If you like words, you probably know that “rizz” – short for charisma – is the Oxford Word of The Year 2023 as chosen by the dictionary folks at Oxford Languages.
While it’s important to have rizz in the B2B communications game, that’s not the most impactful word on the list to the work of communications pros in 2024. Just scroll down a bit and you will come to the list of word of the year finalists and a little further on you’ll come to a list of shortlisted words.
It’s there that you will find two words that could be considered “marketing words of the year” based on the impact they will have.
These words are prompt (which was a finalist) and de-influencing (which made the shortlist).
These are the two words that could be considered the marketing words of the year for B2B communications professionals considering the impact they could have on marketing and PR campaigns in the coming year. Communications professionals will need to consider the impact of both of these words when developing 2024 plans.
Prompt – a Harbinger of the Future
Prompt is a noun that Oxford Languages defines as “an instruction given to an (generative) artificial intelligence program, algorithm, etc., which determines or influences the content it generates.”
Everyone expects that AI will revolutionize B2B communications through the availability of tools that can generate graphics, videos or pages of well-researched text in minutes. Indeed, in some areas its impact is already being felt. The fear is that when work is completed by generative AI it will cost jobs.
There are still debates about when AI will be mainstream, but not a lot of debate that it will be mainstream. The first step in understanding how AI can impact your work in 2024 is to experiment with prompts on multiple generative AI services to see for yourself the benefits and limits of the tools.
Influencers Strike Back
De-influencing is a noun that Oxford Languages defines as “the practice of discouraging people from buying particular products, or of encouraging people to reduce their consumption of material goods, esp. via social media.”
If your B2B communications results are tied to influencers on social media, especially TikTok, de-influencing could be an issue. The goal of many de-influencers is to bring to light bad campaigns that use dubious tactics such as staged reviews, false performance claims, or inauthentic influencer partnerships.
The de-influencing trend is a reminder to use best practices in influencer campaigns by engaging with authentic thought leaders that are a good match for the company and execute your programs in a way that fosters trust and credibility. Maintaining a high integrity program makes it harder for a de-influencer campaign to gather any momentum.
Words do matter. The word of the year and runners up capture a snapshot of what’s important to many people at this moment in time. In the case of the two “marketing words of the year,” B2B communications professionals would be smart to consider the impact of both “prompt” and “de-influencer” as they build out their 2024 communications plan.