197 Common Clichés That Could be Killing Your Email Marketing Results

The world is drowning in clichés… Those words, phrases and opinions that are so overused they become dull and predictable. Clichés are stale, empty and unoriginal. Clichés are found in all modes of human communication – conversations, letters, novels, movies, song lyrics, speeches, even the clothes we wear and the colour we paint our homes. And businesses are the worst cliché abusers - sales brochures, press releases, customer service and sales scripts, PPC ads, direct mail and yes… emails are all riddled with truisms and hackneyed wordage. 

The more clichés you use the less your message sticks 

Clichés weaken the impact of any message. The reader is easily distracted. And if you don’t stand out, you blend in. Heavy cliché use also sends subliminal messages to the reader that reflect negatively on you and your business: 

• I’m boring 
• I’m uneducated 
• I’m unoriginal 
• I’m lazy 
• I just want your money 
• I’m not human (I am corporate robot) 

If you overuse clichés, your prospects, customers or clients will never form a trusting and loyal relationship with you…

No matter how good your product or service, clichés lower their perceived value.

If you want to attract attention, get your ideas and messages shared, and build loyalty and trust, then you need to kill all clichés.

But what do you replace them with? It’s not hard. Go through your product description copy, sales letters, brochures and any other content where you sell or promote your business, products and services. Underline any words or phrases that you think are clichés or jargon. Then replace with a more direct phrase. Ok, sometimes it’s difficult to find new ways to say simple things. And sometimes you have to be a little forgiving. But if you can start noticing clichés and remove the most obvious, then you’ll have tighter, more functional copy.Here's a list of the most common ones to get you started: 

* Affordable prices

* An arm and a leg 

* As easy as ABC/123 

* At this point in time [Now] 

* At the end of the day 

* Avoid like the plague 

* Back in the day 

* Barking up the wrong tree 

* Been there, done that 

* Bells and whistles 

* Best price 

* Best just got better, The 

* Best kept secret in..., The 

* Better than ever 

* Better safe than sorry 

* Between a rock and a hard place 

* Blast from the past 

* Bottom Line 

* Brand new 

* Bring home the bacon 

* Burn the midnight oil 

* Business as usual 

* Busting a gut 

* Back by popular demand 

* Call a spade a spade 

* Can’t have your cake and eat it 

* Celebrating ____ years of service 

* Chip off the old black 

* Chomping at the bit 

* Clear as mud 

* Clock is ticking, The 

* Cold feet 

* Cold shoulder 

* Come full circle 

* Complete picture, The 

* Couldn’t organise a p#ss up in a brewery 

* Cut a long story short 

* Cut and dry 

* Cutting edge (See also state of the art) 

* Cut the mustard 

* Dip your toe in the water 

* Does what it says on the tin 

* Do what it takes 

* Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth 

* Don’t miss this/out 

* Don’t sweat it/the small stuff 

* Dot the Is and cross the Ts 

* Eleventh hour 

* Elephant in the room 

* Excellence 

* Exceptional 

* Few and far between 

* Flog a dead horse 

* Free gift 

* Finest 

* Flash in the pan 

* Giving 110 Percent 

* Give and take 

* Glass half empty/full 

* Go that extra mile 

* Go above and beyond 

* Go through the motions 

* Great deal 

* Green with envy 

* Ground floor opportunity 

* Headless chicken 

* Heads Up 

* Heard it through the grapevine 

* Here’s an exclusive just for YOU 

* Hook line and sinker 

* Huge Savings 

* Hurry, while stocks last  

* I hate to say this but… 

* I hope this finds you well 

* I don't want to waste your time 

* If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen 

* In your face 

* It all boils down to 

* It isn’t over ‘til the fat lady sings 

* Jack of all trades 

* Journey of a thousand mile begins… 

* Keep calm and [insert anything here] 

* Keep it simple stupid 

* Keep an eye on 

* Keep eyes open 

* Know which side your bread is buttered on 

* Largest selection 

* Last but not least 

* Laughing all the way to the bank 

* Let bygones be bygones 

* Let the cat out of the bag 

* Let sleeping dogs lie 

* Level playing field 

* Lightening never strikes the same place twice 

* Light as a feather 

* Like a broken record 

* Like a bull in a china shop 

* Like chalk and cheese 

* Light at the end of the tunnel 

* Like getting blood from a stone 

* Like a needle in a haystack 

* Like a hole in the head 

* Like there is no tomorrow 

* Like it’s going out of style/fashion 

* Line in the sand 

* Living the high life 

* Lock stock and barrel 

* Lose your shirt 

* Making your dreams a reality 

* My bad 

* Make ends meet 

* Make no bones about it 

* Missed the Boat 

* Money makes The World Go Round 

* More than meets the eye 

* More the merrier 

* New lease of life 

* Next level 

* Next Generation 

* Never in a month of Sundays/million years 

* Nip it in the bud 

* No brainer 

* No pain, no gain 

* No strings attached 

* Off the cuff 

* Off the hook 

* Off the shelf 

* Outside the box 

* On a daily basis 

* On a wing and a prayer 

* Once in a lifetime 

* Once in a blue mood 

* One in a million 

* On the same page 

* One Stop Shop 

* On tenterhooks 

* On the same page 

* Out of the frying pan and into the fire 

* Pandora’s box 

* Par for the course 

* Pay as you go 

* Peace of Mind 

* Peas in a pod 

* Perfectly honest 

* Picture is worth a thousand words, A 

* Piece of cake 

* Pigs will fly 

* Plain and simple 

* Play it by ear 

* Professional 

* Prompt Service 

* Pull your socks up 

* Push the envelope 

* Put it through its paces 

* Quality products 

* Read between the lines 

* Read the small print 

* Reinvent the wheel 

* Rest on your laurels 

* Rome wasn’t built in a day 

* Scraping the bottom of the barrel 

* Setting the Standard 

* Show me the money 

* Singing from the same hymn sheet 

* Sixty four thousand/million dollar question 

* Something for everyone 

* So simple a child could do it 

* Sound like a plan? 

* Splitting hairs 

* State of the art 

* Suck it and see 

* Swings and roundabouts 

* Tailor-made 

* Take it with a pinch of salt 

* Take the bull by the horns 

* Take the gloves off 

* The honest truth 

* Through rose tinted glasses 

* Tip of the iceberg 

* To be honest with you 

* Too many cooks 

* Trained Professional 

* Tried and tested 

* Wake up and smell the coffee 

* We’re all in the same boat 

* We go the extra mile for you 

* We’ve got it covered 

* When push comes to shove 

* Win-win situation 

* Wouldn’t touch with a barge poll 

* World Class 

* Writing is on the wall, The 

* Unbeatable 

* Unique 

* Up for grabs 

* You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours 

* You’ve tried the rest, now try the best 

As I compiled this list I realised just how many of these I’ve used myself in the past. And I'm sure they still slip in from time to time even today.  It’s so easy to reach for a cliché because they are actually the most successful words and phrases in the language. 

Don’t be fooled by a cliché's cosy nostalgia. Get out your red pen and be ruthless

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