How to edit financial writing [part 2]
Best-in-class. One-of-a-kind. The perfect solution.
When prospective customers see claims like these in writing, they only have two words running through their minds:
“Yeah, sure.”
If you’re tempted to use these or similar phrases to show what makes you unique, this article is for you. And if your team is using AI writing tools, it’s especially for you — because fluff and bragging are the most reliable output of unedited AI financial copy.
Why fluffy language backfires
Superlatives and vague positive adjectives may work in a face-to-face sales meeting where body language accounts for a substantial part of communication.
In writing, there are no such cues. Without evidence, these phrases read as marketing shortcuts. Your prospects have seen enough of them to recognize them immediately.
The list of offenders is long and familiar: comprehensive, robust, cutting-edge, innovative, seamless, intuitive, state-of-the-art, world-class, industry-leading, best-in-class, unmatched, unparalleled, holistic, dynamic, and transformative.
None of these words is inherently wrong. Every one of them becomes a problem when it substitutes for a specific fact.
Three questions for more effective messaging
Before writing any claim about your business, answer these three questions in one sentence each:
What does your business offer?
Why does your business do what it does?
How does your business deliver its services or products?
Once you’ve done that, look at your answers and strip out or substitute any over-the-top adjective with something more specific. You’ll almost always find more differentiated answers than the superlatives were providing.
For even more effective messaging, consider this marketing exercise.
Show, don’t claim
Here’s the principle in practice:
Fluff: “Our numerous happy investors love our award-winning platform.”
Specific: “Since 2019, we’ve helped 4,200 investors reduce fees by an average of 1.3%. Here’s what they say…”
Fluff: “XYZ company’s successful, industry-leading investment management algorithm.”
Specific: “XYZ’s algorithm has outperformed the benchmark in 7 of the last 8 years. Here are the numbers…”
Fluff: “Our intuitive technology was created by financial industry veterans who care about lowering fees.”
Specific: “Our founders spent 20 years at Goldman and Vanguard. Average client fee: 0.2%. Industry average: 1.0%.”
All three “fluff” examples have one thing in common: they’re a marketing shortcut. They imply greatness rather than demonstrating it. The specific versions earn the claim without even making it.
Four editing checks
Be specific. Use concrete details and data to back up your claims. A number is worth ten adjectives.
Focus on benefits. Highlight the tangible outcomes your product or service provides. Demonstrate them — with case studies, results, client quotes.
Avoid superlatives. Words like “best,” “most,” and “unmatched” often come across as empty boasts. Evidence is the strongest argument in financial services.
Use testimonials. Let your satisfied customers speak for you. A direct quote from a client carries more weight than any claim you can make about yourself.
You still got that AI problem?
AI tools reach for superlatives the way a nervous presenter reaches for “uhm”.
“Comprehensive,” “robust,” “cutting-edge,” “innovative,” and “seamless” appear in AI-generated financial copy with near-mechanical regularity.
They are the model’s way of conveying positive sentiment when it doesn’t have specific facts to work with.
The problem is compounded by the nature of AI training data. Financial marketing copy has historically leaned heavily on these terms, which means the model has learned that this is how financial brands talk. It reproduces what it has seen.
The fix is not to avoid AI. It is to treat every superlative in AI output as a placeholder or a signal that the model reached for a word because it didn’t have a specific fact.
Your job as editor is to replace the placeholder with the fact it was standing in for, or flag it for the subject matter expert who can.
“Our comprehensive suite of tools” means nothing. “Our 14 tools covering everything from portfolio rebalancing to tax-loss harvesting” means something.
AI can give you a certain amount of structure. You have to supply the POV and the substance.