“Crafting a story that tricks people into making short-term decisions they regret in the long run is the worst kind of marketing sin.” 

-Seth Godin, Author, Entrepreneur, Marketing Hall of Famer (who knew there was such a thing?)

I just started reading the book, Very Good Copy – 207 Micro-Lessons for Thinking and Writing Like a Copywriter by Eddie Shleyner – longtime copywriter and very good at his job!

The quote from above is mentioned in one of his essays about horrible copy. 

In this particular micro-lesson, he mentions seeing this ad a few weeks after his grandmother passed away from cancer. He took it down, crumpled up the piece of paper, and threw it in the trash. 

We’ve all seen our fair share of bad ads and this one is not great for a lot of reasons, but mainly because it’s crafting a story of false hope. 

Do we really think if doctors found a solution for CANCER with a NINETY-SEVEN PERCENT SUCCESS RATE that we would be finding out about it from a sticker on a pole in the streets of Chicago?

Please, Lord. I hope not. 

We’re all in the business of selling hope. 

Your content makes promises to your clients and customers. That promise brings people hope – the hope that whatever you’re selling them will make their lives better, easier, or healthier in some way. 

And we don’t mess with people's hope. 

That is what the Seth Godin quote means when he says that our advertising cannot trick people into making a short-term decision that they later regret. 

“Your Words Matter” is the name of my business, alongside being your Marketing editor inside Salesgirl Social, because words are (essentially) what I sell to my clients. And I believe that words matter because marketing matters – how you say it, what you say, and why is everything in sales. 

Just take a look at the top 10 worst advertising campaigns of all time and you’ll see what I mean.

Xo, The Salesgirls

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