copy.
- Agony
- Annihilate
- Apocalypse
- Armageddon
- Assault
- Backlash
- Beating
- Beware
- Blinded
- Blood
- Bloodbath
- Bloodcurdling
- Bloody
- Bomb
- Buffoon
- Bumbling
- Cadaver
- Cataclysmic
- Catastrophe
- Caution
- Collapse
- Corpse
- Crazy
- Cripple
- Crisis
- Danger
- Dangerous
- Deadly
- Death
- Destroy
- Devastating
- Disastrous
- Drowning
- Dumb
- Embarrass
- Epidemic
- Fail
- Feeble
- Fired
- Fix
- Fool
- Fooled
- Frantic
- Fraud
- Frightening
- Gambling
- Gullible
- Hack
- Hazardous
- Hoax
- Holocaust
- Horrific
- Hurricane
- Insidious
- Invasion
- Jail
- Jeopardy
- Lawsuit
- Looming
- Lose
- Lunatic
- Lurking
- Meltdown
- Mired
- Mistake
- Murder
- Nightmare
- Painful
- Pale
- Panic
- Peril
- Piranha
- Pitfall
- Plague
- Played
- Plummet
- Plunge
- Poison
- Poor
- Prison
- Protect
- Pummel
- Reckoning
- Refugee
- Revenge
- Risky
- Savage
- Scary
- Scream
- Searing
- Shatter
- Shellacking
- Silly
- Slaughter
- Slave
- Smash
- Strangle
- Stupid
- Suck
- Suffering
- Tailspin
- Tank
- Targeted
- Teetering
- Terror
- Terrorist
- Torture
- Toxic
- Tragedy
- Trap
- Trauma
- Vaporize
- Victim
- Volatile
- Vulnerable
- Warning
- Worry
- Wounded
- Wreaking havoc
Trust Words
Trust is a critical psychological factor in marketing and sales. Even Google E.A.T. guidelines advice to publish trustworthy content.
Whenever you create landing pages, signup forms, email sequences, or write blog posts, you must think of how your content becomes more authoritative and trustworthy.
Here, you can use powerful words to build trust between the brand and the customers.
- According to
- Accredited
- Anonymous
- Approved
- Authentic
- Authoritative
- Authority
- Backed
- Because
- Best
- Best selling
- Bonafide
- Cancel anytime
- Case study
- Certified
- Dependable
- Don’t worry
- Endorsed
- Ensured
- Expert
- Fully refundable
- Genuine
- Guaranteed
- Improved
- Ironclad
- Lifetime
- Moneyback
- No obligation
- No questions asked
- No risk
- No strings attached
- Official
- Pay zero
- Privacy
- Professional
- Protected
- Proven
- Recession-proof
- Recognized
- Refund
- Reliable
- Research
- Results
- Safety
- Scientifically proven
- Secure
- Studies show
- Tested
- Track record
- Try before you buy
- Unconditional
- Verify
- Well respected
- Worldwide
Sloth Words
Sloth words work great in case the audience is lazy and prefers doing minimum work to achieve their goals.
Adding sloth words trigger the emotions of people who otherwise find ways to avoid work.
These words or phrases make your headlines more enticing for people who are not motivated yet to take the desired action.
Using the sloth words in your content, let them feel that your solution is better and require less effort but has more gain.
- Accessible
- All-inclusive
- Basic
- Building blocks
- Cheatsheet
- Child’s play
- Cinch
- Clear
- Complete
- Components
- Comprehensive
- Copy
- Downloadable
- Easy
- Economical
- Efficient
- Effortless
- Elementary
- Elements
- Factors
- Fail-proof
- Fill in the blanks
- Formula
- Free
- Freebie
- Gift
- Guide
- How-to
- In less than
- In record time
- Index
- Ingredients
- Instant
- Itemized
- Kickstart
- Light
- List
- Manageable
- Manifest
- Mere
- Minutes
- Model
- Mold
- No nonsense
- No problem
- No sweat
- Nothing to it
- Now
- On-demand
- Painless
- Pattern
- Picnic
- Piece of cake
- Plain
- Printable
- Quick
- Ready
- Replicate
- Report
- Roadmap
- Simple
- Simple as A.B.C.
- Smooth
- Smooth sailing
- Snap
- Straightforward
- Steal
- Steps
- Swipe
- Template
- Tools
- Uncomplicated
Vanity Words
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, vanity is inflated pride in oneself or one’s appearance.
Vanity is a primary driving force that impacts appearance, sex, or achievement-related behavior, especially buying decisions. (Source: A.C.R.)
People want to look beautiful, empowered, and successful.
You can attract those people by adding vanity words to your content. Once you show how your offer helps them to improve the look or feel empowered, people will not only engage with your brand but also become your customer.
- Ahead of the game
- Amazing
- Amplify
- At the top
- Attractive
- Awe-inspiring
- Beautiful
- Bold
- Booming
- Boost
- Boss
- Brassy
- Bravery
- Brazen
- Bright
- Brilliant
- Cheer
- Clever
- Conquer
- Courage
- Crowned
- Daring
- Dazzling
- Defiance
- Drop-dead
- Effective
- Elegant
- Elite
- Enchant
- Epic
- Fearless
- Fortunate
- Foxy
- Genius
- Good-looking
- Gorgeous
- Guts
- Handsome
- Hero
- Jaw-dropping
- Jubilant
- Kickass
- Knockout
- Legendary
- Lucky
- Magic
- Mind-blowing
- Moneymaking
- Notable
- Noteworthy
- Optimal
- Prosperous
- Quick-witted
- Remarkable
- Sassy
- Saucy
- Sensational
- Smart
- Spectacular
- Spine
- Staggering
- Strong
- Stunning
- Successful
- Super-human
- Triumph
- Turbocharge
- Ultimate
- Unbeaten
- Undefeated
- Valor
- Vanquish
- Victory
- Wealthy
- Wonderful
- Wondrous
- You
Lust Words
Lust is an intense desire for sex. However, the strong attraction for any item is also considered as lust.
Lust overtakes the ability to think rationally and often impact logical decision badly.
Adding lust words amplify the people’s sexual emotions or desire towards any object. Since the logical core is collapsed, you may tweak your campaign to achieve desired results.
- Alluring
- Brazen
- Captivating
- Charismatic
- Compelling
- Crave
- Depraved
- Desire
- Dirty
- Enchanting
- Engaging
- Exotic
- Exposed
- Fascinating
- Flirt
- Forbidden
- Hypnotic
- Intriguing
- Lascivious
- Lick
- Lonely
- Lovely
- Lust
- Magnetic
- Mind-blowing
- Mischievous
- Mouthwatering
- Naked
- Naughty
- Obsession
- Passionate
- Pleasurable
- Promiscuous
- Provocative
- Riveting
- Scandalous
- Sensual
- Sex
- Shameless
- Sinful
- Sleazy
- Sleeping
- Spank
- Steamy
- Stimulating
- Striking
- Sweaty
- Tantalizing
- Tawdry
- Tease
- Thrilling
- Uncensored
- Urge
- Wanton
- Whip
- Wild
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