Using trigger words in your marketing and sales copy can dramatically improve your audience’s engagement with your brand and boost your online business conversion rates. You’d be surprised how powerful a few simple words can be and how drastically they can affect people’s actions.
So, if you’re looking to boost engagement and inspire your audience to take action when it comes to buying from your business, let’s look at what words can help you evoke that strong emotional reaction you’re looking for.
What’s a trigger word?
A trigger word is a word that evokes a strong enough emotional reaction in a person that compels them to take action. The action can be anything from clicking on the article, opening an email, or buying a product.
Trigger words and phrases are used when writing sales or marketing copy because we want people who read them to be inspired to take action and make a purchase.
Using trigger words in a smart way is an essential part of any business. Most internet users are bombarded by an obscene amount of information all day long, and for something to draw their attention and inspire them to take action, it has to stand out in a crowded space.
Powerful trigger words can attract someone’s attention and spark their curiosity which in turn will propel them toward taking action.
List of trigger words
While technically, all words can be trigger words, some are more powerful and compelling than others when it comes to writing product descriptions, headlines, and landing page copy. We compiled a list of trigger words that will give you the best ROI when you use them in your marketing and sales copy:
Inspiration
Different trigger words will evoke different types of emotions in people. There is a set of triggering words that have the power to inspire people to make them feel hopeful and excited about whatever your business offers.
Inspirational trigger words are very powerful when you want to evoke positive emotion in people that involves a change. If your online course helps people improve their personal or work lives in some way, then inspirational trigger words will be essential in your marketing copy.
Here is the list of powerful inspirational trigger words:
- Destiny
- Empower
- How
- Overcome
- Reclaim
- Crush
- Seize
- Imagine
- Discover
- Boost
- Cure
- Fix
- Win
- Need
- Enhance
- Build
- Inspire
- Accelerate
- Adapt
- Calibrate
- Troubleshoot
- Strive
- Beat
- Satisfaction
- Peace
- Joy
- Undo
- Glow
- Energize
- Convert
If you’re unsure how to incorporate these words in your marketing copy in an effective way, here are a few great examples:
- Crush Your New Year Fitness Goals With These 5 Habits
- Looking to Glow Up? Here Are 3 Products To Incorporate Into Your Skincare Routine
- Build Your Dream Life With 10 Easy Manifestation Techniques
As you can see, these three sentences are packed with positive intentions, focusing on getting people hyped up about the transformation they can go through if they take action.
Trustworthiness
Trust is the key element of building a successful business with returning customers. With your actions, products, and marketing copy, you want to strive to create a strong bond that makes people trust your brand. When people trust your brand, they feel safe and cared for, which makes them more willing to take action.
A few great examples of words that trigger a sense of trust in people are:
- Guarantee
- Proof
- Proven
- Trusted
- Backed by science
- Evidence-based
- Pure
- Reliable
- Fool-proof
- Facts
- Trustworthy
- Scientific
- Everyone
- Ultimate
- The
When writing your marketing copy or product descriptions, this is how you can incorporate these trigger words effectively:
- 6 Fool-Proof Ways to Prepare Your Car For A Harsh Winter
- The Most Effective Way To Learn a New Language As an Adult
- 10 Evidence-Based Ways To Improve Your Sleep
Even using the simple word “the” instead of “a” when writing marketing or product copy can have a significant effect on people. Using “the” creates a sense of authority, it’s more definitive and assured, which plays into the trust factor. People come to your business because you are the authority, the expert in your field. Your brand and marketing copy has to convey that.
Fear of missing out
Fear is one of the most effective motivators for people to act. Because of that, fear-inducing trigger words work like a charm when it comes to encouraging people to take action. Nobody wants to miss out on an opportunity that might never come around again or a good discount on a product they’ve been eyeing for a while that might not be available in the future.
Because of how effective the FOMO is, it’s a go-to-market strategy for many business owners. You can easily create a sense of urgency with these trigger words:
- Tired
- If
- Limited
- Save
- Today
- Now
- Expiring Now
- Before
- Forever
Here are a few great examples of how to incorporate these powerful trigger words in your marketing and product copy:
- Special Offer For Today Only: 50% Off The Photography Bundle
- Take Advantage of This Offer Before It Expires: Buy One, Get One For Free
- Only For Limited Time Only: Book a Free Coaching Call When Enrolling in the Course!
Conversions on time-limited offers are great, so make sure you find a place for using FOMO trigger words in your marketing copy when the time is right. It’s always a good idea to use this type of marketing around big sales days like Black Friday or Boxing Day.
Provocative
Emotional trigger words can evoke both bad and positive emotions in people. There is a place and time for both, and sometimes you might want to use more provoking trigger words to get people to take action.
Provocative, emotional trigger words rely on forcing people into action with the help of negative or uncomfortable emotions. A few examples of provocative words are:
- Controversial
- Stop
- Worse
- Exposed
- Surrender
- Craving
- Sabotage
- Forgotten
- Mysterious
- Revenge
- Failure
- Ridiculous
- Taboo
- Helpless
- Destroy
You want to evoke just the right amount of negative emotion from people, which inspires them to take action. Most often, provocative trigger words that play on negative emotions offer an immediate solution. For example:
- Stop Sabotaging Your Love Life: 6 First Date Mistakes People Make and How To Avoid Them
- Are You Feeling Like a Failure? Change Your Life With 7 Habits in The New Year
- 10 Mysterious Places on Earth You Didn’t Know About
Exclusivity
Who can say no to having access to something exclusive, only reserved for the very few? Exclusivity can be an extremely potent tool when marketing your online courses. So, when appropriate, try and create a sense of it with the help of these trigger words:
- Elite
- Insider
- Secret
- Deal
- Exceptional
- Unlock
Here is how you can create powerful marketing and product copy with these emotional trigger words:
- Here Is A Secret To A Youthful Looking Skin
- Join The Elite Boxing Academy Today!
- Register For a Free Webinar To Learn the Best Kept Insider Secrets
Surprise
Another category of trigger words is those that evoke feel-good emotions and surprise. When people read these words, they feel uplifted, curious, and open to learning more about the subject.
These positive emotions of surprise and wonder evoking words are:
- Revolutionary
- Mesmerizing
- Mind-blowing
- Astonishing
- Terrific
- Jaw-dropping
- Spectacular
- Breath-taking
- Charming
- Amazing
- Wonder
- Blissful
- Remarkable
- Vibrant
By incorporating these words into your marketing and product copy, you can really bring your product to life. People will be enthralled by a jaw-dropping description of the product much more rather than the one that’s dry. So, here is how you can make your marketing and product copy much more dazzling:
- 7 Revolutionary Products For Curly Hair
- 11 Mind-Blowing Facts About Yoga You Probably Didn’t Know
- Learn How to Take Breath-Taking Photos With This Mini Course
Gratification
Instant gratification is a powerful drive when it comes to people taking action. Everyone wants to get things now faster, cheaper, and easier. The fewer obstacles, the better. When writing your marketing copy, you have the power to use certain words that trigger the feeling of instant gratification and entice people to engage with your brand:
- Novelty
- New
- Free
- Instant
- More
- Faster
- Cheaper
- Easy
- Want
- Never
- Yes
These types of trigger words are a perfect way to sell your lead magnet and entice people to sign up for your email list. Here are a few great examples of copy that instantly gives people a sense of instant gratification:
- Sign Up Here To Receive 10 Expert Tips on How To Build Habits Faster
- 7 Easy Strategies To Help You Learn a New Language
- Get Your Free Beginner’s Pilates Class Now!
How to use trigger words for effective marketing
Now that you’re familiar with the different emotional trigger words you can use, it’s time to consider the best ways to incorporate them into your marketing strategy. The good news is that trigger words are versatile and can be used in many different ways:
Headlines
When you write a blog post, always spend extra time working on crafting the perfect headline. The headline is the first thing people will read, and it will determine whether they decide to click on it and read the blog post. So, it’s one of the most crucial elements.
You can incorporate one or multiple different trigger words in your headlines. A good headline should always be:
- Make people stop scrolling
- Pique curiosity
- Inform the reader what they can expect from the article
- Encourage action (clicking on it)
Email subject lines
Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing channels. But it’s only effective if people open and read your emails. Now, how can you ensure that people click on your email? A well-crafted email subject line!
The email subject line is the first place where you want to ensure you use appropriate trigger words. Most people have many emails coming into their inboxes, so it’s easy for your email to get lost in a sea of other emails. Your email subject line has to catch an eye in an instant.
Similarly to a headline, an effective email subject line has to:
- Catch people’s eye
- Pique their curiosity
- Entice them to read the rest of the email
So, make sure your email subject line always includes trigger words that encourage people to click on the email. And then, always include trigger words in your welcome email when people join your email list and your weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly newsletters.
Calls to action
Your call to action is one of the most important components of marketing copy on your landing pages, social media, and website. Trigger words help evoke emotion that drives people to take action, and a call to action ensures people know what type of action to take when they’re ready.
So, always make sure that you include appropriate trigger words that further entice people to follow through on the action. Pay attention to your conversions to see which trigger words and calls to action bring the best results, and adapt the copy accordingly.
Sales copy
Of course, when writing your sales copy for a product or an online course, you want to incorporate as many emotional trigger words as possible. You want to engage people and make them believe that your products will offer them a life-changing transformation. Words that evoke positive or negative emotions are the best way to do it.
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