I caught a conversation on Twitter today, between Lauren Fernandez, Mack Collier and Alison Heath that made me smile wryly.
Built around the Twitter hashtag #buzzwordbingo, it looked at some of the most overused phrases in social media. Things like, “It’s all about the conversation” and “Pain points and point of need” amongst other examples.
The funny thing is, these terms are used so often and yet even 12 months ago (or more) they were already being looked at as overkill. So is this a sign that social media still has a lot of growing up to do; there’s a dearth of originality in the medium; or just the sign of a growth industry, with a continuous stream of new players and existing terms?
Either way, it made me think of some of the most overused phrases today that could probably be put into the social media retirement home.
- It’s not about me. The amount of times this little gem is used means that even if the user is sincere, they’re questioned as to the authenticity of the statement. Of course, it doesn’t help if the user then goes on to make it exactly all about them with self-promotional hits at every turn…
- Fish where the fish are. Social media must be full of anglers if this phrase has anything to do with it. Either that, or I should start looking for a boat, stat.
- Transparency is key. No shit, Sherlock. Unless it’s okay for us to lie about ourselves and make us sound more interesting than we are with tall tales and over-hyped statistics, then isn’t this a given in everything we do, and not just restricted to social media?
- Your customers are in control. Sorry, they’re not. They do have a very huge impact on how you do business; but you control your business, full-stop. Get that right and you get your customers right. Period.
- You can’t measure social media ROI. Come on guys, this is still doing the rounds? There are many ways you can analyze, measure, budget and report on social media campaigns. Anyone that says you can’t is possibly only doing so to keep your account with them on their terms. Next time someone tells you social media ROI can’t be measured, ask them why. Then change agencies or consultants.
These are just five terms that immediately spring to mind for me personally.
How about you – what phrases would you like to see sent to the social media retirement home? Comments are yours.
photo credit: only alice