Jay Leonard
Are you looking for guide to communicating with your online audience?
How can you grow online through the right marketing words, and which should you avoid?
This resource gives you 175 of the most impactful marketing words (good and bad), organized into ten categories for easy reading.
If you want to download this list as a PDF, you can do that right here:
Use this table of contents to see the best (and worst) words to use in your online marketing campaigns:
Marketing Words to Use
- Words That Tap into Emotion
- Words That Tap into Fear
- Words That Make People Feel Safe
- Words That Imply Urgency
- Words That Show Value
Marketing Words to Avoid
- Words Which Make You Sound Ancient
- Words Which Nobody Will Believe
- Words Which Sound Salesy
- Words Which Have Been Overused
- Words Which Make You Look Lazy
Marketing Words to Use
Marketing Words That Tap into Emotion
Emotion drives most purchases we make, if you actually get down to it.
- Why did you buy a gift for your partner? — You love them and want them to be happy.
- Why did you buy jeans when your old ones got worn out? — You want to look good, and impress people. And you’re scared what people will think if they see you in worn out jeans.
Here are the marketing words which can motivate your prospective customers to feel something which just might result in a purchase:
- Obsession
- Surging
- Pioneering
- Unsurpassed
- Confidential
- Bold
- Tempting
- Unconventional
- Astonishing
- Epic
- Explosive
- Secret
- Unusual
- Daring
- Imagine
- Discover
- Create
- Polarizing
- Inspire
Marketing Words That Tap into Fear
Fear is a powerful motivator:
The fear of missing out, the fear of making a mistake, the fear of costing your business money they don’t have, or rushing something which should be done carefully.
Here are the marketing words which incite fear in your prospective customer, and drive them to protect themselves by engaging with your brand:
- Fooled
- Beware
- Blinded
- Alarming
- Devastating
- Heartbreaking
- Hoax
- Prison
- Revenge
- Risky
- Avoid
- Scary
- Backlash
- Costly
- Assault
- Frantic
- Hazardous
- Untested
Marketing Words That Make People Feel Safe
Trust is everything when it comes to laying money on the line.
If you haven’t communicated that your product and your business is legit, why should anybody get their credit card out of their wallet?
Use these marketing words to ensure your prospective customers feel safe to engage with you:
- Authentic
- No-Strings Attached
- Secure
- Privacy
- Backed
- Lifetime
- Tested
- No-Obligation
- Forever
- Proven
- Moneyback
- Protected
- Verified
- No Questions
- Endorsed
- Certified
- Anonymous
Marketing Words That Imply Urgency
People are more incentivized to engage with your brand if they think they’ll miss out otherwise.
Use these marketing words to imply urgency to your offer, promotion, or content:
- Now
- Exclusive
- Scarce
- Rare
- Immediately
- Instantly
- Hurry
- Only
- Limited
- Limited-time
- Limited-edition
- Temporary
Marketing Words That Show Value
Communicating why a prospective customer should engage with your business is the first step to getting them to do so.
Unless you show the value of engaging, they’re not going to. It’s as simple as that.
Here are the essential marketing words which can be used to show value:
- Free
- Proven
- Lucrative
- Unbelievable
- Bargain
- Double
- Affordable
- Convert
- Essential
- Detailed
- Better
- New
- Remarkable
- Professional
- Best-Selling
- Guaranteed
- Unique
- Improved
- Tested
- Immediately
- Bonus
- Easy
- Advanced
- Results
- Effective
- Massive
- Impactful
- Increase
- Expert
- Lifetime
- Highest
- Lowest
- % Signs
- $ Signs
Marketing Words to Avoid in your Marketing Strategy
Now that we have a good idea of the words which will have the greatest impact on your social media post engagement, landing page conversion and product page purchases, let’s look at the words you should be avoiding.
Marketing Words That Make You Sound Ancient
You’re a business. Even if your business’ tone is a casual, fun one, there’s still a line you shouldn’t cross.
Here are a couple cringeworthy examples:
Here are the most cringeworthy “youth” slang marketing words your business needs to avoid:
- I can’t even
- On fleek
- Lit
- Turnt
- AF (“As F*ck”)
- Dab
- Chill
- GOAT (greatest of all time)
- Gucci
- Fo’ real
- Peng
- Totes
- Fam
- LOL
- Salty
- YEET
- Bae
If you’re ever wondering if a word or idea may come across as “trying too hard” with the kids, check out the subreddit “/r/fellowkids.”
Marketing Words That Nobody Will Believe
Whether you sell marketing software or gluten-free cake, your audience will put up their noses at your pitch that your product is going to change their lives or is the first time anybody thought to put flour and sugar together.
Instead, focus on what it can actually do. Avoid superlatives and keep your brand on solid ground.
Here are the “nobody will believe you” marketing words to avoid:
- Groundbreaking
- Once-in-a-lifetime
- Revolutionary
- Perfect
- Impossible
- Miracle
- Once-only
- Visionary
- Transformative
- Jaw-Dropping
- Spell-binding
- Game-changer
- Armageddon
- Always
- Apocalypse
Marketing Words That Sound Salesy
Are you a used-car salesman from the 80s, or a modern-day marketer?
Thought so.
So why are you still trying to shill your prospective customers like you use too much hair gel and have a Madmen-era respect for the world around you?
Here are the “salesy” marketing words you should avoid unless you want to lose all trust from your audience:
- Outside the box
- Synergy
- Optimize
- Promise
- Satisfaction Guaranteed
- Cutting-edge
- Profit
- Commission
- Hidden gem
- Bandwidth
- Connect (as in, “when’s a good time to connect?)
- Programmatic
- Quota
- Pitch
- Leverage
- Win-Win
- Opportunity
Marketing Words That Have Been Overused
These words may have been the bee’s knees in years gone by. But those years are gone by.
Now, they just sound like you’re a broken robot, repeating the same words over and over again like every other faceless corporate hack.
These are the most overused marketing words out there:
- Actionable
- Learnings
- Viral
- Disruption
- Holistic
- Innovative
- Seamless
- Robust
- Granular
- Snackable
- Paradigm
- Customer-oriented
Marketing Words That Make You Look Lazy
You’re a creative marketer. So there’s no need to fall back on those words we learned in third grade.
Be better. Be more unique. Be more charismatic.
And whatever you do, avoid these lazy words at all costs.
- Click here
- Submit
- Buy
- Buy now
- Great
- Very
- Stuff
- Things
- Amazing
- Huge
- Awesome
- Deal
- Special
- Best
Final Thoughts
I hope this resource has clarified for you which marketing words are winners and which may have a detrimental effect on your audience’s desire to engage.
Few are “hard-and-fast” rules, of course. So use your best judgment and creativity both.
Do you have any strong feelings for or against any of these words? Get the conversation started in the comment section below!
Read more:
- Slang Expressions for Business Professionals to Avoid
- Best SMS Marketing Software: 10 SMS Marketing Platforms for 2023
- Best Email Marketing Software – 10 Best Email Marketing Services for your Business
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Jay Leonard.
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Thanks Jay – I was going to say thanks for these awesome, actionable and amazing hidden gems and stuff … but then I got to the bottom of the list and decided to check my lazy 80s salesman jingo at the curbside and make an honest request: Please update this list every three years or so so that I know how to stop sounding lame to 20 year olds! And Thanks!