How To Use Embedded Commands In Your Ads

If you’ve heard of Neuro Linguistic Programming or NLP for short, then you’ve no doubt seen it touted as an almost magical way to persuade people to do almost anything. Some NLP teachers play along with those false claims while others are more truthful about what NLP can do.

Now I’m by no means an NLP expert, but I am quite familiar with many of its concepts and strategies for making your communication more effective. Probably the most popular strategy that is equated with magically persuading people is what’s called an “embedded command”. What is an embedded command?

It’s a spoken phrase that tells someone to do something but the twist is, it is disguised in your sentences. Probably the best way to explain it is to demonstrate it. Now keep in mind, embedded commands are typically taught for oral use, but you can weave them into your copywriting too. Here are a few examples of embedded commands. (Note that the embedded command is in all caps):

• As you can see, the way it’s set up, it’s very easy to TRY THIS.
• I’m wondering how soon you’ll be able to MOVE FORWARD on this project.
• You can TRY IT 100% risk-free before you BUY IT.
• You can FEEL GOOD about using our system because it’s backed by a lifetime warranty.

When you’re talking to someone, you highlight the embedded command by putting emphasis on that part as you speak it. You can do the same in copy by italicizing the embedded command or leaving an extra space between the word preceding the embedded command and the word (if there is one) after the embedded command.

The key to making embedded commands work is that they need to smoothly fit into your ad copy – they can’t look contrived or the reader will pick up on it and feel manipulated.

I must be 100% clear here. In my experience as a copywriter and salesperson, you cannot convince anyone to do anything they don’t want to do, unless their judgment is impaired, in which case, you don’t want to persuade them into buying because it would be unethical.

From my research and my own marketing tests, embedded commands are not the magic persuader they’re hyped up to be.  As far as I’m concerned, the real benefit to using embedded commands is that they make your copy more lively and engaging and they can act as trial closes.

– Mike