5 marketing terms that will disappear in 5 years

Digital marketing is a dynamic industry. New concepts and terms are always being born, and others are always dying.

The language of marketing tends to evolve at a much slower pace than the industry itself. Sure, we like to make up words and concepts at a regular interval, but we have a much harder time doing away with outdated and irrelevant marketing terms. We keep certain concepts well past their expiration date, sometimes out of habit, but oftentimes out of fear of what might come next.

Here are five marketing terms that will have become wholly irrelevant in five years and arguably have already started their decline in usefulness.

Black-hat SEO

Put this concept to the “should be gone already but strangely isn’t” bucket. Black-hat SEO tactics—shady tactics that marketers employ to game search engines—have long been frowned upon by much of the industry. (At least outwardly. I’ve certainly known marketers who publicly decried black-hat SEO but secretly gave some pretty questionable advice to clients when the microphones were turned off.)