BloggernityWhat Does Your Tagline Say About Your Business?
ByTaglines can be a tough proposition. How do you embody everything your company stands for in a handful of words?
One of the best taglines ever written was, “Fresh, hot pizza in thirty minutes or it’s free.”
Dominoes, right?
I’ve been thinking a lot about taglines lately for two reasons. Almost every client I get either doesn’t have one (because they can’t think of one) or has a bad one (that may have sounded impressive to the owner at the time but doesn’t mean a thing to potential customers or clients).
The other reason is because I was driving down the highway the other day and saw a courier truck with the company tagline proudly displayed across the back of the truck:
“Dedicated to Performance.”
And I asked myself, what does that mean to someone who needs a package delivered? This tagline could be attached to any company. A grocery store, a car company, a hair salon or a tax service. What’s the difference? And finally, who cares?
Now compare that tagline to another company in a very similar business:
“When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”
FedEx.
Do you see the difference? That tells me exactly what FedEx does and why I want to use them. Do you think they would have become one of the largest delivery companies in the world with the tagline: Dedicated to Performance?
To learn more, read my article on how to create a tagline or slogan for your business.
Originally posted 2007-09-06 07:24:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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6 Comments
July 15th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Yes, taglines are important. Also, I have heard it said that if you can’t say it in 8 words or less…it is too long. Nice rule of thumb…keep it short.
Ideally, I would think this would be tied to the company’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
Great post, Bob!
Also, your link – “To learn more, read my article on how to create a tagline or slogan for your business” – doesn’t work. 404 error, not found.
July 20th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Thanks, Eric, for the heads up. I fixed the link.
Also, just a suggestion, instead of signing with your name, when you make blog comments, use one of your website’s keyword phrases for your name.
Making comments on popular blogs using your one of your keyword phrases as your name will create backlinks to your website focusing on your primary search terms and also tell people a little about your business to intrigue them into checking you out.
Just make sure that at the end of your comment you sign with your real name so bloggers know who you are.
March 28th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Bob –
Of course, I totally agree with your post. I have a client right now who can’t express the difference between his company and similar companies. If he can’t express the difference, how can potential customers?
Also, your comment to Eric is interesting about using one of his website’s keyword phrases for his name. I have to ponder what I think of this idea.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller
March 28th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
@Phyllis – I always use the primary keyword phrase or a variation of my primary keyword phrase for my name when I create a blog comment that links to my Home page. That way, every time I do, it creates a link back to my Home page that gives “Google juice” to my home page. Almost no one searches for my real name or the name of my business. But snce my Home page is optimized for the keyword phrase Online Marketing, using that keyword phrase for my name in blog comments helps push my website higher in the search engine rankings for that keyword phrase. That’s why I am on the first page of Google for Online Marketing Minneapolis. Last time I checked I was number four.
March 30th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Bob – Good blog post on taglines! I agree they are important and coming up with a good one takes some creative brainstorming.
An effective tagline must flow from the company’s positioning statement (or brand promise as it is sometimes called) to communicate the essence of the brand in just a few short words.
There are several elements to a successful tagline including:
* Being 3 to 6 words in length
* Freshness and surprise
* Rhetorical sophistication
* Action
* Suggestion of possibilities
I recently wrote a blog post on developing effective taglines at
http://bkminsights.blogspot.com/
March 30th, 2010 at 10:19 am
@Barb – Excellent points, Barb! I’ve read your blog post on taglines and was so impressed, I bookmarked it. I will defnitely be adding your suggestions to my tagline development process!
Bob