- Write a tagline for your company
- Review in future to make sure it is still relevant to company
Write a Tagline That Summarizes Your Company
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Writing a tagline or slogan for your company is a great way to force yourself to focus on what you would like your company to stand for in the minds of your customers. A tagline that is related to the brand's promise can help to reinforce and educate prospects on your company. The tagline is usually going to focus on the bigger picture.
The best taglines are the ones that are short sweet and to the point. Here’s a quick test about how effective a tagline can be for a company. Below are some corporate taglines, just read them and try to figure out who the company is (answers are at the end of this section).
You’re in good hands.
Just do it.
Leave the driving to us.
Where do you want to go today?
Drivers wanted.
That wasn’t very hard now was it. Obviously, these companies spent millions of dollars in advertising to get their message into your head. Since you will not be spending that kind of money, your tagline should be memorable and I personally think it should tell more about what you plan to deliver. A review of these taglines above shows that they are very broad in nature and represent the larger thing that the brand is promising (You're in good hands is about peace of mind (insurance).
When creating your tagline the best method is to just sit down at the computer and start writing as many as you can. For ideas you can turn to your business plan, web pages and even competitors to make sure that your tagline and corporate image stand out from the crowd. Spend about 30-60 minutes just coming up with as many ideas as you can, no matter how crazy they may seem, just keep going. Then take a break, work on some other items and come back the ideas later.
Now that you’ve had time to clear your mind, sit down and read through the ideas you have and pick out the ones that you really like. Now feel free to re-write some of your original ideas and even combine them until you have your top 5 then run these by your colleagues, family and friends.
For example, we settled on "Turning Customers into Prospects for Life!" as a tagline on our marketing materials. As we evolved the business in terms of what we offer and who we serve, this central reinforcing theme helped anchor us to a central promise. We want to be known for helping our clients find prospects who would turn into loyal customers.
We started as Postcard Promotions specializing in producing a post card that we often mailed for our clients. The focus was very product/service focused. It wasn't until we renamed our company to Track Marketing Group and start to focus on the bigger picture that a tagline like this made sense. Now, our original flagship offering is now a part of a bigger picture and the Postcard Promotion serves to reinforce our promise.
For your company, think about what you offer your customer. How can you summarize this offering in a simple tagline that will convey the essence of what you do? Take a look at other companies and see how they summarize their central promise in a single sentence. A good tagline helps the outside world better understand what you offer and can also serve to keep you focused on your core business. As you naturally evolve your offerings, re-check if you are still true to your original tagline. If not, consider if you want to change direction, start a new company, or abandon the new offering. If you try to offer too much that can't be tied together in a central tagline, you run the risk of confusing the marketplace.
Every year or so, read your tagline and ask yourself "are we still true to this promise?" and "Does our offerings support and deliver on the tagline or are we off course?"
Answers (1. Allstate Insurance 2. Nike 3. Greyhound Buslines 4. Microsoft 5. VW)
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