Every Word $Counts$

From the blog of marketing guru Bob bly:

A bank was offering home equity loans through direct response newspaper ads.

They tested 2 ads with different themes:

A — “Fix up your dream home at a competitive rate.”
B — “Fix things around the house that are bugging you.”

One ad generated 41% more loan business than the other.

Which do you think was the winning ad — A or B? And why?

Source: “PitchPerfect Message Strategy” by Barry Callen (McGraw-Hill, 2009).

If you answered B, you are correct!

I find it pretty amazing that changing around a few words can alter the response rate to an advertisement by 41%.

In all of our communications (advertisements, newsletters, emails, phone calls, face-to-face presentations, blogs, Facebook, etc., etc., etc. ), it is important to remember that every word counts.

It is also important to remember the power of simple words and the power of words and phrases that people can genuinely relate to.