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    How To Create A Great Tagline For Your Business (w/ Examples)


    When talking about a "Tagline" for a business, you'll commonly hear some popular names cited such as:
    Tagline examples of big companies
    The taglines examples you'll see are typically that of ginormous brands.
    But that's the problem with these examples...

     

    They're all HUGE PUBLIC COMPANIES!


    Billion dollar tagline brands
    Every single one of these examples has been around for decades and is worth billions of dollars (here's a list of all the company slogans on the S&P 500), yet somehow people think their much smaller businesses should have equally vague brand taglines.
    Well before we build our billion dollar brands, we might wanna start a little smaller:

     

     

     

     

    The Evolution of a Tagline:


    Let's you and I start a little side business together.  Let's see how our tagline may change as our company grows in size.
    Notice how the tagline grows from a "descriptive tagline" into a more "aspirational tagline" here:
    Evolution of a tagline
    At that very beginning stage when we're at $0/year, having a vague tagline such as "Tell the world" will be relatively useless to us.
    However once we start closing gigantic deals, have that fancy office on 5th Avenue in New York, and handle marketing for Fortune 500 brands.....then maybe "Tell the world" is a more appropriate tagline!
     
    So yes, when you're at the level of a large business, your tagline will often be something short and clever and "aspirational."
    However, if you're not there juuusst yet, here's a quick formula to follow:

     

     


     

     

    Here's the 3-step process for creating a tagline:


    Step 1.) Dump out your entire business in a few sentences.
    Step 2.) Trim it down.
    Step 3.) Trim it down to one short sentence.

     

     



    The #1 best way to create a tagline for your business is to describe what you do in the shortest space possible.
    This process is like trying to cram a large thought into a single Tweet.
    Let's jump into some examples of how we would do this:

     

     

     
    Sumo-Logo-300x55.png

    Sumo Tagline Example: 


    Step 1.) Dump out your entire business in a few sentences:
    "We create tools that go onto any webpage that help promote and share your website to get more traffic through several tools: Share buttons, Welcome Mats, Pop Up email collects, and more.  We make these tools really easy to use."
    Step 2.) Trim it down:
    "Tools that go onto your webpage to help promote and share your website to get more traffic."
    Step 3.) Trim it down to one short sentence:
    "Tools to Grow Your Website’s Traffic."

     

     

     

     

     
    wpengine-logo-png

    WPengine Tagline Example:


    Step 1.) Dump out your entire business in a few sentences:
    "It's really cheap to host a Wordpress site, but when something goes wrong, your host will be no where to be found. Also, Wordpress gets hacked if you don't upgrade it or choose poorly designed plugins." 
    Step 2.) Trim it down:
    "WPengine makes hosting a website on Wordpress super easy.  We're like the perfect website host."
    Step 3.) Trim it down to one short sentence:
    "Wordpress hosting, perfected."

     

     

     

     

     
    WeWork_logo

    WeWork Tagline Example:


    Step 1.) Dump out your entire business in a few sentences:
    "WeWork is a community space where people can co-work together or rent larger private offices.  We let you do what you love by providing fast internet access, bathroom facilities, coffee, beer, and meeting spaces."
    Step 2.) Trim it down:
    "A community space where you can focus on what you love doing, and we will handle all the hassles of running an office."
    Step 3.) Trim it down to one short sentence:
    "Do what you love."


    Think of your tagline like a "Headline For Your Business."
    Your tagline will often be placed on things like:

     

     

    • Flyers
    • Stationary
    • Outdoor signs
    • Business cards
    • Website headers

    These are items that have only a quick-shot at getting someone more interested.

     

    For this reason, the only job of your tagline is to get attention and make your customer want to read/research more!

     

    A note to people who have spent more than 2 hours of brain-time trying to "Come up with a great tagline":


    Your tagline will unlikely be a big driver of business. Like....at all.
    I've NEVER gone to McDonald's because "they had a cool tagline."
    It's cause I want food stuffed into my face immediately.
    I've never done business with a web designer because his tagline was clever like "Design for life."
    I've never bought a car because the tagline was "Zoom Zoom."
    Just remember....
    no-one-buying-tagline
    You should be focusing waaayy more of your time on:

    • The quality of your product.

    • Getting referrals from other people.

    • Getting feedback from customers.

    •  


    THOSE are all things that will increase your business.

    If you have spent more than two hours trying to come up with a tagline for your business, you are definitely focusing on the wrong thing.

    Use the 3-Step Tagline Formula shown above, knock your tagline out, make sure it's not "too clever", and then focus on improving your business in REAL ways!


    With all that said, I do respect some taglines floating around out there.

    For example, here's my all time favorite tagline:
    geico-tagline-example
    Geico has gone through all sorts of cutesy characters as their "spokesman", but their tagline has remained the same:


    "15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance."


    This tagline kicks butt because it's jam-packed with important stuff....and only in about 10 words!
    geico-tagline-example
    Dang.....that Gecko knows what he's doing!
    Let's just compare this brilliant Geico tagline to a few of their top competitors in the insurance space....Statefarm and Allstate:


    Insurance Tagline Examples
    I mean, without having previous experience knowing what these companies do…..would you have ANY clue what they sell based off their tag lines?? No.
    Bravo Geico. Your tagline could be used for a $100/year insurance business or a $50Billion/year insurance business.
    So remember, use the 3-Step Tagline Formula from above to create a quick tagline and description for your own business:
    The 3-Step Tagline Formula
    Step 1.) Dump out your entire business in a few sentences.
    Step 2.) Trim it down.
    Step 3.) Trim it down to one short sentence.

     


    Watch this video guide on How To Create A Great Tagline:

     
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    P.S. See every slogan from the S&P 500 here (all the slogans from the top 500 companies).
    P.P.S. Try running your own business through the 3-step process for creating a tagline:
    Step 1.) Dump out your entire business in a few sentences.
    Step 2.) Trim it down.
    Step 3.) Trim it down to one short sentence.

     

     

     

     

     

    P.S. Leave a comment below with your own tagline!

     


    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Cool little business you got!

    I actually like all three versions. Very precise and descriptive.

    I'm sure this service will do well in forums or FB groups for wantrepreneurs or people looking to start their first gig!

    Thanks Travis, NevBox-worthy!

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Hmmmm......with that tagline I STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE SELLING!!

    Perhaps you should keep the tagline a little longer so you can accurately describe whatchya do :)

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    "Deliciously Nutritious and Vicious and Suspicious Kopy" :-P
    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Hey Mary, it ALMOST seemed good.....but I was still confused about what industry you were talking about.

    Maybe "We'll redesign your manufacturing facility, document your processes, and better train your people to reduce operating costs by 35% or more. Guaranteed."

     

    .....something like that is much more specific and descriptive. But great first try!

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Cool Alex.....it might even be useful to give some actual numbers to solidify those claims, like:

    "Dom & Tom has made 214 successful apps (and 3 bad ones)."

    "Dom & Tom makes mobile apps for 45 of the Fortune 500 companies."

    "Dom & Tom has built apps that collectively get 490,000,000 daily users per day."

     

    ......that kind of stuff really PROVES you can handle the job rather than saying "We build successful apps."

    Good job though!

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Thank you Manna, glad to have helped!

    One suggestion:

    Don't worry about clever titles too much at the moment, they won't help you one bit in the beginning.

    You might wanna try elaborating for now and keeping the tagline a bit longer and more descriptive.

    Like:

    "Manna has started two companies and worked for 3 different Fortune 500 companies. She can help you organize your supply chain for 30% more efficiency within 3 months."

    ....something like that is more boring, but FAR MORE EFFECTIVE for a business just starting out.

    Good luck!

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Nice Matty! I personally like the 1st one the best.

    Screw having a "creative tagline" when you have a solid proposition like that!

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Hey Laura, don't stress too much about the tagline just yet on your blog....it's not what'll make-or-break you.

    My own blog (www.NevBlog.com) used to be one of the first personal finance blogs online. I had thousands of visitors a day, and never really had a tagline.

    However I eventually made it "One man's journey to financial freedom starting at the age of 21." (Cheesy I know....but I made it in like 2005 or something) :-P

    I HATED the idea at the time trying to teach people about financial freedom, so I just documented my personal journey, and people liked that.

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    I actually like the very first thing you wrote the best! Good job :)
    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Hmmm.....it's alright, but it doesn't MEAN anything when you're still small.

    Maybe make it a tad bit more descriptive?

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Supernatural marketing?

    Lol....I'm just curious as to what that means!?

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Lol....exactly Gareth!

    Why I wanted to write this post....to get people explaining SIMPLY what they do.

    I think the problem occurs when people try to be super clever and over-think this process.

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Just tell people what you do:

    "We will get you 4 major websites publishing your content within one month."

    .....something simple, whatever it is for you business.

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Hey Vera, I actually like @Victor's response here.

    It seems your business is still small, so I would skip worrying about taglines......BUT definitely still use this exercise to actually FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU DO!!!

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    I agree with everyone, that last one is gold!

    Great job Caren, maybe NevBox-worthy!

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Hey Sunny.....that's relatively descriptive, but it doesn't whet my appetite to learn from you.

    (FYI people...."WoD" is a common CrossFit term from "Workout of the Day").

    What if you said:

    "I took my WoD from 300 seconds to just 50 seconds in three weeks. I'm gonna show you how."

    .....whatever a metric is that shows you (or your students) have improved dramatically.

    Otherwise the info isn't that compelling.

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Hmmmm......perhaps you can give an example (of yourself or someone else) to solidify this claim. Like:

    "We have a 2 acre ranch that's completely sustainable from: 8 solar panels, 4 dogs, 4 people, 2 cows, 2 goats, and 1 big windmill. Come join the fun."

    .....even something like that will show you REALLY know whatchyou're talking about!

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Awesome Corey!!

    This is definitely a NevBox-worthy (winning!!) comment :)

    Thanks for sharing this, great insight.

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Yup! It's best to start small and simple.

    When you finally become a household brand, then you can tinker with an aspirational headline like Apple's.

    Link to comment



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