5 Trite Phrases Content Marketers Should Stop Using

Avoid Using Common Title Phrases for SEO

Clichés are poison to good writing. Especially when it comes to content marketing—something that should be communicating your brand’s unique image and creating trust between you and your reader. Using clichés is a quick way to ensure your words don’t stand out. Unfortunately, content marketing has developed a culture with an entire glossary of buzz words that most writers default to, and that can make a lot of articles sound like white noise.

Anyone researching your product or business is likely doing so because they want to know what makes it special. What makes your brand stand out from the rest? What do you offer that your competitors don’t? Try as you might, just about every online marketing company in San Diego will tell you using trending terms like the following aren’t likely to convince your readers that you’re very different at all.

1. Dynamic

 This is one of those words that has become so widely (mis)used that it’s possible few people know its original meaning. “Dynamic” is a term originally used in physics relating to the “motion of material objects” that’s now grown to describe anything that’s complex, adaptive, or otherwise favorable. From teams and work environments to a single professional’s approach to his or her work, “dynamic” is used everywhere and it sounds dishonest as a result.

2. Results-driven

 When was the last time you were attracted to a brand or company that cited stagnation as a goal? No one is driven by lack of results and resistance to advancement, and certainly no one is going to advertise that they are. Show, don’t tell, your readers that you focus on results.

3. Outside the box

 This term is so overused that just about everyone has heard (if not used) it at some point. If you want your reader to believe your organization is unique, it’s best to think outside the box and go for a phrase that’s creative and hasn’t been repeated a million times over.

4. Innovative

 Just like “outside the box,” using the term “innovative” instantly communicates the opposite of its meaning. “Innovative” means to “introduce something new or different”, and choosing such a commonly used word is derivative rather than innovative in nature.

5. Leader/Thought Leader

 Proclaiming your brand or company as the leader in ABC or calling yourself a thought leader in XYZ is not only trite, it’s presumptuous and misleading. It seems that everyone is a leader these days, but who does that leave to follow? Like the other words on this list, these terms can be avoided by simply demonstrating you’re a leader through your values and actions—rather than following all the other “thought leaders” and using their terms.

For more information about content marketing strategies that can help increase your online exposure, contact Saba, Inc. at (858) 277-1717. We are a full-service internet marketing company in San Diego, specializing in SEO, PPC management, social media, and web design and development.