Tips for Writing a Terrific Tagline: Part 1
A tagline is a catchy, pithy, phrase that evokes an image of your brand in your customers’ minds. Your tagline allows your clients and prospects to make lighthearted but powerful associations with your business.
When it comes to taglines, the KISS principle applies: Keep It Short & Simple. This is harder than it sounds. Given that the ideal tagline is between three to seven words, it's incredibly difficult to be that succinct in expressing the heart of your brand’s value proposition in such few words. It’s quite the feat to convey such powerful messaging in just one, short, quippy phrase, but effective brands can do just that.
Think of the following high-profile brands, and I bet you can recall their tagline right away:
M&M: "Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands"
Apple: "Think Different."
L'Oréal Paris: "Because You're Worth It."
Bounty: "The Quicker Picker Upper"
Maybelline: "Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline."
The U.S. Marine Corps: "The Few. The Proud. The Marines"
Nike: “Just Do It”
American Express: “Don’t leave home without it”
The reason you remember these taglines is because they have the following key characteristics of an effective tagline:
Use few words
Catchy
Differentiate their products
Convey positive, aspirational benefits of the brands they represent
They are memorable
As a woman with a business or a platform, you too should use these principles to leverage your brand’s tagline to solidify your messaging and marketing. But you may be wondering where to start, especially knowing that big businesses spend lots of money on advertising campaigns to craft those taglines that pack punch. Yes, writing your tagline may take some effort, but I’m going to share a few more tips to help you do just that, using these principles above.
Generate Ideas
Nike’s “Just Do It” tagline, might just be the simplest, most effective tagline in existence. Coupled with its trademark swoosh visual logo, these three basic words have helped propel Nike’s brand into the stratosphere. Similarly, your tagline needs to communicate the core benefit or aspirational ideal of your brand simply, in no more than eight words, the fewer the better. Create a table with four columns. 1. Ideal customer Attributes. 2. How you help them. 3. The aspirational benefit they get from your product or service.
So, for example, let’s say your target customers are moms. In the first column, you will list out all the ways you can describe these moms. They can be “new moms” or “homeschooling moms” or “young moms”, you get the drift. List as many iterations you can think of. In column 2, you want to list words that describe your product or service. Specifically, you want to list the things that differentiate you from your competitors. List as many as make sense. For example, I help moms create margin in their lives or with finding time to do what they love, etc.
In the third column, you want to select words that describe what problem you solve for your customer or how your customer feels after using your product or service. So, moms using your service may feel peace, confident, happy, motivated, etc. In each column brainstorm words like crazy, because part of getting to a creative space is thinking outside the box. Get help from a family member, colleague, or friend for ideas if you feel stuck. This exercise will take some time but it’s so worth it because it will give you needed clarity on what you are trying to communicate to your ideal customer. Your goal at the end of this exercise is to come up with as many phrases that capture the heart and soul of your brand.
Look for Part 2 of this post, when I reveal the final steps for creating a terrific tagline.
Natalie Jobity, MPhil, MBA, ACC, founder of The Unveiled Way, is a leadership and career coach, consultant, brand strategist, bestselling author, mentor, speaker, and facilitator who has earned a reputation as "The Brilliance Unveiler." She empowers female leaders to live in the fullness of their purpose and unveil their brilliance by leveraging the power of their strengths, expertise, and distinctiveness, so they make transformative impact in their sphere of influence.
Visit Natalie’s website to learn more about how she partners with leaders with her signature “Unveil Your Brilliance” program and her "Brand Your Biz Like a Boss" consulting service. While you’re there, join her Unveiled community and pick up your complimentary copy of her "Empowered to Lead: Seven Strategies to Help You Become a More Impactful Leader" guide.