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Three Ways to Energize Writing with Sound

Poetic Devices Create Excitement with Sound

Sound – and both its denotation and connotations – are important aspects of good writing.  Repeating patterns and creating tension is vital to great content and ad writing. Add excitement to entice readers. Use poetic devices, such as onomatopoeia, repetition, and alliteration. They add zest to descriptions. Below are some ways to readily apply sound to improve writing.

Use words that burst with sound to create excitement in content and copy writing

Words that Burst with Sound

The use of onomatopoeia, or words that are spelled the way they sound, packs a punch. Such sound words are reminiscent of vintage “Batman” episodes where bam, boom, and wow were placed in zigzag-border boxes above action shots. Additionally, many nature sounds are naturally used in content and ad copy. Consider swish and swoosh. The buzz in BuzzFeed. The tweet behind Twitter. Think of the “snap, crackle, pop” of Rice Krispies. They add movement and texture to text. Use them as exclamation points, sparingly, for greatest impact.

Create Energy with Repetition

Phrase wording to add additional movement. Recall the 1981 Faberge Organics Shampoo TV commercial. It featured a multiplying screen with the wording, “I told two friends. Then, they told two friends. And so on.  And so on. And so on.”  And who can forget Franco American’s “mini, mini, mini, ravioli, oli, oli, oli…”. Earworms, yes? But effective ones, for certain.

Accelerate Action with Alliteration

When using alliteration, the first letters are repeated to create catchy slogans and phrases. These often form the products’ names such as Cocoa Krispies, Frosted Flakes or Captain Crunch. McDonalds had a “big. beefy. bliss” ad. And a Nike ad used repetition to sound like alliteration in “My better is better than your better.”

To bring it all together, add movement to writing with onomatopoeia, repetition, and alliteration. As that energy snowballs, it adds more interest in a product or service to potential customers. And that, as they said in the throwback Pearl Drops ad, “Is a great feeling!”

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Use Mother Nature’s Clues for Ad Copy

Three Clues to Better Ad Copy

Ad copy directed towards women is often based on fear, helplessness, or envy. Anytime a television is flicked on viewers are bombarded with a wide variety of scenarios, such as:

  • fear over lack of correct life insurance policy leaving loved ones in dire straights
  • helplessness over whether the linens are dull, dishes are streaked, or carpet stained
  • envy over another woman’s white teeth, botoxed face, slim waistline, or youthfulness

To be sure, these emotions are all strong motivators. However, when we take a clue from Mother Nature, copy can be filled with confidence, courage, and contentment. Such a shift from negative to positive can provide a better reason to purchase goods or services.

Observing the Uses of Light

Take a hint from Mother Nature and choose words that shimmer.

Below are three clues to take from nature that use light while crafting ad copy – as well as other forms of business and creative writing.

First, consider the hours leading to and following daybreak. Dawn breaking, after a dark, moonless night, is an image that easily reflects a sense of confidence. Words associated with dawn include rise, illuminate, awaken, enliven, enrich, and fortify.

Next, consider the appearance of the sun breaking through thick clouds. Courage is found in such visual words as shining, streaming, casting, beaming, and pulsing. Brooding clouds that crack open and spill hope build excitement with the dramatic shift. Light overcoming darkness is a literary theme that spills over into fashion trends, interior design, and recreational events.

Finally, the sight of a rainbow after a raging storm conjures images of contentment.  The colors themselves and their hues of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet give way to even more words that border on spirituality. These include hope, faith, and love. Also, they inspire words of altruism: charity, togetherness, sharing, and gifting. Everyone, after all, can access these words as a pot of gold at the end of a figurative rainbow.

Replace worn out wording based on negative usage with positive wording. Then, ad copy can begin to do the work beyond the words. It can sell shimmering possibilities of services and products to change the world one customer at a time.