A powerful tagline can make prospective clients sit up and take notice.
Few things stick with us like advertising. It is one of the most subliminally powerful forces in society today. Many adults remember advertising slogans and taglines from their childhood word-for-word, while forgetting events that happened to them in the same time period. A good tagline communicates what you do; a great tagline tells people who you are. To create a great advertising tagline, you need to express your company's brand, identity and purpose in a handful of words. It seems like a lot of fuss over a sentence fragment, but with enough research and testing, seven or eight words can change your business.
Instructions
1. Distill your tagline to seven or eight words max. Start with more if necessary and pare them down, but set out from the beginning to hit this word count.
2. Create a tagline that clearly states your business's purpose and brand. An eye-catching slogan is not a tagline; a tagline is crafted for longevity and clarity. It is a punchy description of what you do, how you do it and why you are different from the competition, not a short-term advertisement for a service or sale.
3. Plot out exactly what you want your tagline to say. A great advertising tagline communicates one idea. If you're a writer, a great tagline communicates the idea that you write well and are worth hiring. If you write for a specific format, a winning tagline communicates not only that you do this sort of writing, but that you are the best choice in your field. It does not communicate each and every type of document you've written, nor does it express your past experience or future expectations.
4. Employ puns and alliteration if possible to craft a catchy tagline. Seven or eight words is not enough to provide a full description of any service or company. Stick to clearly expressing the basics of what you do or what you're advertising, and present it in a way that makes your audience sit up and notice.
5. Draft a list of the best advertising taglines you've ever heard on television or the radio, or seen in print. What sets them apart? Why do you still remember them? Focus on what your favorite taglines have in common and employ their strengths in your own tagline. This also helps you determine your brand and your optimal writing style. Do you prefer witty, irreverent taglines? Or sober ones that clearly communicate an idea or service?
6. Test your tagline on clients, friends and family. Be sure it communicates exactly what you want to say. Gather feedback on the tagline's effectiveness and clarity. Ensure that the tagline is not too similar to that of your competition. A tagline is not only an advertisement; it's an ID card. When people see it, they should think of you and no one else.
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