Marketing is a strange industry. It’s both an art and a science. When a marketing campaign is done right, it can be downright electrifying. And when it’s done wrong, it can be obnoxious, unappealing or just plain ridiculous.
Instead of just taking great stuff to market, some companies exaggerate or lie to try to sell their products. Oftentimes, the biggest way they do this is by spouting out hyperbolic (and often groundless) claims, speaking of products in overblown and undeserving terms. I hate that. Customers hate that.
Here’s a collection of a few marketing terms that you may hear tossed around in marketing campaigns for a product or service that really isn’t that great. I start rolling my eyes when I see or hear these buzzwords overused by a company describing their boring product. Do any of these sound familiar?
Utterly Useless Marketing Terms
- Quality
- Solution(s)
- Cutting Edge
- Premium
- Premier
- Robust
- Outside the Box
- Customer Service
- Expert/Guru
- Deluxe
- Luxury
- Innovative
- New
- Award-Winning
- Groundbreaking
- Ultra
- Unique
- Amazing
- Full-service
Instead of tossing out baseless terms to try to impress people, you know what I’d like to see? A company that speaks in plain English. I’d like to buy laundry detergent that “makes your clothes clean again.” I wouldn’t mind it if Honda told us that we should all drive Civics because “they just f**king work.” I’d take anything that actually makes sense and means something. The slogan for my web design/development company (Ronswebsites.com) is “We build websites that don’t suck.” Why? Because it’s true. And it resonates with people. When I meet with business owners, after I share with them my company name and tagline, they often say “wow, we should talk, because my website sucks.” There’s no genius there—just an honest approach and everyday language.
That is marketing that works.