Is your copy full of statements with no substance?

I was chatting to a service provider recently and they told me that part of their process was special because it was “done using AI”.

Now, granted, they had no idea what I do for a living and the low-level loathing my colleagues and I have for AI. But besides all that, what does “done using AI” actually mean?!

It made me think about all those times we use statements in our copy that sound impressive but actually have very little substance.

Like when your favourite beauty brand tells you about their “patented formula”. Or when that video-conferencing software company tells you they offer “cutting-edge technology”.

You see, it’s not the AI, the formula or the technology we care about, but what it does for us.

The trouble is that those bland little phrases are easy to write. Our brains chuck them out and we go: “Perfect. That works”. But as a reader, you’re left feeling like you don’t have all the information you need. At worst, as the AI example did with me, it seriously damages trust.

But if you can make your language more specific, more tangible and more relevant to the customer, your copy will perform a whole lot better.

So tell us what your AI tool does. Tell us about the work, the ingredients and, most importantly, the results we can expect from your patented formula. And tell us why your video-conferencing technology is so ahead of the curve. And then, most importantly, relate it back to your customer’s life and how what you’re selling will make it better. 

If you’d like to chat more about writing for your business, I’d love to hear from you.