The Power of Words when Selling Software

February 13th, 2008 by Mike Read more about Google AdWords, Google AdWords Tips

Here is another Google Adwords secret tip on making words more powerful.

You can make the headline of your ad more inviting by making it appear as if your product or service does the work for the customer. Here is an example: “Develop web banners in minutes” vs. “Develops web banners in minutes.” The only change in the above ad is that we changed “develop” to “develops.” While this change is small, it means a whole lot to your CTR.

It implies that your software does the work for the customer rather than requiring your customer to use the software to do work.

“Develop Web Banners in Minutes” sounds like a guide or manual requiring the customer to read, study and then go to work to develop banners.

But

“Develops Web Banners in Minutes” sounds like a magic tool with a button you’d push to instantly spit out your web banners. And a heck of lot more appealing.
Which would you rather have? We seen CTRs double when we change the wording to imply automation.
Other examples:
* create > creates
* put > puts
* design > designs
* conceive > conceives
* organize > organizes
* boost > boosts

About the Author

Prior to MindValley Media, Mike was the Head of New Ventures Strategy at eBay where he conceived of the strategies that led to the investment in Craigslist, the launch of Kijiji.com and the acquisition of Skype. Mike has an MBA from Stanford and previously worked for the Boston Consulting Group. He is also a certified Google AdWords Professional.

Check out other posts by Mike

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6 Responses to “The Power of Words when Selling Software”

February 13th, 2008 at 9:54 pm Wednesday Roundup 2/13/2008 | semvironment
[...] The Power of Words when Selling Software - Excellent suggestions for taking the burden away from the user and placing it on the product. Relief and ease of use sells a lot of stuff…it’s a great psychological trigger/benefit. [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 3:07 am Abhisek
Really, that’s true. I myself have tested this, in one of my blog posts, earlier.
Actually, this has been proved not only theoretically, but also practically by scientists studying human brain. People now-a-days like to have everything to be done by others. So by human psychology, it is also true.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:10 am Peter - Software Marketing Secrets
Very interesting, I will surely run some tests on this.

Thanks,
Peter
February 15th, 2008 at 2:49 am Mark
A rule for marketing (& Blogs):

Do NOT use Jargon! (What the hell is a CTR????????)

It turns off your potential readers/customers in an INSTANT!
February 25th, 2008 at 2:44 pm Joakim - Zmags
Excellent hint - at sounds reasonable as well. I need to edit my ad-texts at once to try it out.

@Mark - You have to start at some level. Writing about Google Ads without mentioning CTR is like digging into motor sports without name dropping “lap time”. Wikipedia is your friend.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:56 am Charlotte Babb
Seems my 10th grade English teacher was right–verbs, especially active verbs, carry more power than any other words.

Takes Action–Makes Money. I like it.

@Mark–thanks for a good idea on blog posting and how not to look like a newbie

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