Successful marketers, sales professionals, and business owners know that how you frame a message is as important as the message itself when it comes to boosting conversions. Great content marketing incorporates what professionals call “power words”—language that evokes an emotional response from the target audience, enticing them to act.
Because they are so effective, the mindful use of power words should play an integral part in your content marketing strategy. This article provides a list of power words to help you incorporate the right ones into your marketing and sales copy. We cover:
What are power words?
Power words evoke an emotional or a psychological response—either positive or negative—to get the person who reads or hears them to do (or refrain from doing) something. Strategic use of the right power word can entice someone to:
- Buy a certain product
- Subscribe to a publication or join an email list
- Share online content
- Stay on the page just a little longer
Proper power word placement can provide the edge needed to get customers to act in a way that benefits your business goals.
Qualities of power words
Most power words possess one or more of five distinct qualities.
Action-driven
Often, the point of a power word is to get your audience to take action. Which is why so many power words have an action-driven quality.
Action-driven power words challenge customers to create something, discover something, change themselves or their circumstances, or conquer something they fear.
Encouraging
Most people respond well to encouragement, which is why so many power words are designed to act as a cheerleader. Power words that encourage and build trust lift people up and make them believe in themselves. They tell customers that they can do something, will succeed, and must try. Anything is possible!
Descriptive
Descriptive power words challenge customers to picture a reality that’s better than their own. They paint a picture that taps into consumers’ imaginations and helps them believe in their life-changing dreams. Look for big, bright, and bold words that capture customers’ spirits and encourage them to soar.
Unique
Since the purpose of power words is to gain attention, evoke emotion, and encourage action, they must be appropriate to the situation, but also unique. The more generic a word, the less powerful it will feel. The more eye-opening a single word is, the more powerful it is. Look for words that are jaw-dropping and mind-blowing. If you have a choice, choose the unexpected.
Surprising
A power word needs to pack a punch, and that happens with the element of surprise. A word or phrase is more memorable when it knocks customers slightly off-kilter.
Why use power words?
The point of using power words is to trigger the audience’s emotions in a way that encourages—if not compels—a certain behavior from them. The idea is to reach this emotive core with such precision and specificity that your customer or client wants to move forward to the next step with your copy, site, product, or brand.
278 examples of power words, by type
Depending on the context and goal, a good content marketer can come up with thousands of power words to make their point. To better understand power words, let’s look at them in terms of the emotions they tend to evoke. These include:
- Greed
- Vanity
- Lust
- Sloth
- Fear
- Anger
- Encouragement
Greed
While they’re referred to as greed-oriented power words in marketing, the following words really speak to our innate desire to meet our basic needs. Often, these needs evoke feelings of financial security, abundance, and value.
Humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow described this 70 years ago when he constructed his Hierarchy of Needs, pointing out that the need for food, shelter, safety, and belonging forms the foundation of a fulfilled life. These so-called greed power words speak to those needs.
- Bargain
- Best
- Bestselling
- Bonanza
- Bonus
- Cash
- Cheap
- Discount
- Dollar
- Double
- Economical
- Extra
- Feast
- Final
- First
- Fortune
- Frenzy
- Frugal
- Gift
- Giveaway
- Greatest
- Inexpensive
- Jackpot
- Luxurious
- Marked down
- Massive
- Monetize
- Money
- Moneyback
- More
- Nest egg
- New
- Pay zero
- Premiere
- Price break
- Prize
- Profit
- Reduced
- Save
- Six-figure
- Skyrocket
- Slashed
- Steal
- Treasure
- Ultimate
- Unlimited
- Upsell
- Value
- Wealth
Vanity
Maslow knew that a person’s sense of self-esteem is closely linked to their happiness. When we feel acknowledged for our attributes and accomplishments, we’re sparked to do better, to be better. Content creators leverage this when they infuse content with these “vanity” words.
- Ambitious
- Attractive
- Beautiful
- Bold
- Brave
- Breathtaking
- Clever
- Confident
- Courageous
- Cute
- Daring
- Elegant
- Expert
- Fearless
- Genius
- Greatest
- Gorgeous
- Handsome
- Hero
- Influential
- Innovative
- Inventive
- Powerful
- Prize
- Smart
- Spectacular
- Successful
- Stunning
- Victory
- Wonderful
Lust
Infusing copy with an appeal to the senses can entice your target audience to lean into the message you’re providing. Think of these “lust” power words—which run the gamut from the prurient to an elevated sense of emotional and spiritual intense longing—as a way to tap into your audience’s deepest desires.
- Alluring
- Caress
- Crave
- Delight
- Enchanting
- Exposed
- Fascinate
- Forbidden
- Guilt-free
- Hot
- Hypnotic
- Intensity
- Kiss
- Love
- Lovely
- Lust
- Mouthwatering
- Naughty
- Obsessed
- Provocative
- Riveting
- Sensual
- Shameless
- Sinful
- Sexy
- Spicy
- Steamy
- Sultry
- Untouched
- Wild
- Whip
Sloth
Depending on what you’re marketing, you may want to appeal to your audience’s time-sensitive side or even their need for some prodding or motivation. In these instances—when your emphasis is on easing the burden of achieving a goal—consider using one or more of these 30 words and phrases.
- Accelerated
- All-inclusive
- Complete
- Easy
- Efficient
- Effortless
- Fast
- Hack
- Instantly
- Mere
- No downside
- No nonsense
- No sweat
- On-demand
- Painless
- Piece of cake
- Pronto
- Quick
- Rapid
- Reduced
- Results
- Save time
- Shortcut
- Simple
- Smooth
- Snap
- Swift
- Today
- Uncomplicated
- Without effort
Fear
Nothing motivates people like fear. It can be fear of pain or death, fear of losing out on love, fear of losing money or position, or even fear of missing out (FOMO). Check out these 63 fear-based power words to see if any can help you capture the essence of your message.
- Agony
- Annihilate
- Assault
- Backlash
- Beating
- Beware
- Blinded
- Bloodbath
- Bomb
- Cataclysmic
- Caution
- Collapse
- Crisis
- Danger
- Dark
- Deadly
- Destroy
- Devastating
- Disaster
- Doom
- Drowning
- Embarrass
- Epidemic
- Fail
- Feeble
- Fired
- Frantic
- Frightening
- Gambling
- Hazardous
- Hoax
- Injure
- Invasion
- Jeopardy
- Looming
- Miss out
- Mistake
- Nightmare
- Painful
- Panic
- Peril
- Pitfall
- Plague
- Plummet
- Poison
- Pummel
- Reckoning
- Revenge
- Risky
- Savage
- Secure
- Smash
- Tailspin
- Tank
- Teetering
- Terror
- Toxic
- Tragedy
- Trap
- Volatile
- Warning
- Wounded
- Wreaking havoc
Anger
While anger is often considered to be a negative emotion, this isn’t always the case. The power of anger can help you achieve greater self-awareness, bringing on positive actions and motivating you to rectify perceived wrongs.
As a business, you can use anger-based power words to move your audience in the direction of finally pulling the trigger on certain behaviors. Consider these 35 anger-themed power words to help your readers tap into this core feeling.
- Agitate
- Arrogant
- Backstabbing
- Brutal
- Bully
- Corrupt
- Crunch
- Crush
- Diminish
- Evil
- Exploit
- Foul
- Greedy
- Hate
- Hostile
- Know-it-all
- Loathsome
- Loser
- Lying
- Money-grubbing
- Provoke
- Punish
- Rant
- Revolting
- Ruthless
- Smug
- Sneaky
- Sniveling
- Underhanded
- Vicious
- Violent
- Waste
- Weak
- Worst
- Wounded
Encouragement
Perhaps the greatest way to motivate someone is to encourage them through powerful affirmations that spark hope and positivity. If your goal is to empower and inspire your audience to move in a certain direction, if you want to associate your brand with an uplifting message, these 40 encouragement-based words provide a good foundation to get started.
- Accomplish
- Achieve
- Appreciate
- Believe
- Bliss
- Challenge
- Clarity
- Confidence
- Compassionate
- Determine
- Dream
- Empower
- Endurance
- Energy
- Envision
- Faithful
- Fearless
- Goals
- Gratitude
- Hope
- Inspire
- Joyful
- Kindness
- Lead
- Loving
- Motivate
- Optimism
- Patience
- Perseverance
- Persistence
- Possibilities
- Power
- Rise
- Risk
- Satisfy
- Skillful
- Strength
- Teach
- Willpower
- Winner
Where should you use power words?
To make the greatest use of power words, place them in your copy strategically.
Headlines
You only get one chance to make a first impression, and your headline is your chance to wow your audience and draw them in. Power word placement in a headline often determines whether a reader will click or move on, so take your time and compose a hard-hitting headline.
Think about the emotion you want to elicit and what might attract your audience. Then, go for it.
Here’s an example of a blog post headline that just cries out for a click:
“Save time and money with these house cleaning hacks.”
The power words in this headline appeal to the audience’s desire to save time (slothfulness) and money (greed).
Sub-headlines
Of course, headlines don’t always tell the whole story. Subheads are also great places for power word positioning. Consider how creating this sub-headline in the same article could bring home the author’s point:
“Achieve real cost savings with these inexpensive cleaning products.”
The sub-headline further encourages the reader to cut down on costs with the power words “achieve,” “cost savings,” and “inexpensive.”
Email subject lines
If you want your recipients to respond to your email marketing campaigns, you should incorporate a power word or two in the subject line. Your email subject line is often the make-or-break reason a person will or won’t open your correspondence. Here’s an example of a must-open email subject line:
“You could be missing out on savings!”
The persuasive words found in this simple line tap into the fear- and greed-based emotions that come with FOMO related to savings opportunities. Human nature drives people to at least open the email to learn more.
Homepage
Your homepage is your site’s main landing page. It provides an opportunity to introduce your brand to your audience. Using power words here draws your audience in and sets the tone for your entire brand.
For example, Upwork’s homepage opens with this headline and sub-headline:
“How work should work. Forget the old rules. You can have the best people. Right now. Right here.”
This homepage message is full of encouragement and urgency while also tapping into the natural desire in the reader for achieving respect, accomplishing goals, and having those accomplishments recognized.
Business or blog names
While Shakespeare might have thought that what you call something doesn’t matter—a rose is a rose by any name, after all—content marketing experts respectfully disagree.
Using power words in business names, blog names, podcasts, infographics, social media handles, and other business materials matters when attracting customers and viewers.
Think about the Dollar Tree store brand. Even if you didn’t already know that the store carries low-cost items, the power word “dollar” informs you of the brand’s gimmick, while also attempting to appeal to your frugal (read: greedy) side.
Similarly, successful bloggers know that power words can turbocharge their blog’s readership. For example, The Penny Hoarder is currently one of the fastest-growing blogs. That their name incorporates the power words “penny” and “hoarder” is likely no accident.
Product names
Like business names, choosing the right name for your product can make a difference in building your brand. You want the name to be spellbinding and memorable.
One of the best examples of a product with a power word in its name is the sports drink Powerade. By incorporating the vanity word “power” in the product name, the product both speak to its function and appeals to people seeking a way to increase their strength and endurance.
Bullet lists
When creating copy for websites, e-commerce sales pages, or emails, writers often create bulleted lists to keep the reader’s attention, incorporate eye-appealing white space, and break up the copy.
This is a perfect opportunity to use power words to create awe-inspiring text that taps into readers’ emotions. For instance, if you’re listing the attributes of your legal services, think about using power words like “affordable” (greed), “compassionate” (encouragement), and “fearless” (vanity) to describe your services. For example:
- “Affordable fees”
- “Compassionate counsel”
- “Fearless litigators”
You can use the same power words in bulleted lists of customer testimonials or when giving a potential customer a sneak peek at your offerings.
Pop-ups
Pop-ups offer the element of surprise and the opportunity to grab the user’s attention. Power words that support a strong Call To Action (CTA) can be useful. Think about using phrases like “don’t miss out” (fear) or “meet your goals” (encouragement) when writing your pop-up copy.
Buttons
When you strategically place a button on your website, you want to entice your visitor to do something immediately. That’s why using a power word—rather than something generic, like “Click here”—can be so effective.
For example, think about creating a button that says “Save Now” or “Yes! I Want a Free Gift!” to encourage action.
Call to action
Your CTA is often your last chance to boost conversions by getting your audience to act. It’s also your final chance to tweak your copy so you can appeal to their emotions with the right words.
An example of a CTA that appeals to fear and greed is, “Don’t miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save.” One that incorporates encouragement might read, “Success can be yours. Learn more about how to open your heart and mind to all you can be and achieve.”
Increase conversion with power words
The name of the game in most digital marketing is conversion. You want to increase your conversion rates by enticing readers or visitors to perform some type of action that increases sales, bolsters subscriptions, and/or places more prospects in your sales funnel.
Using power words in your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy can help you do all that and more. Because success breeds success, the added benefit of increased traffic and higher Click-Through Rates (CTRs) is raising your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) rankings, making it easier for prospects and customers to find you first.
Power words are like gifts that keep on giving.
