Buzzwords and business jargon. We all see them and probably use them every day: Paradigm shifts. Deliverables. Synergy. Interfacing. The list is bottomless.
These words all have their appropriate uses. Marketing just isn’t one of them.
Who are you? What is your business about? What difference do you want to make?
Well-crafted marketing content can clearly communicate the answers to these questions. Buzzword-laden copy can obscure your true identity.
The internet is littered with sites that make potential customers’ eyes glaze over with the steely gray of jargon – business blather, if you please. These sites don’t read like a real person wrote them. Readers can’t relate to them on a human level, which is where purchase decisions are made.
“Why invoke an overused buzzword when you can summon a deeply felt set of beliefs about what the company stands for and what it’s building for the future?” asks co-founder of Fast Company William Taylor in his book, Simply Brilliant.
Three benefits of communicating core values vs. buzzwords
Communicating core values builds trust. Having strong corporate values is great — essential, one might say. Communicating them to customers and employees is even better. When your messaging matches, internally and externally, verbally and in actions, you establish a reputation as trustworthy that is beyond priceless. Instead of making you sound superior, buzzwords tend to make people think you’re being less than genuine.
Communicating core values impacts your customers and employees. Selling your mission to your team is at least as important as selling your products and services to your customers. As author and speaker Simon Sinek says, “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.” No one falls in love with buzzwords.
Communicating core values enhances brand loyalty. “The reason we stay loyal to certain brands is because of their values,” writes Lindsay Kolowich for HubSpot. “The best brands strive to combine physical, emotional, and logical elements into one exceptional customer (and employee) experience that you value as much as they do.” Buzzwords might be logical, but they give an emotionless, bloodless, disembodied experience to customer and employee alike.
The best language for communicating the core beliefs of your business is usually simple and straightforward. The messaging may be simple, but the process to get there is not. A commitment of time and dollars will yield a good return.
These examples, from Kolowich’s HubSpot article, show values captured well in corporate mission statements. Notice in each the simplicity and clarity of the language that communicates the heart of the business.
Warby Parker — “To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.” They’ve chosen words that take us back to why the company was founded.
IKEA — “To create a better everyday life for the many people.” A child could read this one and understand that they mean for what they offer to be accessible to all.
Prezi — “To reinvent how people share knowledge, tell stories, and inspire their audiences to act.” For this business presentation company, Kolowich says, “it’s all about the story you tell and the audience that story affects.”
Cradles to Crayons — “Provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive – at home, at school and at play.” This statement answers three specific questions: who, what, and why.
What beliefs and values are at the core of your business?
Let us help you evaluate how well you are communicating them to your customers and employees. What you say represents who you are. We can help you get this right. Contact us at 720-722-2987 or click the blue button below to request a meeting with our team.
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