A successful tagline can help your business cut through the noise of the Internet, connecting to prospective clients while clearly communicating what you do well. A poor tagline can increase bounce rates, scramble your message, and leave you at a competitive disadvantage in your digital marketing strategy.
Two Steps to an Awesome Website Tagline
A successful tagline can be built in a few strategic steps and we are sharing them with you:
- Descriptive Words. To begin, you must first find descriptive words that best define your company. Brainstorm a list of 8-15 words based on the personality and vision of your business. The words you choose will connect with your prospective clients that resonate with them – words like dynamic, innovative, professional, all of these communicate how you are different than your competitors. The more unique you can make your list, the better your tagline will be. Once you have your list, narrow your top choices down to three. You may only use one in your tagline but this is a great starting point.
- Define Your Service or Mission. Once you have made your list of descriptors, clearly define your service and mission – what value are you giving to your customers? At Intuitive Websites, our mission is to help our clients be successful online in digital marketing; through our partnership they see success, growth and meet business goals. We make it easier for them to do business and as such their quality of life is enhanced. It is not our mission just to be great designers, but to get results through our superior designs. Defining your mission will tie critically into how you use your descriptive keywords.
To begin, list three things you do better than anyone else. These items define your service. Other questions to ask are what problems do you solve, how do you help people do their jobs better, and for B to C how do you enhance people’s lives? Words like convenience, time saving, efficiency are all appropriate to use. You can ask your customers for their honest feedback as well. These two exercises are a great start to put together a successful tagline!
Once you have your descriptors and mission, you can create your tagline. Here are two examples for both the service and product industry:
A Tagline to Drive Car Wash Sales – Service Industry Example
Virtually everyone will at some point use a car wash, and we have built a powerful tagline that will truly draw consumers as opposed to focusing only on years in business or hours available.
Step 1 – List descriptive words such as clean, pride, neat, organized. Two specific words spring to mind and stand apart: brilliant and shine.
Step 2 – Perhaps at this car wash employees truly care about their job, as they are valued and treated well they provide value in return. Let’s say this car wash also offers everything from a 10 minute basic service to overnight detailing.
Tagline: “A brilliant shine from people that care. From a basic wash to awesome detail.” This is a tagline that clearly defines what is different about this car wash and can then be supported with content, testimonials, and photos. It is not enough to just have a great tagline, it is imperative to support it.
A Smart Tagline for a SmartWatch – Product Industry Example
With advances in smartphones these days, there are less incentives for people to upgrade. Smart watches offer something new and exciting to consumers.
Step 1: Descriptive words might be customizable, fashionable and versatile
Step 2: What does this watch do well? Buyers may not be loyal to the same brand as their phone, so a good smartwatch has to be able to work with any smartphone. Finally, people wear watches as accessories so a smartwatch needs to be fashionable.
Tagline: “Fully customizable high-tech fashion statement that works with any smartphone.” This is a powerful statement that draws people in.
Remember! Your tagline is at the core of what you do really well. Users are only on your homepage for a few seconds and then leave quickly. Your website tagline needs to be connected with images, possibly video, and make a powerful impression that will lower bounce rates and encourage people to engage with your site. It is worth the time and effort to go through this process to engage with people online.
Summary
Your tagline can be used not only on your home page but as a driving force for blogs, site content, email marketing, videos, and social media. All of these combined will support the statement you are making with your tagline in order to build your business, brand and positive reputation.
Action Items
- Make a list of descriptive words about your business.
- Define three things your company does very well.
- Write a tagline your customers can take action on.
- Use variations of your tagline throughout your digital marketing.
To find out more about building a tagline and a successful digital marketing strategy read my book Winning the Website War. We are always here if you have additional questions, don’t hesitate to contact us as well!
