As we celebrated the ball dropping on December 31 – in what some believe is the “last year” of our existence (according to the Mayan calendar) – we can’t help but look forward. It’s human nature to envision a fresh start, a new beginning and of course keeping (or trying too) our New Year’s resolutions.
One promise that companies should put at the top of their marketing resolution “to-do” list is to stay away from 2011’s top 23 most overused words. These words seemed to crop up like weeds in marketing and PR materials throughout the country. Yes ladies and gentlemen, be prepared to open your dictionaries and/or thesaurus’ because we are in desperate need of diversity.
According to PR Daily’s article, there are 23 “buzzwords” you should avoid, including number one on the list, which appeared an incredible 776 times in a 24 hour time period!
- leading (776)
- solution (622)
- best (473)
- innovate / innovative / innovator (452)
- leader (410)
- top (370)
- unique (282)
- great (245)
- extensive (215)
- leading provider (153)
- exclusive (143)
- premier (136)
- flexible (119)
- award winning / winner (106)
- dynamic (95)
- fastest (70)
- smart (69)
- state of the art (65)
- cutting edge (54)
- biggest (54)
- easy to use (51)
- largest (34)
- real time (8)
So the next time you or a co-worker starts working on the next big press release, collateral material or on-line ad, think to yourself…do you want to be another statistic or an original?