Why I'm Tired of People Talking About "Awesome Content"

It has to be the most overused word in digital marketing. "Awesome." I understand the intent, but please, to hear the way people chatter on about it you'd think creating "awesome content" was as easy as kindergartners making mud pies.

Synonyms for awesome at Thesaurus.com include all of the following: awe-inspiring, breathtaking, alarming, fearsome, magnificent, intimidating, formidable, terrifying, wondrous...  It's a word best applied to the Deity, though the Grand Canyon might give us a sense of something approaching awesomeness. I mean, it is pretty grand, as in the dialogue, "This is a piano, and that is a piano, but this here is a grand piano." Unfortunately the way we use the word awesome these days it feels like any hack can produce mind-blowing "content" as easily as tying shoelaces. And if you can't do it yourself, you can hire people to do it for you... for pocket change. Or so they say.

In an ideal world, everything is awesome and everybody is above average.

Look at all these stories you find when you Google the phrase "awesome content":

6 Awesome Content Sources That Take the Stress out of Social Media Sharing

9 Tips on How to Create Awesome Content that Is Easily Discovered

How to Create Awesome Content People Actually Want

4 Rules For Creating Awesome Content Your Audience Loves

4 Steps to an Awesome Content Calendar (and 6 Things You Need on It)

25 Tools to Find Awesome Content to Share

15 Ways To Consistently Create Awesome Content That’ll Get People Coming Back To Open Your Emails, Visit Your Blog, And Watch Your Videos

7 Awesome Content Marketing Examples You Can Steal

How to Create Awesome Content for Facebook, Twitter and Google+

The 3 Keys to Awesome Content Marketing That Works
(Both this and the previous one are by Jeff Bullas. Awesome!)

Awesome Blog Writing Service

How to Create Awesome Content

7 Types Of Awesome Social Media Content Your Brand Can Be Creating Right Now

We All Want Awesome Content, Here's How to Start Making It

7 Elements of Awesome Content

The Principles of Awesome Content

Infographic: How to find awesome content topics

How To Create Awesome, Eye Catching Instagram Content

How to Plan Awesome Content That Grows Your Email List

How To Create An Awesome Content Strategy

12 Types of Awesome Visual Content You Can Use in Your Blog Posts

5 Ways to Transform Your Content From Adequate to Awesome

How to Find Awesome Content Writers for Less than $3 Per Article

Awesome Content Writer

Five Ways to Focus on Creating Awesome Content With Your Client

Awesome Content Tools - Grow Your Business with WordPress

Announcing our Awesome Content Targeting (ACT) tool

1 Awesome Way To Create Great Content

Five Tips for Awesome Content

How to create awesome content in 5 easy steps [infographic]

How to Write Awesome Content For Your Website

9 Awesome Content Marketing Tools That Will Make You More Efficient

10 Steps to Building an Awesome Social Media Content Calendar

Awesome Content

How to Write Awesome Blog Content for Your Nonprofit

Two Ingredients of Awesome: Content and Metaphor

Your Awesome Content Is Useless, Until…

5 Ways to Come Up With Awesome Content Marketing Ideas

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So, what do ya think? Pretty awesome, huh?

Bottom Line: I'm a big believer in attempting to set the bar high, but common sense says that when everything is awesome, nothing is. What is it you are really trying to do? Entertain? You're competing with Hollywood. There are plenty of other reasons for creating content though: to enlighten, to inform, to persuade, to comfort, to connect with a  community, to leave a legacy, to inspire, to spark a discussion, and maybe just because you have a need to express yourself so you can sort out what you really think and feel on a subject.

If you've read this far you pretty much know what I think. Let's use a different word and scrap the A-word. Try out some of these: useful, meaningful, engaging, etc.

Have a great day.

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