I was recently helping Three Girls client, Life by Travel, craft a new marketing tagline to go with their new logo. They asked what attributes make for a good message, and I realized that a lot of people probably don’t consider the fundamentals when crafting one, rather they often rely on what might sound catchy – but that’s only part of the challenge! A tagline is the key phrase that identifies your business by capturing the essence of three elements:
- Your mission
- Your promise
- Your brand
There’s a saying in the copywriting world: Be clear, not clever. This applies to taglines as well. Considering benefits is important – you’re telling people what’s in it for them and what they get from you.
Once you have your mission and you have your benefits, you have to add some branding. A good tagline should reflect your business image and differentiate yourself from the competition.
Lastly, it should have some personality – some flavor or flair that speaks to your business. Overall, a good message line is memorable, includes your unique selling proposition and differentiates your brand.
For Life by Travel, a full service travel agency based out of Virgina, Three Girls created the tagline “The World at Your Leisure.” What do you think? Give us your thoughts and share the tagline for your business!
Erika,
I like the way you broke it down to simple steps. Also the comment, “be clear, not clever”. So many times we get caught up trying to be clever, not realizing that when people don’t understand what our business is, they also think the business owner is not clear themselves.
Now, the steps may look simple, but it can also be overwhelming. When you are in a business that a lot of other people are also in, how do we differentiate ourselves? Is one of the things that your business can help us with?
I say it makes me want you to craft a tag line for me and my business!
This article about the tag line was very interesting and is very important for any good company to make use of, a good tag line goes a long way in getting the business that you need.
Impressive blog, liked it very much. Lots of good information and easy to navigate.
Margie
Erika, as you know it is high on our action item list right now to make sure our tag line is very clear and readying your process was very helpful. Thank you for the insight. Good job!
Differentiating yourselves from competitors can be a little tricky, but it is important to do. We can absolutely help you come up with ideas, Julie! Email me at emilysidley [AT] threegirlsmedia [DOT] com so we can help. -Emily
Hi Kathy –
My recommendation would definitely be to choose one tagline and stick with it – it’s important for branding purposes and you always want your branding to be consistent! Maybe combining your two taglines would work somehow, or coming up with a new one that conveys both points. Happy to help!
Thanks for these valuable insights, Erika! I’ve struggled with my tagline, thinking it needs to be concise, yet reflective of my business. It’s tough! I have two that I like, and use them alternately, but am not 100% sold on either one, I guess because I want to convey so much in just one line. Is your recommendation for me to choose just one and stick with it? Using two is inconsistent, and thats certainly not what I want to convey about my business! :). Thanks!
Hi, Emily leary, with Snazzylime custom invitations! The name at the end spells Emily” backwards…. (ylime) And my tagline is, “for the invitationally challenged” 🙂
Everyone loves it! I had a great time coming up with taglines when I first started in 2010. What are your thoughts?
Emily