Quick & Dirty - The Power Of 3 To 5 Words

Zack Greenfield • October 17, 2020
Welcome to quick and dirty marketing tips. And today's topic. We're going to go over, um, something that you gotta get your head around, and it's all about three to five words and why, and I mean, three to five words in your marketing messages in your advertising. So let's talk about the, you know, what that's all about. So stick with me and 

We're going to cover it.

When you're putting together your headlines, your advertising, and even some of your subject lines, your emails and stuff, you really want to try to figure out how to pack your message into about three to five words. And here's the reason why three to five words is pretty much read at a glance. Like somebody doesn't have to start going word by word for three to five words. It can just absorb it as, you know, one message in a glance. And that's what you want. Cause you have, you know, a split second of their attention, perhaps, especially on like an email subject line or on a display advertising thing. Or even in ad words, you know, like if you're doing a little PPC stuff, you really, they don't give you a lot of characters on a lot of that stuff anyways. But especially in display advertising, even in like video headlines and in footers and you know, different places where you can put stuff three to five words, trying to compress your call to action, your message or the, the, what that person's going to get, okay. 

That the value to them, if you will, if you can figure out how to express those things, depending on the circumstances in the campaign in three to five words, they're going to, you're going to get it down to where it has a ton of impact, and you're going to get it down to where your visitor or the, you know, the person that's on the receiving end is basically gonna be able to absorb this thing and a glance. And it's gonna kind of sizzle right into the back of their eyes. And you're not gonna be asking them to do a lot of reading because when there's too many words, they start just, you know, uh, it looks like a lot, or they're not gonna be able to consume the whole thing, or you may have written it where you got a lot of, you know, kind of fluff in the beginning, but the core value messenger, the core action they need to take is kind of like the last seven or eight words. 

And they may not even get there or in the case of a subject line in the preview of their email, that part might be clipped because it's not showing that many, you know, you'll get like, I'm looking at my inbox over here on one of these monitors, one, two, three, four, five words there, one, two, three, four words there. I'm just looking at subject lines. One, two, three, four, five words there. So my inbox basically shows me about five words on my subject lines all the way down. So if you try to, if you go past that, you're like out of the box, like half of your stuff's getting clipped. So try to figure out and work hard with your word, crafting and brainstorming and you know, whiteboard this stuff, put up your messages, you know, and like one of the things I do is I put in like my notes, you know, Evernote or whatever it is, you know, different subject lines are different ad copy. 

I mean, we have troves of this around here, so we kind of know what works, but when you're starting out, you got to spend some time moving words around and trying to figure out what your messaging is going to look like to grab attention, be consumable in a glance and have a lot of impact and promote that person to take action and get engaged with your business. So go ahead and get them and get them down to three to five words. If this helped you, you know, figure out strategically how to move forward, go ahead and like, and subscribe this video. We're always going to make another one. And then you're going to get notified. No, somebody that needs this video to catch on the next question, dirty marketing tips.
GET HELP TODAY
By Zack Greenfield • October 29, 2026
Tired of an empty waiting room? Discover how content marketing for medical practices in Arizona actually works — and how to use it to attract more patients without paid ads alone.
Two people seated across a table reviewing a laptop in a bright office lounge
October 29, 2026
Still relying on a contact form to capture med spa leads? In 2026, that strategy is dead. Learn why a branded AI chatbot books more consults, converts more patients, and works while you sleep — and how to get one built for your clinic.
By Zack Greenfield • October 27, 2026
Stop renting your audience from Meta and Google. Learn how Arizona small businesses can build a first-party data engine using their CRM to market smarter, spend less, and own their customer relationships for good.
Three people discuss work around a laptop in a bright café with large windows.
By Zack Greenfield • October 27, 2026
Is your restaurant's website driving customers away? This no-fluff guide breaks down exactly what Phoenix restaurant owners need in a high-performing website — and what to stop doing immediately.
By Zack Greenfield • October 20, 2026
If your Scottsdale restaurant or medical practice isn't optimized for voice search, you're invisible when it counts most. Here's exactly how to fix that — no tech degree required.
Four people in a bright office meeting around a wooden table with a laptop and papers
By Zack Greenfield • October 15, 2026
Most Scottsdale businesses are invisible to AI search tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Here's what that blind spot is costing you — and what to do about it before your competitors figure it out.
By zack • October 14, 2026
Voice search drives 27% of all queries — and your Arizona competitors are already showing up. Learn how Scottsdale restaurants, medical practices, and service businesses can win spoken searches in 2026 before someone else does.
By Zack Greenfield • October 9, 2026
Not sure if AI search tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity are sending customers your way — or ignoring you completely? This practical guide shows Scottsdale business owners exactly how to track and measure AI visibility in 2026, step by step.
By Zack Greenfield • October 9, 2026
Scottsdale business owners: stop building your audience on borrowed land. Learn why owned content systems beat rented social reach — and how to start building one before the next algorithm wipes you out.
By Zack Greenfield • September 29, 2026
Every missed call is a missed paycheck. Discover how Scottsdale service businesses — restaurants, medical practices, and more — are using AI receptionists to stop losing customers to voicemail 24/7.
Show More