No Marketing Buzzwords!There are a lot of crazy words and acronyms used in marketing.  Sometimes I think marketing people use them just to confuse the businesses they work for.

Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration.  But chances are, you’ve probably heard some of these marketing buzzwords in sales presentations and reports before, and you still may or may not know what they actually mean.

Here are my three least favorite marketing “buzzwords,” with suggestions for what you can focus on instead.

Word #1: Engagement

Don’t get me wrong; having people engaged in your marketing content is not a bad thing.  (I hope you’re engaged as you’re read this.)

My problem with the word “engagement” is what it is commonly used to cover up.

I was talking to a prospective client a few days ago, and he sent me some reports that his old marketing agency prepared.  They were full of “engagement metrics” that basically told him nothing more than how many people saw his ad, and how many people clicked on it.  The agency claimed that plenty of people were “engaging” with his ads, and touted their success.

What they didn’t tell him was how those ads were actually driving business for him.  (Hint: they weren’t.)

So much for success.

What to Focus on Instead: Results

Word #2: Optimize/Optimization

This is a tough one for me to hate, because the word “optimization” is the O in SEO.  But I really hate this word.  (I’m not the only one!)

It’s not that the act of optimizing something is bad.  If optimizing something means making it better for a certain purpose, that’s great.

But if someone tells you that they’re “optimizing” your website for search engines, what are they actually doing to it?  Too often, the answer is something that doesn’t have a ton of impact.

If they can’t easily verbalize what they’re doing and why (and if it isn’t mostly about content), that’s a big signal that its a waste of time and money.

What to Focus on Instead: Results

Word #3: Presence (Especially in Terms of “Social Presence”)

Gah, I hate this word.

Do you know how many business owners have told me that they have a Facebook page because they need a social presence?

So they made a page, slapped a logo on it, and wrote self-promoting posts every few months, the last of which was more than a year ago.  The only people that have “liked” anything on the page are employees, relatives and family friends.

That “presence” is worse than having no page at all.

What to Focus on Instead: Results

Pretty Much the Only Word that Matters: Results

You’ve probably noticed by now that I strongly favor results over buzzwords.  As a business owner, you probably feel the same.

So why do so many people let marketing buzzwords go unchecked?

I’d much rather hear concrete action items, with a clear tie to the results that need to be achieved.

If an agency or marketing service provider or internal employee tells you that they’re going to “Optimize your social presence for engagement…” (which is pretty much my worst nightmare in a sentence), challenge them.

Ask them what results it will achieve for your business.  Ask them how they will measure it.  And hold them to it.

Unless you’re a giant corporation with money to burn, you can’t afford not to.