Every year has its share of new buzzwords; a few smart ones are encompassing very relevant complex concepts in a catchy way but the vast majority of them are pompous, inefficient and usually used by questionable marketers trying to impress and confuse clients and prospects alike.

Without further due, here are 2015 trendiest buzzwords:

Same Old-Fashioned Concept, New Catchy Name

Native Advertising and Advertainment – These two concepts can be summarized in two words: Sponsored Content. The caveat here is that the content produced is topically relevant to the brand and in line with the non-sponsored content from the publishing platform.

Omnichannel – Omnichannel is the trendy term replacing the word synergy; the philosophy that considers all the marketing streams should be working together to provide a seamless experience for the customer.

The Worst of the “Mix B with S” Words, No One’s Asked For

Phablets – For some people saying mobile devices takes too long; so why not mix smartphones with tablets of similar sizes and create a confusing term that assimilates two distinct types of devices, with wildly different media consumption uses, together, creating that new conceptual genre of devices spoken by many, but used by none.

phablets

Alphanista – The Alpha woman meets the Fashionista; despite being currently used to describe a successful woman in a powerful position; there are strong chances for this term to start being used in a condescending or derogatory manner sooner than expected.

Twintership – This term refers to an internship which duties are focused on the promotion of the brand on social networks. Just a side note: as social media engagement becomes more and more important to grow your business, is an unpaid intern, with minimal knowledge of your brand culture, the best to give prospects a good first impression of your brand?

Adding Jacking or Hacker as a Suffix

News-jacking – The jacking suffix implies that brand ideas have been injected into news stories in order to generate media coverage and social engagement. It’s another fancy way to refer to real-time marketing scenarios: trying to find a compelling way to associate a brand with a newsworthy event.

Growth-hacker – Hacker is the new Guru or Ninja as of the last few years. A growth-hacker is someone who believes to be an evolved marketing expert but who mistakes language gimmicks for marketing. Quick hint: experts don’t need a flamboyant title to herald their competence; their knowledge and erudition should speak for themselves.

Conversation Marketing is 2015’s Content Marketing Equivalent

Some marketers will try to explain that where content marketing was about delivering relevant messages to customers, conversation marketing is about social engagement of your prospects, by humanizing the brand.

The truth is: Marketing and content marketing done right is about engaging your audience in a way that is tailored to create a perceived emotional bond with the brand.

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