The Top Ten Most Used Press Release Buzzwords

Every company is a “leading provider of something” or they “leverage new technologies that will revolutionize ‘X’ industry.” This is the world of press release jargon, and as PR pros we – sometimes along with pressure from our clients – are to blame for it.

Online marketing strategist David Meerman Scott decided to conduct research on all of these so called “buzzwords.” From his blog:

I have just completed an analysis of all 711,123 press releases distributed by North American companies in 2008 through Business Wire, Marketwire, GlobeNewswire, and PR Newswire. The project looked at 325 gobbledygook phrases from a variety of sources, with the detailed analysis on the number of uses for each phrase done using Dow Jones Insight.

So, what were the top ten?

1) Innovate
2) Pleased to
3) Unique (Editor’s note: What an oxymoron!)
4) Focused on
5) Leading provider
6) Commitment
7) Partnership New and improved
9) Leveraged
10) 120 percent (Editor’s note: This one is a surprise to us.)

Visit David’s blog to view the top 25 results and to test your release with the “Gobbledygook Grader,” which will “give you a score based on how many over-used gobbledygook phrases you use and suggest ways to improve.”

[image cred: Spunkinator via Flickr]

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.