10 Advertising Words to Avoid in 2009

8. To Be (or Not To Be, for that matter). Write your advertising and marketing messages in the active voice, not the passive voice. If any form of "to be," "has been" or anything similar appears in your copy, rewrite it. Writing in the passive voice doesn't command action. Writing in the active voice does.

9. Synergy. This overused piece of jargon has had a long life, but it's time to move on. Leave jargon and 10-dollar words out of your advertising messages. There's no room in copywriting for buzz words and words that consumers need a dictionary to understand.

Consumers don't care about your "unique value proposition." They care that when they pay for your product or service, it will deliver the results they expect. Naturally, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as B2B copywriting, where jargon might be expected. In most copywriting, however, keep it simple.

10. Drinkability. Budweiser is already using "drinkability" in its ads. Seriously though, the point is valid -- don't copy your competition. Instead, differentiate your product and business with unique copy and messages that your target audience is likely to respond to.

The rules of successful copywriting don't change from one year to the next, but as the marketplace and environment change, so must your messages. Use the list above as a guideline to writing great advertising copy in 2009.

Susan Gunelius has more than 15 years of marketing and copywriting experience working for some of the largest companies in the world. Gunelius is the president and CEO of KeySplash Creative Inc., a marketing communications company offering writing and copywriting services, and marketing and branding consulting. She is also a published author, and her latest book, Kick-Ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps, is now available from Entrepreneur Press.