3 Powerful Words That Change Minds

by Chen Sirkis 9 min read

The right words to choose

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about the words you should avoid in your marketing communication. Quite a few people reached out, asking what are the words that should be used instead in marketing materials? We are busy preparing a comprehensive list of the power words shown to engage physicians and investors.

The right words to choose

But in the meantime, here are 3 words that give a good place to start.

Imagine

You are familiar with the following scene: You’re introducing your new medical technology to an investor or doctor and within seconds your prospect objects to what you have to say. The objections are familiar, right? “There is no real market need,” “Existing medical treatments are good enough,” “The competitive landscape is overly congested,” and so forth.

Yes, we are critical creatures.

But the reaction is different when we ask a person to imagine something. When asked only to picture something, people do not feel obligated to decide to buy your product or invest in it. When you use the word imagine, the prospect bypasses critical objecting and you manage to sneak in to their mind through the back door of their imagination. Since the brain cannot tell the difference between imagining reality, and actually experiencing reality, the prospect’s own imagination becomes your ally.

We recently worked on an animation for an exciting drug delivery company, Intellidrug.

We could have started the animation by saying: “Intellidrug is a drug delivery platform that dispenses drugs into your bloodstream” (yawn). Instead we wanted prospects to open their minds and tap into the world of possibilities. So we started the animation by saying: “Imagine a system that stores and dispenses medicine directly into your bloodstream without using needles.”

See the difference? Are you imagining it? Here is Intellidrug’s video.

Because

One of the most interesting studies about persuasive communications was performed by Robert Cialdini. The setting: A person in a rush is trying to cut in line to use a Xerox copying machine. Different sentences were used to show how these evoke the willingness of people standing in line to allow a person to cut in.

Sentence 1 “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”

Around 60% of people allowed him to cut in line and use the machine first.

Sentence 2: I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine, because I am in a rush?

This is obviously a very subtle but important difference. A specific reason was indeed given, even though the reason was silly. “Because I’m in a rush” is a hardly a reason at all: it’s a ridiculous excuse. Nonetheless, around 94% of people allowed him to cut in line this time!

Sentence 3: Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?

Even with this lame reason, 93% of people allowed the speaker to cut in line. See how crazy this is? In Sentence 2, there was some sort of reasoning, even if it was only an excuse. But in Sentence 3, there was none. Obviously, all the people in line wanted to make copies. But they were influenced by the legitimacy conferred by the word because.

When you engage in preparing medical marketing communication materials, you need to focus on the medical device’st benefits and not its features. You must give the doctor a reason to purchase your product. Even is this reason is weak, it is better than giving no reason at all. The word because will allow you to cut in line past the objections.

New

This sounds a little silly, doesn’t it? What is so powerful about new that makes it a words that change minds? Well, I believe that this word could be a replacement for a long list of gobbledygook words people typically use in marketing copy. Novelty is shown to play an important role keeping us happy with our products.

People want to get something new. And investors are no different. They want to invest in new and exciting technologies.

What is new about your product? Is it a new way to treat sleep apnea? A new method for managing weight? A new feature to add to proven technology? Do not forget to communicate the novelty that gives your product a reason to exist.

Now it’s your turn. What power words that change minds do you use to open the minds of physicians and investors during your pitch or sales meeting?