Page 39 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

13 AVOID CLICHÉS
(LIKE THE PLAGUE)

Stealing ideas is a great idea. If they’re good ones. But stealing
rotten ideas, just because you’ve seen them elsewhere, is just plain
dim. Clichés abound in copywriting and they come in many guises,
from the everyday to the industry-specific, from corporate jargon to
marketing-speak.
They might make the writer feel good about themselves but they
do little for the reader except to generate a sense of déjà vu. The
big problem is that clichés encourage the reader to assume all your
copy is just a boring retread of ideas and phrases they’ve all heard a
thousand times already.

The idea

From too many advertisers to mention individually
As a valued client . . .
What’s wrong with using this phrase to start an email or sales letter?
After all, they are a valued client, so what could be more pleasant
than telling them? Well, here’s the thing. If you use a cliché to open
a letter to your valued clients, the subtext is unambiguous:

Dear Mr Sample, I hold your custom in such slight regard
that rather than spend two minutes thinking of a new and
personal way to address you, I used this rusty old cliché.
You know it’s a cliché: you’ve seen it a million times. And if you
have, so has your client. Why not start by saying:

30 • 100 GREAT COPYWRITING IDEAS