The advent of social media has forever changed the canvass of effective advertising. There was a time when the seller’s excitement was enough to motivate people to buy the product, but those days are over. Today’s consumer is looking for more. The internet has so expanded the number of choices people have when they go searching for a specific product or service, just touting features and benefits isn’t enough anymore. Most hamburgers have the same features and benefits, but some sell better than others do.
Today, the only thing more important than the visuals in ads is the words that accompany them. As someone whose custom writing service is built on selling well-used words, I like to think that I’ve seen enough examples of good and bad ad-writing to be able to give you some sound advice on how to set your ads up with the former while avoiding the latter. Here are a few examples of the types of words that put your ads in the latter category along with a few alternatives that will make the message in your ads more believable and relatable.
“Loud” Comparatives
There are instances where comparing your product or service to another is appropriate, but there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. The wrong way often comes in the form of trying to convince the audience that you make the “better” cheeseburger. The use of “better” in this instance overshadows the true message. Beef, pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion, and cheese all taste basically the same no matter where they come from. Telling people yours is “better” only makes you sound desperate (or egotistical).
The good news is that there are ways to convey that your burger is better without forcing that concept into your customer’s head without qualification. If you believe you have the better burger, your ad copy should answer the questions “why” and “how” without ever having to assert its superiority.
The reader must be able to relate to the burger on an emotional level. I know, that sounds kind of weird – even creepy in the wrong context – so let me explain:
What sorts of things would make people agree that yours is the better burger? If you’re advertising your food truck business on Facebook and selling burgers for $4, you are likely to use a different approach than you would if you just opened a new, posh, uptown diner specializing in gourmet burgers. It all comes down to knowing your audience and what makes them tick.
So how do you shy away for comparatives while still conveying the notion of “better?” Start by thinking of your ad as a résumé. Obviously, you’re not going to define the career objectives of a cheeseburger or go into details about its history or work experience, but anyone who has ever written a successful résumé succeeded in convincing a hiring manager that he or she was the best possible candidate while stopping short of coming out and saying so on paper. It allowed the potential employer to draw independent conclusions and make the hiring decision based on his or her own observations.
What are your burger’s actual strong points, and which ones will relate best to your audience? If you are running a food truck in a specific neighborhood, maybe what makes yours the better burger is your commitment to partnering with local businesses to make the product great. Yours is a business that values not just community, but your community.
If your burger is more upscale, you might want to focus on the quality of ingredients (organic vegetables, artisan bread, hormone-free beef, etc.). Even people with enough money to drop $30 on lunch demand justification for paying so much for a hamburger.
Any and All Superlatives
The only thing worse than trying to convince people that your product is “better” than another is trying to convince them that yours is the “best.” If your product is the best, that should be self-evident. If we’re still talking about burgers, let’s look at Five Guys. As soon as the whole burger analogy started taking shape, I decided to do a little research. I could not remember ever seeing or hearing a commercial for it, so I did a little investigating. I actually went looking for ads, and the ones I found had several things in common.
For starters, they all seemed locally produced. If there are any corporate ads out there, they are hard to find. After doing a little more digging, I found out that advertising really isn’t Five Guys’ thing. Numerous sources report that the company’s ad budget has been zero in most markets with only local franchises picking up the option to spend anything on it.
So it doesn’t advertise, but it is expanding into every corner of the country (as well as overseas). Why? Because the company has figured out that if you want to be the best, you have to be the best, not simply convince people that you are. Most people try Five Guys because they heard from someone else that it was good.
The lesson to be learned here is simple: If you want to communicate that your version of a product is best, the place to do it is not in an ad. Worry about building awareness of your brand in your ads, not steering opinions of it.
Overused Adjectives
I’m going to make this one short and sweet. Please, please stop using these words in your ads:
Guaranteed – This comes across the same way as lines like, “believe me” and “honestly.” If it has to be said, it’s likely not true. Try split-testing lines like “Guaranteed results within 30 days” with phrases like “fast, measurable results” in the subject line of your next email blast and see which one gets more opens.
Amazing – The Grand Canyon is amazing. A burger is a sandwich. Tell me why it’s amazing, and I might want to try one.
Exciting – I’ll admit it: I was excited to try my first Five Guys burger, but the excitement came from other people’s enthusiasm about the brand. Hint: Social media is a great place to develop that kind of enthusiasm. Ads? Not so much. Just ask Five Guys.
Final Takeaway
Good ad copy is both believable and relatable. The language you use in your ads can’t make too many promises, and it cannot include inflated claims. Avoid the types of words I mentioned above, and you will create an image of your brand that leads the customer to believe you worthy of positive superlatives.