3 Simple Steps to Crafting a Killer Tagline
Updated: Aug 21, 2019
What makes a great tagline? Do I need to have one? How do I craft my own? I'll break down the differences of a tagline and slogan, identify what makes a great tagline, and ultimately how to craft your own.
Tagline vs. Slogan
Although both "slogan" and "tagline" tend to be used interchangeably, they actually serve two different purposes. While both identify a company or product, where these terms differ is in how they position a company in its industry.
A slogan encompasses a company's mission, what it stands for, and even how it's helping customers in the individual campaigns the company might run. Slogans can therefore can often be longer than taglines.
A tagline is a catchy quip that evokes an image of your brand in the minds of your customers. Taglines enable people to make lighthearted yet powerful associations with your business: "When I see [tagline], I think [company]."
Taglines are more often next to the company's logo in ads and are dedicated more specifically to brand awareness than slogans. Slogans carry a brand's values and promises and can even be promoted under an overarching company tagline.
Taglines and slogans are powerful marketing tools and a must have to solidify a brand’s identity. In fact, a great tagline can make a company a household name. With just a few words, a tagline can conjure a company or brand in your mind with ease. The goal is to leave a key brand message in consumers' minds so that, if they remember nothing else from an ad, they'll remember the slogan. Open Happiness, Just Do It, A Diamond is Forever, Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand, The Quicker Picker Upper. Did any of those remind you of anything?
Ultimately, what you just experienced is what you want your audience to experience when they hear your slogan. While the above taglines are attached to well established brands and multimillion-dollar companies, there’s still a lot you can learn from them and weave into your own brand’s tagline.
Be Memorable
Taglines succeed when they are memorable. The best way to do this is to make them under a sentence in length and encompass the personality of your brand. While your logo is the visual expression of your company, the slogan is its voice.
Differentiate
Excellent taglines say something unique about your brand or express its tone of voice in a different way. The more you can differentiate yourself from competitors, the more memorable and impactful your overall brand will be.
Key Benefit
Great taglines include a key benefit or talk about how they make people feel. What unique problem does your product or service solve? How does it make people feel to use or interact with it? Does it provide safety? Peace of mind? A snack that eliminates hangriness? Home in on your product’s key benefit, and make sure your tagline sings this praise.
Positive Feelings The best taglines tend to use upbeat and positive words to describe their product or service. Open Happiness, for instance is what Coke uses to encourage people to drink their soda. Who wouldn’t want to open a bottle of happiness?
3 Simple Steps to a great tagline
Below are the 3 simple steps to crafting your own killer tagline using the company WeWork as an example.
Step 1: In as many sentences as needed, write down everything your business does and all the benefits it provides:
“WeWork is a community space where people can co-work together or rent larger private offices. We let you do what you love by providing fast internet access, bathroom facilities, coffee, beer, and meeting spaces.”
Step 2: Trim everything you’ve written down into one singular sentence. This can be as long as it needs to be:
“A community space where you can focus on what you love doing, and we will handle all the hassles of running an office.”
Step 3: Trim this down even further…under one sentence in length:
“Do what you love.”
Viola! It's that easy. Take your time, don't get frustrated, and come back to your work if you have to. Much in the same way an artist will take a break and come back to their work for a fresh perspective, you may not get it right the first time. That's okay. It's vastly more important to get it right than to rush a tagline that doesn't quite encompass your brand.
#tagline #slogan #manifest #digitalmarketing
Need help crafting the perfect tagline? Call me at 619-431-1313 or email: raul@manifest-marketing.com