PR Buzz Words: Which Ones You Should Retire and a Few You’ll Want in Your Vocabulary
It’s a funny game we PR professionals play. We spend countless hours media training clients to remove unnecessary and confusing buzzwords from their vocabulary, opting for simple, clear language that helps them get their message heard. Yet, as an industry we adopt and abuse a slew of buzzwords ourselves.
There’s no denying that jargon appears in all industries, but there’s something about PR that breeds a vernacular that can at times be uninspiring and repetitive. I’m talking about hyperbole, buzzwords and overused clichés.
Let’s have a look at some of the industry’s biggest offenders:
LEVERAGE
Often used as a verb, “leverage” is a one of many three-syllabled, misused and barely meaningful terms that has become a filler for PR practitioners. It should never (at all costs) appear in a press release.
GROUND-BREAKING
If you absolutely must use this, please make sure to really assess if what you are describing is indeed “ground-breaking.” Chances are it’s probably not—or at least it won’t be to your reader, who in most cases is a journalist who receives hundreds of “revolutionary” things pitched to them each and every day. The word has lost its meaning, so if something really qualifies, make sure you can prove it or use a different word to capture the world’s attention.
CURATED
Similar to the word bespoke (which has been gravely overused and misused over the last few years), the word curated has become a pretentious version of a much simpler term to describe “hand-picked,” so why not just use that?!
ONE PAGER
This one is on the list more for personal reasons, but 2020 should be the year we finally retire the phrase “one pager.” Because it’s never really just one page, is it? If all of your one-pagers are four pages long, this phrase becomes absolutely useless.
With all this said, there are still some PR and marketing terms you’ll want to know about. Here are just a few you’ll want to make sure are in your arsenal for the remainder of 2020.
BUYER PERSONA OR IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE (ICP)
Stop trying to boil the ocean in 2020. That “spray and pray” approach to outreach will never get you the results or ROI you hope for. It is super important to drill down to your ideal audience and focus on what motivates them, their goals, wants and needs. Spend time understanding your “buyer persona,” or ICP, which includes the demographic, psychographic, behavioural information and churn rate of your consumer base, as well as where they collect and are influenced the most. That is where you’ll find the most successful results.
MULTI-PLATFORM
Let’s face it, the way we consume information these days has changed. It’s not enough for a brand to focus on one platform, even if they are doing it well, as they risk the chance of missing key consumers that could be scrolling in another place. Putting all your eggs in one basket is never a good thing. Find out all the places your audience is consuming content and work with a PR professional to create a strategy that reaches them all in a genuine way.
BRAND POSITIONING
It is vital that companies look at the way they are positioning or re-positioning themselves in 2020. Now more than ever consumers want to know what value the brands they invest in will bring to their lives before opening up their wallets. How is your company supporting the community it serves? Do you take a stance on supporting minority communities? Are you environmentally conscious? Make sure you re-examine your brand positioning in 2020 to ensure it aligns with everything that matters most to your customers.
This will also help drive the success of word-of-mouth marketing for your brand, a super effective and the most genuine form of promotion for you throughout the pandemic and beyond.
Remember, buzzwords are neither good nor bad, but most are often overused and will lose their meaning over time. Make sure you are consistently reviewing your brand’s vocabulary to stay relevant.