Back in March I wrote an article describing how 6 business owners created the perfect taglines for their businesses. Today, I’m going to go one step further and discuss how to craft a tagline that will not only work for your art business, but also help you get noticed by the right people.
Know who you are
Jason Parmer, of the Dapper Agency, says, “To brand yourself, you have to know yourself.”
“This may seem obvious,” continues Jason, “but a lot of companies think they need to adapt their messaging to give the people what they want. It’s far more important, however, to truly know and understand your business and what it does that’s unique in the marketplace and promote those services.”
“When it comes to crafting the perfect tagline, spend time discussing your company’s best assets, goals and services, and ask multiple people to describe, in their words, what the company does. When doing this, key words will emerge that articulate your company’s DNA. These terms will help you know that your brand and tagline are built on an honest foundation. From there, it’s just a matter of finessing the message to be clear, concise and attention-grabbing.”
Be personable
Kristin Delaney, Managing Partner of SpendLO, LLC, says, “Do not be restrained by a sense of professionalism.”
“People respond to taglines that show what kind of company they are dealing with,” states Kristin. “The creative community is today’s ideal environment to be fun and outside the box. Think about your audience and why they are choosing your company. A great tagline combines two things: the personality of your business and the value you provide.”
“Start by describing—in one sentence—why a potential customer should choose your company then develop a lot of variations of that statement. You will end up with some pretty outlandish options, but typically one stands out as the perfect tagline.”
Do a little research
Paige Dawson, President of MPD Ventures Company, believes proper research plays a key role in creating your tagline.
“As you think about taglines for your company, start by noting what taglines are already used by your competitors, as you do not want a tagline to be similar,” says Paige. Then “make a list of words that you want associated with your product or service in a free flow list—think about the benefits, value, points of difference, experience, etc. List what makes you different, what you want to be famous for, how you want the buyer to feel.”
Once you have that list in place, “consider calling your customers and conducting a short phone interview to assess why they purchased from you, what they see as the greatest value you offer, how they feel the experience was, how they would describe you and your service to others, etc.”
“Now, armed with the above content, start to look for commonalities, strong verbs, power phrases. Once you have decided on a potential tagline, it’s a good idea to ensure that the tagline is available and not already in use by others,” continues Paige.
To do that, Paige offers these three, very important steps:
1. Go to the US Patent & Trademark Office website at www.uspto.gov and conduct a Trademark Search.
This will help show any existing companies that have already registered to use that tagline or mark. Now, it is possible that multiple companies can use the same tagline AS LONG AS they are not in the same industry class or it is not a very readily recognizable trademark already in use by a major company. (Working with an intellectual property lawyer is always a good idea for this process.)
2. Conduct a basic search in Google or another search engine for that tagline to see what companies may be using the term already.
3. Test the tagline as a domain name or search to see if the tagline is already purchased as a website domain name. You can check for this at any domain registrar, or with a service like instantdomainsearch.com.
A properly created tagline will reinforce your brand’s message and help potential and returning customers remember who you are, what you stand for, and why they want to do business with you.
If your current tagline doesn’t do this, it’s time to take these tips and create a new one. You’ll be glad you did!
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