If there’s one way to make your marketing and PR literature look amateurish, it’s to use exclamation marks for emphasis.
Why?
Because they don’t actually add anything and they create clutter on the page.
Also, some readers will regard them as rude, arrogant and patronising. After all, they don’t particularly want you shouting at them.
Have you ever noticed? You never see a glossy, well-composed piece of marketing literature use exclamation marks to convey a point.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Professional writers use a wide range of punctuation – but the good ones never use exclamation marks.
And it’s the same with newspapers. Headlines simply stand alone in bold capitals. Why no exclamation marks? Well, they’re simply not necessary.
But surely it’s alright to add emphasis, right?
Right.
If I feel it’s absolutely necessary, I don’t shy away from up-capping the odd word, like BEST, IMPROVED, MUST, WIN…
FREE is the most powerful and persuasive. In fact, FREE is the luxury that all copywriters crave.
You can even put up-capped words in bold if you want, but I don’t tend to – the emphasis is clear.
If you have a clever designer, they may be able to make most persuasive words stand out without them looking a mess on the page.
Another way to create emphasis is by making your persuasive word the final word of a short and punchy sentence. Sometimes this is called a hot-spot word.
So, if you’re tempted to use an exclamation mark in your writing, first ask yourself what it adds.
Then, if you still feel you need added emphasis, adopt another option instead of dropping in the satanic symbol.
And if you still want to use an exclamation mark, remember this: Don’t bother.