5 Tips For Creating The Perfect Tagline For Your Business

One of the many things in business that is considered a daunting and difficult task for most, is to perfect their company tagline. What does your tagline say about your business? Are your company values rolled into your tagline and is your tagline too weak, too strong or too corny?

A tagline is your Identity, with just a few words, a tagline must be understandable, summarize the product or service offering, build trust, or incite to buy. The right logo and the right tagline can take your company a long way.

In this post we show you how to craft the perfect tagline for your new or current business in need of a creative upgrade.

5 Tips For Creating the Perfect Tagline For Your Business

Be brief

If your slogan gets too verbose or too complicated, people tend to tune out. Or worse, they think you’re trying to hard, not good at communicating (and maybe they’d be right), or unclear about what exactly it is that you do. None of these things are going to help you. That’s why it’s important to brainstorm. Make a list of what you do, the things that define your business and the words you would use to describe it. From there, get clever and respect an economy of words.

Emphasize the right things

Since the 1990s, consumers say the slogans that in some way emphasize community are the most appealing and resonant, says Eric Swartz, a marketing and branding expert. Outline your company’s values, and see how they might translate to a slogan. If you can tell consumers what you’ll do for them and their families, or what you positive contributions you make to the community itself, they’ll be more likely to gravitate toward your business.

Value it

Understand how crucial a role a slogan can play. Because it’s the message you send out to consumers at every visit to your office, with every mailing sent, and every item bought in your store, it becomes the sentiment people associate with your company. It’s one of the most powerful brand-building devices. Along with the quality of service you provide, it defines who, as a business, you are.

Be honest

Overselling yourself is a short-sighted mistake. Eventually, people will come to know you don’t deliver on the promise you made, a powerfully destructive force on your reputation. It’s perfectly acceptable, of course, to highlight the best aspects of your business, but be realistic. You want customers and clients to be wowed by what you actually provide them, not disappointed.

Be original

Because a slogan is such a defining thing, it’s supremely important to have one all your own.  If yours mimics another brand’s, you’ll get confused or lost in the mix. Plus, it makes you look like an uncreative copycat. You can—and should—draw inspirations from successful, well-known examples. But don’t let pesky, insidious plagiarism creep its way into your creative process. Make your slogan yours, and yours alone.

So when it comes to creating and fine-tuning your tagline, Just Do It.

This article originally appeared on the American Express Open Forum.

*Share with us a few of your favorite taglines in the comment section below.*