6/26/2006
Can you write me a quick tagline?
| "Can you come up with a tagline while you're at it? " We get asked this all the time! How do you – as a business owner, marketing professional, salesperson or anyone, for that matter – create the perfect tagline for your company or client? First, know your target audience. Understand various benefits your target audience is looking for and rank them in order of importance to begin developing your tagline. Define your target response: What outcome do you want to create … what do you want your audience to think or say? Brainstorm… brainstorm… brainstorm * Write a list of words or phrases that communicate your idea and that also tie to your logo or a visual you’re using. * Look up the words in a dictionary and write down different uses of the word and cross-references to other words. * Use that list to generate new ideas. * Cut the list to your top few favorites. * Then “play” with the words by using tools like rhyming or alliteration. Simplify… Simplify… Simplify… * Simplicity adds power. People tend to remember the simplest slogans. Communicate your message quickly, using active verbs.Rewrite… Rewrite… Rewrite… * Once you complete your initial drafts, set them aside. Come back later and review them. You’ll probably want to make changes. Keep the process going. When you’ve got it, you’ll know it! Finally … a few quick DOs and DON’Ts to keep in mind when creating a winning tagline: * DO collect other company’s taglines and analyze what works and what doesn’t work. * DO start by developing a list of what’s unique to what you do and your way of doing it. * DON’T use hip or esoteric taglines. (You want lots of people to understand it … not just a few.) * DON’T make your tagline too general. * DO your own mini-market research. Ask strangers (and acquaintances) if they understand your business after seeing and hearing your tagline. * DO use your specific target audience in your tagline, if possible. * DO keep it short. * DO turn the phrase around. If you can’t say it without skipping a step, then rephrase it. |
Less is more, more is less and everything old is new again
| The brochures we copywriters wrote a decade ago contain more than double the amount of words that’s appropriate for brochures by today’s standards. The way we write, present and read Web copy has changed how readers receive and absorb their printed information. Today, they’re really scanning rather than reading. What are we seeing today and what are people expecting: * Straightforward headlines and sub-headings that don’t make readers guess; * Half—and sometimes less—of the amount of words traditionally found in pre-Web print collaterals; * Words that are emphasized by being italicized, bolded, colored or otherwise; * Graphics, like photography or charts, that underscore the copy and are understandable with a brief glance; * One idea per paragraph; * References to a client’s website, online portfolio, e-store, etc. |