Buzzword Bingo

Did you know that using the word “Testimonial” on your web page can lower your conversion rates, destroy your google quality score, and put off potential buyers?

It is true, and many of the big names have spent tens of thousands testing it.

But why is this the case?

Well, for a start it acts as a sort of stop-word… but more importantly, and here is the kicker… “testimonial” is a marketing term.

In no other industries will you find the word testimonial used.

You may see “customer feedback”, “reviews”, “thoughts” etc… but not testimonials.

This is a case of marketers and business people damaging their business, simple because they get sucked into the jargon and buzzwords of the industry, and forget to speak the same language as their customers.

Listen, you simply HAVE to speak to the same way as your customers, or at the very least, they have to be able to relate to what you are saying.

I could have written this post in Spanish, but I know that it would confuse 99%+ of my readers… so why do the same mistake with buzz and industry words?

I am actually guilty of this myself… I presumed for over a year that people generally knew what buzz and viral marketing meant. But after getting well over 100 blank stares, I realised that I had to re-invent how I describe myself and my occupation… so if you ever see me in mastermind groups or speaking at major events… I now describe myself as an “online attention seeker”.

So next time you are reading an article, or listening to a pitch… play buzzword bingo: