Alliteration, all day! 💪

Let’s talk about what a relatively underutilized literary device can do to help you improve your content marketing. Alliteration is a technique in which the initial consonant sound is repeated in two or more consecutive words. You may recall some common examples peppered across social media - “rapid results”, “fun Friday facts”, “Monday Motivation”, “Throwback Thursday”.

There’s cadence to them. 

There’s rhythm and musicality.

And they are memorable. 

The thing is, most people think alliteration is ONLY words that start with the same letter.

That is a puppy perspective!! Come over here where the big dogs play 😁 Alliteration also covers, for instance, a phrase like "kids' coats", which has the initial consonant sound even though the first letters are different (in other words, it’s phonetically the same start). Conversely, a phrase like "phony people" has two words that start with the same letter but the consonant sounds are different, so it is not alliterative. 

Alliterative words should flow in quick succession for them to be effective. Three to four consecutive words tends to be the sweet spot (although two is very popular with those who can contain their hooks to two words 👊)

Where can you employ alliteration in your marketing?

Simple answer here: in your headlines.

If you’re sending out emails, publishing blogs, and regularly posting to social platforms like LinkedIn, you’ll know the importance of a strong headline with a good hook that draws you in. Alliteration can really be your friend here.

Here’s some inspo to get you started 👇

Over the years, alliteration has been used for Brand Names (think: Krispy Kreme, Circuit City, Range Rover, PayPal), Sports Teams (LA Lakers, Delhi Daredevils, Pittsburgh Pirates), events (Big Billion Day, Big Bash League), Brand USPs and Ad Copy (Bed & Breakfast, Anytime Anywhere) and even characters in the fictional world (Donald Duck, King Kong, Peter Parker, Bruce Banner).

Why alliteration works

The magic of alliteration is that it lives in the background. The consumer of your content almost never outright observes it at first. What it does is create a little music in your mind 😁

Consider this: some concepts just don’t work if the alliteration is missing. Who’d remember: “Bed and shower” or “Bugs rabbit” or “Ted Seminars”? But replace them with “Bed, Bath and Beyond”, “Bugs Bunny” and “Ted Talks” and they become the iconic alliterative brands that they are.

While alliteration is by no means a must-have for your marketing, it can certainly help with memorability (ie: brand recall). It is a linguistic tool with a certain ‘head-turning’ ability and when used masterfully, it can help you cut through the masses of cluttered writing that hits everyone online these days.

Try! Use it wisely. If you make every headline alliterative, you’ll lose your audience.

Report back!

Peace

Susan

Want a copy of my book on making your writing a lot less boring?

‘UNboring: Take your marketing from blah to brilliant’ is due for release in Summer 2022. If you’d like an advance copy, drop me a note and you shall have it.