We’ve all heard buzzwords in corporate speak:
“I’ll ping you and touch base after we do a deep dive on our value proposition.”
“Thanks, would be happy to circle back and get feedback on anything that moves the needle for us.”
If there’s one thing every marketer has learned about copywriting, it’s that buzzwords are bad. In most marketing circles, using words like “seamless”, “supercharge”, and “elevate” will get you banished to the ninth circle of Copywriting Hell.
While this copywriting advice above is sometimes good, it shouldn’t be taken as a hard-and-fast rule.
Here’s why…
- A common truth: Buzzwords don’t have intellectual value. The word “seamless” doesn’t really mean anything.
- An uncommon truth: Buzzwords often have emotional value. The word “seamless” doesn’t mean anything, but it feels good. Most people aren’t marketers who’ve obsessed about words like these. When they read seamless, it feels… empty, yes. But it feels positive.
How to use buzzwords
You can try using buzzwords in your copy when you want to add subtle, positive emotional value to your copy without distracting the customer from your message. Take these two examples:
- Seamless project management for remote teams.
- One-click, asynchronous project management for remote teams—finally.
Most copywriters would prefer the second line. But, in many cases, the “seamless” line would outperform it.
Why?
Because while the first line adds subtle emotional weight to a simple concept, the second line introduces new concepts (like ‘one-click’ and ‘asynchronous’ and ‘finally’) that might actually distract from the purpose.
What Corporate People Sound Like
How do we know this?
We’ve spent thousands of hours breaking down the marketing practices of top brands.
Many top brands, as it happens, use buzzwords like these—and while some of it may be attributed to copywriter laziness, some of it is also attributable to performance.
