Is your small business moving forward?
Maybe you describe your new book on Amazon as ‘epic’.
These are only a handful of overused buzzwords plaguing the content and copy of large and small companies around the world. Where is the creativity? Oh, the humanity!
When I hear or read the word ‘epic’ I cringe. I also have the following thought, If I had a $1,000 for each time a small business used ‘epic’ to describe their product or service or event, I could probably travel around the world once or twice.
Keep reading to learn the 13 most overused buzzwords you should avoid if you want your content and copy to stand out from the crowd.
Avoid Using These 13 Most Overused Buzzwords
Open Office
I get it! You want to tear down the cubicles and make the work environment collaborative and friendly. If this is the case, stop talking about having an ‘open office’ and Just Do It! By the way, having an open office may seem like a good idea on paper, people are creatures of habit. They may not appreciate being in the spotlight or having their privacy revoked. It’s something to think about as you remove Open Office from your marketing buzzword list.
Multi-Tasking
Multi-tasking. Another overused buzzword – most psychologists advise that you avoid multi-tasking. Why? Because studies have shown that you accomplish less when compared to focusing on one task at a time. Not only do you want to stop multi-tasking, but you’ll want to stop saying and writing ‘multi-tasking’.
Clear Goal
If you don’t have a clear goal, you may be in trouble. Let’s face it. How can you reach a goal if it’s not clear? You can’t! Quit referring to goals as ‘clear’ and simply state your goal, i.e., my goal is to gain 100,000 email subscribers by providing an excellent eBook that gives solutions to my target audience’s problem.
Sustainability
I think all business owners want their products and services to have sustainability. Right? If you’re a business-to-business (B2B), there’s no need to keep using this overused buzzword. Your clients get it. They want to have sustainability. It’s your job to help them make it happen!
Drink the Kool-Aid
Are you sure you want to drink the Kool-Aid? Think about it. You risk becoming like every other small business that uses this outdated marketing buzzword. Do you want that to happen? I don’t think so. Avoid drinking the Kool-Aid and have a nice cup of organic green tea instead.
Innovative
If you’re not innovative and keeping up with the latest technologies and trends, you may find yourself hanging a Going Out of Business sign on your physical or virtual shingle. Be innovative and cut the word from your marketing communications.
Bottom Line
As an accounting major, I have a soft spot for this overused buzzword. Mostly because I want someone to get to the point quickly, so I can get back to my first love, writing! If you’re a CPA or corporate accountant, I understand that the bottom line is important. But from a marketing perspective, you may want to cut the word because it may cost you.
Cutting-Edge
Okay. I have a soft spot for this marketing buzzword and have used it in copywriting. But I don’t use it often. Like innovative, cutting-edge’s cousin, you’ll want to cut back on how much you the word in your marketing communications.
Out-of-the-Box
I have to ask, “Who put you in a box and why?” I never understood this overused buzzword. I’m a creative type and never was in a box – I’ve always been outside of it. Want to attract top talent to work for your company? Stop using ‘outside-of-the’-box’ in your online job postings! Why? Because it’s outdated and a turn off.
Six Sigma
What is Six Sigma? It’s an idea to identify and measure the ‘defects’ a company has in a process. You can use data driven approaches and methodologies to figure out how to eliminate or get as close as possible to ‘zero defects’. Companies that achieve Six Sigma Quality produce no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. Now that you have a background on Six Sigma, here’s why you want to stop using it in your content writing: You sound old! Focus on what your employees did to accomplish Six Sigma Quality and how it affected sales and your customers’ experience.
Blogosphere
You may be shocked to see ‘blogosphere’ on this list because I write blog posts. But, blogging can be tossed in with content and inbound marketing. It’s content that’s published on the internet. If you have a sentimental attachment to ‘blogosphere’, use it once in a while in your content writing.
Viral
Who doesn’t want an article, blog post, image, or video to go viral? I do. And most importantly, I want this to happen for my clients! Keep in mind that word ‘viral’ has a different meaning for different people. For example, doctors do not want life-threatening diseases, like Ebola, to go viral. For businesses producing a variety of communications, focus on publishing the best content and copy you can. Toss out viral, the overused buzzword, and set content goals and say that you want as many people as possible to hear and see it.
Optimize
By now, you should realize your blog and website (includes Alt Text and Meta Tags) has to be optimized, if you want to appear in search engines. Don’t get me wrong. Killer content is necessary too. But, keywords and phrases are still relevant. Even when you do social media for business, you want to optimize your status updates. For those businesses that offer SEO services, it’s a given that you will optimize a client’s websites. Try not to go overboard with using the word.
Going Forward, Forget the Buzzwords
Did you notice the overused buzzword in the title above? Here’s a hint: Going forward in your business and life is what you always want to do. As I mentioned above, I like some of the overused buzzwords. But I’m careful not to use them all of the time. Consider cutting some of the words from your corporate communications (don’t use jargon either) and small business marketing. Write in a way that speaks to your audience and makes them want to contact and hire you and follow you on social media.
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