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You are here: Home / Branding / Can You Guess the 2 Most Powerful Words in Advertising?

Can You Guess the 2 Most Powerful Words in Advertising?

January 13, 2014 by Larry Keltto 5 Comments

John Caples was a legendary ad executive and copywriter.

John Caples, legendary ad executive and copywriter
Legendary ad executive and copywriter
John Caples

He worked for 40 years at BBDO, one of the nation’s largest ad agencies, and he was BBDO’s vice president when he retired. He died in 1990.

During his first year as a copywriter, Caples wrote one of the best-known direct-mail ads of all time. Writing about a home-study course offered by the U.S. School of Music, the ad was headlined, “They laughed when I sat down at the piano, but when I started to play…” The ad was a great success, and copywriters have been using variations of it ever since.

Thousands of people in sales and marketing have been influenced by Caples’s methods and advice. Many of the copywriting “how to” articles that you’ll find online today were based on his work.

Caples once did a study of 100 of the most effective advertisements ever written. He wanted to know which words were used most frequently in the headlines. Here’s what he found:

You: 31
Your: 14
How: 12
New: 10
Who: 8
Money: 6
Now: 4
People: 4
Want: 4
Why: 4

If you combine the score of the word “you” with the score of the similar word “your,” there are 45 mentions, which is almost as many mentions as the other words combined (52).

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“The words ‘you’ and ‘your’ are very effective,” Caples said. “Every copywriter should remember the value of hammering away at you, you, you, both in headlines and in copy.”

We’ve been bombarded by “you” and “your” our entire lives. When you begin looking, you’ll find “you” and “your” used everywhere in sales and marketing. Check out these slogans, for example.

• You’re In Good Hands – Allstate

• Your World. Delivered. – AT&T

• This Bud’s For You – Budweiser

• Have It Your Way – Burger King

• What’s In Your Wallet? – Capital One

• You Know Us – Farmers Insurance

• When You Care Enough To Send The Very Best – Hallmark

• You Can Do It. We Can Help. – Home Depot

• What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar? – Klondike

• You Deserve A Break Today – McDonalds

• Nationwide Is On Your Side – Nationwide Insurance

• This Is Your Brain, This Your Brain On Drugs – Public Service Announcement

• You Could Learn A Lot From A Dummy – Public Service Announcement

• How Do You Spell Relief? – Rolaids

• What Can Brown Do For You? – UPS

• Can You Hear Me Now? – Verizon

• Let Your Fingers Do The Walking – Yellow Pages

The organizations above spent who-knows-how-many millions of dollars on those campaigns, and the use of “you” and “your” was no accident. Give it a try in an A/B test to see how it works for you.

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Filed Under: Branding, Copywriting Tagged With: copywriting, Headlines, John Caples

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Hi, I'm Gregory Rouse, owner of The Solopreneur Life. Get my free newsletter and receive how-to's, tips, and inspiration for living your solopreneur life.


Comments

  1. Mike Branch says

    January 15, 2014 at 4:30 PM

    Thanks for the reminder about “you” and “your”. I am sure what is true for copywriting is also good for all my marketing communications including face-to-face client and prospect meetings.

    Reply
  2. Larry Keltto says

    January 16, 2014 at 3:34 PM

    Hi Mike:

    You make a great point about using the you/your language in all customer interaction. It keeps the focus where it should be.

    Larry

    Reply
    • Blake Sutton says

      March 19, 2015 at 11:01 AM

      This is so true. However, it’s disgusting. This use of “you/your” is partially at fault for the extremely low collective state of consciousness among humans currently. Sure, you’re slinging sales, but at what cost? Where has the stillness gone? We don’t NEED to buy these things. We think we do, because generally, people equate who they ARE with a mental concept of themselves.
      They don’t see a McDonald’s meal as nutrition necessary for survival; they see it as a possible way to enhance their sense of identity. And it will fail every time.

      Reply
  3. Bijutoha says

    January 17, 2014 at 12:16 AM

    You/Your ! both of you impressed me so much . Thanks Larry Keltto ! for unique thought. So is these the right words for good advertising program ?

    Reply
  4. Hasu Mohammad says

    December 29, 2014 at 8:44 AM

    I am really impressed to see this article. A very informative article however i also like you/your both word and useful for marketing advertisement. Thank you for wonderful sharing.

    Reply

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