30 Things to Never Say in your Advertising

You’ve got your marketing plan worked out. Your budget is more than you would like, but you’re willing to commit to it. You’ve decided what media you are going to use, and you’re pretty proud of the deal you were able to negotiate. You’ve got your offer or message worked out. All that’s left to do is write your ad and get it produced. No problem. At least, that’s what most business people think.

Good business people are highly disciplined at measuring value. And, every step of the campaign development process has some basis in being able to measure something except the creative step. That’s where almost every entrepreneur falls down. Even the good ones.

Time and time again, I have seen the manager/owner write his own copy or try to direct a writer to create copy that is full of ad clichés that neither stand out nor convince. The result is predictable. All that time, effort and money is neutralized by ad copy that is only efficient at blending into the great background hum of “white noise”.

With that in mind, I have created a list of phrases and words to avoid. If you find any of these in your ad copy, re-write it. You can find words to get the same ideas across with more personality and originality.

1. Once in a lifetime
2. Friendliest store in town
3. Why pay more
4. Lowest prices of the year
5. Dare to compare
6. Lowest prices in town
7. Save like never before
8. Make an offer
9. Highest quality, lowest price
10. Best service in town
11. The perfect gift
12. For any budget
13. Public notice
14. Buy with confidence
15. Check out our great selection
16. Nobody beats our prices
17. We’ll save you money
18. Store-wide clearance
19. We sell more (item) than anyone
20. Hurry in
21. Everything must go
22. Never lower
23. Follow the crowds
24. Now is the time to buy
25. Don’t miss this sale
26. Save today
27. You won’t find deals like this…
28. Unbelievable prices (bargains, deals, etc.)
29. Boss is away
30. Gigantic sale

If you find yourself using any of the above phrases, go back and think of a more unique way to say the same thing. These phrases have been used so many times for so many products that there is simply no credibility to them any longer.

In fact, there are probably more that I have overlooked here.

Please feel free to add any others that you would like to never hear again.