Words that sale. When did we stop realizing that the words we say matter?

It is interesting, and paradoxical at the same time,  we are in the age of SEO, of Facebook Ads, of Instagram for Business, of websites that promise us to create a website to sell online in a few clicks ... and it seems we  do not realize which is the common denominator that unites all this online commerce….

Source: ecommerce platforms

Creating a website with our online store will not automatically make us sell more; creating ads on Facebook will not automatically create the impact we look for in our profits ... what will make a website sell more, or a campaign sell more ... is ... are ... the words.

Words are the common denominator that unites many initiatives pursued by monetisation campaigns. We can devote a lot of time to design a website, to choose colours, to choose the right photos ... I do not say that it’s not important ... but then, many companies do not think about the content, or the words they use to sell their products… and I find that ... well, paradoxical.

 In this blog, I usually focus my article, my content, from the perspective of the target language, but today I want to go to the origin, let's go to the basics! I want to reflect on the importance of the words we choose in our source language, which is usually English.

 I want to share with you a series of ideas that can make our words have the impact we want. And as we say in our world of localization "Garbage IN, Garbage OUT"; If the original content is garbage, the localized version cannot do wonders, it will be equally bad; for this reason, it does not seem like a bad idea to focus on the origin ... Here we go!

 One of the companies that I like the most how they choose the words they use is Apple; and it is probably not by chance that they are the most valuable company in the world. Their products are good, and the language they use is excellent. And its localization also has a very high quality.

What does Apple do that I like so much when they are creating the source content?

I will take advantage of the active week the company has had launching new products to review a series of best practices, a series of tricks that can help us make our choice of words better.

1.  Attractive headlines

At Apple, they are masters of how to make attractive headlines. Apple, when you get to the landing page, they make very clear the benefit of their product. Right now as I write this blog the Apple page is promoting the new iPads that they just presented. How does Apple promote the iPad Mini on its website? Well, they do it with a choice of excellent words

iPad Mini - Mini just got mightier

... and just below the adjective the link to Buy.

 Apple does not mention in the headline about the impressive processor that has gotten the iPad Mini, they don't mention the chip with Neural Engine, they do not talk about the Gigabit-class LTE that they have been able to introduce in a device of only 300 grams of weight ... no, they focus on an attractive headline. If we want to know the technical specifications of the product we can know them. There is a link to learn more, but what is clear when looking at Apple's website is that they are masters creating attractive headlines. That is the number 1 trick that I want to share with you today. When we are writing a headline for our source content... what is the main message we want to communicate? We must focus on just one thing. We must explain what we do and how our buyers will have a much easier life full of happiness if they buy our stuff! yay!

If our marketing copy does not have an interesting title, it will not get read. Successful marketing materials start with a title that makes the reader want to continue reading ...

2. They use very short sentences, but shocking.

People are busy. They do not have time to read long paragraphs with information.

If we look at the other product they presented, the iPad Air we can read the following .... Power is not just for the pros. Short sentences are much easier to read than long complicated sentences. The tip here is that if we have long sentences we should split them in 2. In Spanish, there is a saying that says "lo bueno si breve, 2 veces bueno" Apple seems to be aware of this as they apply it to their copywriting process

3. Let's create rhythm and "music" with the words we use.

Apple is really good creating sound-bites easy to remember "Full-size keyboard, full-screen protection" they are really good creating a call to action. In the case of the Apple pencil they say ... "Write, draw, sign, or sketch "for the new AirPod the rhythm continues ..." Wireless to the fullest ". The tip here is to pay attention to how to create this musical rhetoric. From my Toastmasters studies, I was introduced to the concept of rhetorical words (what's rhetorical in public speaking?; this link to a course might be useful to know more about rhetorical devices have a look to learn more about rhythm and music with words; another good resources it’s thus summary I got from Duarte ... one of the most talented speakers I've ever seen

We have to learn and practice how to create these soundbites.

A last sound-bite as an example from the new iMac ad they presented last Monday that I like ... "Show-stopping, eye-popping"

4. Storytelling

We humans love stories, I guess this might come from the time when our ancestors met in the heat of a bonfire to tell stories ... storytelling is effective to sell more and establish a connection with our future buyers. It makes us click with the brand. For example, Apple explains in a very attractive way how they recycle their products. "Meet Daisy our newest dissambly robot, which can recover more of the valuable materials stored in old devices"

The trick here?

Let's find stories for our products; there are numerous studies on how storytelling increases sales and our engagement with the brand.

Source: ecommerce-platforms.com

5.- Convert the problems into a solution

….and then explain the advantages that your product offers. For the Apple Watch, we can find "ECG on your wrist. Notifications for low and high heart rate, and irregular rhythm. Fall detection ... When we are writing sales, it is a good practice to make sure that we are connecting our product with the problem they solve.

 6. Use power words

We can find them everywhere in the Apple site.

• Pencil meets mini. Magic Happens

• Power beyond its size.

• Freaking powerful.

Do you want to have more words that can help us create a more powerful message? No problem! Here is a list of 64 words that improve copy-writing and content in English.

Source: copywritematters.com Click the image to get the list

 It is true that we are in the age of digital content, a lot of videos is consumed, but it is no less true that words still have a fundamental role to sell our products, to build engagement with our followers ...

 Click HERE to download the Words that sale infographic

Conclusion?

Using the right content, with a custom marketing strategy combined with transcreation may give us an edge.

I will leave it here for today .., another day  I will continue to reflect on the second mega-fundamental part so that our product triumph globally, yes, yes, I refer to the localization, well, better said as I wrote above.... to the transcreation

Have a great week and please share/comment below which techniques you guys use to create words and content that matters...

@yolocalizo