Small business marketing can be tough, especially when it comes to branding yourself. We work with a lot of small businesses in the Indianapolis area. We see a lot of businesses struggle with the right tagline.
What is a tagline?
Not sure what a tagline is? Here are a few examples:
- Budweiser: “The king of beers.”
- Volkswagen: “Das Auto” (“The Car” in German)
- Cotton: “The fabric of our lives.”
- Meijer: “Higher standards. Lower prices.”
- Burger King: “Have it your way.”
Taglines often make an appearance at the end of commercials or underneath logos. Think of it as your chance to tell your customers about your offering. Logos require consistency and longevity. Taglines do not. You can and should change your tagline to keep up with the market.
What makes a good tagline?
So what makes a good tagline? Here are some things we like to suggest:
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- Keep it simple… try for five words. Don’t exceed ten. If it is short and catchy, people will remember it.
- Your tagline should explicitly state your offering, especially if your are a new company. Let’s say you own a florist company that you simply call “Jane’s”. Your value proposition is that you can put arrangements together and deliver quickly. Your tagline could be: “Fresh flowers fast.”
- Make it unique. “Better service” and “quality customer care” won’t mean much to anyone.
- Use it as often as possible. Develop logo artwork that includes your tagline. Place it in your small business marketing materials, say it in commercials and put it in the header on your website.
What does this mean for my small business marketing efforts?
The most important thing to take away from this tagline lesson is simply that you need a good one. Get a team together and brainstorm. Don’t just make it cutesy. Critically think about your value proposition as a small business and how you can strategically state your tagline to communicate to your customers. In essence, your tagline is an integral part of your brand, which is your identity as a business.
Still not sure how to proceed with your tagline in your small business marketing materials? We can help.