A great tagline is important for any business, and in this series we’re diving deep to help our partners and customers improve this aspect of their branding. Now that we’ve seen (in part one of this series) what a tagline is, and we’ve looked at a few examples of great taglines in part two, now we’re going to discuss how you can actually create a great tagline for your own business.
So what goes into creating a tagline?
Here are five important considerations for brainstorming your tagline:
- Unique Selling Proposition (or, USP): The process of creating a tagline begins with an understanding of your business’s USP. This is done after an examination of the product or service benefits. What makes you different, or stand out, among the competition? Why should people buy your product, and not someone else’s product? If you get this right and the customers think it’s credible, you will be able to command premium prices.
- Category themes: The next step is to understand category themes. How are others companies and products that are similar to yours talking to customers? Is it aspirational, inspirational, and dynamic? Or safe, secure, and conservative? Are there certain common themes in the taglines of your competitors? And just as importantly, how is your brand better than its competitors?
- Consumer expectations: How do customers expect brands in this particular industry to talk to them? Insurance companies talk to their potential customers much differently than sneaker manufacturers. What are the primary problems you’re solving for your customers? In what sense will the product make the customer’s life better?
- Brand character: A tagline reflects a brand’s character and its tone of voice. This has to be defined before you roll out any communication. It should be one of the criteria for selecting your logo, mascot if any and the tagline. Do you want to define your brand as friendly, authoritative, bold, or traditional?
- Statement or call: The final aspect of creating a tagline is to decide whether you want it to be a statement about the brand and its experience (like BMW’s “The ultimate driving machine”) or do you want it to be a call to your customers (like Nike’s “Just do it” or YouTube’s “Broadcast yourself”).
How to pick a tagline for your business
Identify your benefits: The first step is to identify the benefits of your product or service. For this, you will have to think both as a brand manager and a customer. Remember that the benefit is not just a feature of your product.
It’s the solution your brand delivers and the larger experience it creates. It could also be the lifestyle change that you expect customers to seek with your product or service.
Be creative: Your tagline needs to be different to help your brand stand out from the clutter. It shouldn’t mimic what everyone else in your category is saying. It should be imaginative or else customers might think that your product or service is also unimaginative.
Don’t limit yourself to what your team might come up with. Since a tagline is an investment in your brand, you could seek the services of a specialized agency.
Keep it simple: While it should be creative, it shouldn’t be complex. Consumers should be able to understand the tagline in a split-second because that’s all the time they might have. It should also be short and not filled with complex words or jargon.
Your tagline will go on your merchandise like bags. When your customer carries it, it’s also a reflection of their choices. So, keep it imaginative but simple and easily understandable.
In Summary
A tagline, if done well, can be one of the greatest assets for a brand and will help in growth, customer acquisition, and attracting the best talent to work with you. But it’s not the only thing that matters — your product and packaging do, as well. And your label is, of course, a crucial part of that. So call United Label when you’re ready to start printing your labels!