Trigger words are a marketer’s secret weapon when writing high-converting headlines, headings, pop-ups, buttons, and subject lines. They are emotionally charged words that can often incite action by creating a sense of urgency, emphasizing a problem, or invoking a strong feeling.

Click to Get a Printable List Of 250+ Trigger Words

Trigger words have an outsized impact on conversion because they’re often responsible for the initial click. And as you know, small differences in the click rate of an email can lead to a big impact on revenue.

Just imagine: How much more could you make by increasing the click rate of your latest Facebook ad or email broadcast simply by adding trigger words to your headline or subject line?

Click to unlock Free Chat-GPT prompts to optimize your marketing assets with trigger words!

This post will not only show you how to use trigger words to evoke emotion and persuade your readers to act, but also equip you with an arsenal of over 250+ high-powered trigger words that can help take your website copy to the next level.

Let’s dive in!

What is a Trigger Word?

A trigger word, sometimes called a power word, is defined as “a word that initiates a process or course of action.”[*] By definition, these are words that get a listener or reader to take action.

Essentially, any word that gets someone to do something — anything — can be defined as a trigger word. 

But some words are far more powerful than others. They evoke greater emotions, spark desire, and boost engagement. They’re the ones that make all the difference in whether your copy actually sparks action.

Trigger words often get a bad rap for being inflammatory, polarizing, or divisive. While such trigger words can be highly effective, you don’t need to be argumentative or offensive to get attention. After all, you don’t want to insult potential customers.

Take this post by SmartBlogger, for example:

Can you spot the trigger words? “How to,” “Smart,” and “Dumb” are all potential prompts to click this title and read the content.

If this post were titled “How to Blog Better,” it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting.

You don’t want to “blog better.” But you definitely want to be smart and stand out among “dumb” bloggers!

You get the idea. These words make you click, open, read, and buy. Want to use them for yourself? Check out the list below.

List of 250+ Trigger Words

Want our personal Trigger Word list for getting your readers to act?

Click here to get the free one-pager now.

Here’s a list of all the words you’ll get:

Personal Achievement

Here’s a list of trigger words that encourage personal development:

Authority

Here’s a list of authoritative trigger words:

Exclusivity

Here’s a list of trigger words that promote feelings of exclusivity:

Excitement

Here’s a list of trigger words that excite:

Greed, Wealth, and Abundance

Here’s a list of greed-focused trigger words:

Safety and Trust

Here’s a list of trigger words that reassure and invoke feelings of safety:

Impatience

Here’s a list of trigger words that create a sense of urgency:

.

Intensity and Savagery

Here’s a list of intense trigger words:

Anger

Here’s a list of trigger words that convey anger:

Contempt

Here’s a list of trigger words that demonstrate contempt:

Fear

Here’s a list of trigger words to incite fear:

Desire and Lust

Here’s a list of trigger words to convey desire:

Curiosity

Here’s a list of trigger words to pique curiousity:

Honesty and Trust

Here’s a list of trigger words that build trust:

Improvement

Here’s a list of trigger words that suggest improvement:

Gratitude

Here’s a list of trigger words that show gratitude:

Friendship

Here’s a list of trigger words to signal friendship:

How To Use Trigger Words To Amplify Your Marketing

Now that you have the big list of trigger words, it’s time to put them to use. Below, I detail exactly how to use trigger words in all areas of your marketing.

Click to unlock Free Chat-GPT prompts to optimize your marketing assets with trigger words!

Headlines

As you can tell by the massive success of companies like BuzzFeed, headlines matter — a lot. Here’s one of their most-shared articles of all time (according to Buzzsumo):^[*]

A great headline can help your content go viral, getting thousands of people to click, read, and share your article. A crap headline can mean the opposite — no readers at all.

What’s the difference between a viral headline and a pile of garbage? The way you word it. Look at the trigger words “Amazing” and “Mystery” in the BuzzFeed article above.

To show you what I mean, let’s look at some poor headlines and make them better. Here’s what we’re working with:

• How to Grow a Garden In Your Backyard
• 7 Tips for Making More Sales Online
• The Ultimate Guide to Going Vegan

These headlines aren’t awful; they do certain things right, like using a good headline formula. But they aren’t great, either. Let’s sprinkle in some trigger words (bolded):

• How to Easily Grow a Garden In Your Backyard (Proven Formula)
• 7 Insider Tips to Convert More Online Sales, Guaranteed
• The Ultimate Guide to Going Vegan & Reclaiming Your Health

Subheadings

Subheadings are the section headings within your articles (H2, H3, etc.).

Great subheadings can boost your engagement and get your readers to finish the article. They keep people moving down the page.

For example, I use trigger words in my subheadings all the time:^[*]

Here are a few before-and-after subheadings with trigger words bolded.

Example #1:

• Eat More Vegetables to Lose Weight
• Use This One Simple Trick to Burn Stubborn Fat Effortlessly

Example #2:

• Use Trigger Words In Your Marketing
• Sprinkle In Trigger Words to Boost Conversions Today

Example #3:

• Add “Free” To Increase Sales
• Use The Proven Word That Sells

Product Names

Believe it or not, even your products names can benefit from trigger words!

An extreme example would be the company Death Wish Coffee. They used an extremely potent word — death — in their product name. And to get an even better conversion, they add another trigger word to their single-sentence product tagline: The world’s strongest coffee.^[*]

Another example is makeup brand ColourPop, which literally names their products after trigger words, such as their Niacinamide Serum titled “Remedy”:

I also underlined their use of trigger words in their product description, like “works wonders”, “enhance”, “perfect”, and “boost”.

Consider using the trigger words above in your product names, or even name them after a trigger word.

Pop-ups

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, pop-ups are one of the best ways to convert more visitors into email subscribers. And you can convert even more visitors with a few pretty words!

For example, this pop-up from The Sustainable Harvest uses the words “sacrificing” and “delicious” to seduce visitors into subscribing:^[*]

Or look at this pop-up on my site, The Wandering RV, which uses wording like “Ultimate” and “Free”:^[*]

Landing Pages

We’ve talked about using trigger words in a lot of places. But what about using them on an entire page?

That’s right! They work wonders to improve conversions on your landing pages, whether a product page or a full-fledged sales page.

Shopify’s free trial page, for example, uses the words “trusted” and “free”:^[*]

Or look at Transferwise, which uses wording like “faster” and “cheaper”:

Want more help building or improving your landing page? Check out our BDOW!-sized guide to building the perfect landing page.

Buttons

Ahh, buttons — the ultimate call to action! Perfect for trigger words. BDOW! loves using copywriting on their buttons. You might even call them… loaded. (See what I did there?)

Anyway, here is a collection of various trigger word-filled buttons we’ve used at BDOW!:

#1: YES!, Boost, Conversions

#2: Your, Free, Value

#3: Kill

#4: Launch, Your, Before

#5: You, Sell, Viral

#6:Must-Use

I think that’s enough to warrant ‘nuff said.

Use trigger words on all your buttons. And while you’re at it, use more buttons — in your content for content upgrades, in your emails to get people to click your articles, and on the images you want people to click (such as Facebook Ads).

Email Subject Lines

Like content headings, email subject lines matter. You know the deal… a great one gets clicked, a crap one doesn’t.

We love using trigger words in BDOW!’s email subject lines. Take a look:

#1: Best

#2: Grow, Insane, Detail

#3: Brilliant

#4: free, for life

It’s not just us. Here’s one from Hotels.com (% OFF, great, savings):

Or another from Brendan Meyers (Secret, REVEALED):

Your Business / Domain Name

You probably already have a business and domain name. But if you don’t, considering using trigger words when you do finally take the plunge. (Alternatively, you could change your business name. But it might not be worth the hassle.)

Anyway, here are some examples of businesses that use trigger words in their name and/or URL:

Elite Daily (Trigger Word = Elite)

Best Buy (Trigger Word = Best)

TodayTix (Trigger Word = Today)

Bloglovin’ (Trigger Word = lovin)

AdThrive (Trigger Word = Thrive)

I wouldn’t go out of your way to rebrand to add a trigger word, but if you haven’t started a business yet, it can’t hurt!

Calls To Action

Finally, we have trigger words in calls to action. Yes, this could be a button or a pop-up. But it can also be text in an article, a Smart Bar, or a Welcome Mat.

For example, we use a call to action on our main blog page that says “step-by-step,” “$10 million,” “FREE” and “new”:

Or look at AppSumo, which uses wording like “Never”, “Hottest”, and “best-kept software secrets.”

Always look for ways to use more emotional trigger words in your marketing at every chance you get!

Start Using Trigger Words In Your Marketing Now

Want to improve your conversions with trigger words?

First, click the button below to get my printable one-pager of all 101 trigger words.

Get Our Printable List of 250+ Trigger Words

Next:

1. Get BDOW! if you don’t already have it (it’s free).

2. Set up a simple pop-up that triggers five seconds after someone visits your site.

3. Create a “FREE” offer for visitors to get your most popular article, video, or something else that’s quick and easy for you to start growing your email list with trigger words.

If you need help coming up with something, follow our guide to creating a content upgrade.

You can then track your performance inside BDOW!, like this:

Go set this up on your site now. Click here to get a free BDOW! account to do it.

Then sit back and watch the subscribers roll in!

Trigger Word Resources

• Chat-GPT Prompts to Optimize Subject Lines, Headings, Pop-ups, etc. with Trigger Words

• Get Our Printable List Of 250+ Trigger Words

• Related: Power Words