Just do it. Where’s the beef? Have it your way. Can you pair these taglines with their respective brands? I’m guessing you can. That’s because good taglines do their job – they help you identify the business they represent by capturing the mission, promise and brand essence in a short, memorable phrase.
Taglines have been around about as long as logos have. The earliest one I could find was Ivory Soap’s “99.44% pure” tag line dating back to 1882. Taglines should certainly stand the test of time, but they don’t have to be around forever to make an impression. “Just do it.” has only been around since 1988 and “What happens here, stays here.” since 2002.
For more influential taglines and the years they were coined, check out Tagline Guru.
So what qualifies as a good tagline and how do you make one?
Good taglines shouldn’t just be clever, they should also be clear and concise. Ask yourself what your main objective is – what you’re trying to sell. Have one focus.
Then determine what your benefit is.
“One of the most repeated rules of compelling copy is to stress benefits, not features. In other words, identify the underlying benefit that each feature of a product or service provides to the prospect, because that’s what will prompt the purchase.” -Brian Clark of Copy Blogger
Why is your offering better than your competitors’? Why should your customers care? Once you determine your benefit, remember to carry it through the rest of the copy on your website, brochures and other promotional pieces.
For more on the importance of highlighting benefits, see Brian Clark’s blog post on copyblogger.com.
You have your mission and your benefits. Now tie in your brand. Pick an adjective or descriptive phrase that reflects your business’ personality and image and differentiates you from the competition.
You’ve now captured your mission, promise and brand essence in your tagline. You might want to do an A/B test to see if your tagline effects your conversion rate. See my past blog post on A/B testing for more info.
Case Studies
1. The supercar company World Class Driving changed their tagline from “Drive Five Supercars: The U.S. Supercar Tour.” to “Life is short. Just drive.” and increased the conversion rate on their website by 34%. Source
World Class Driving offered a motive and reason to care rather than just giving their product offering.
2. CareLogger increased their conversion rate by 31% when they changed their tagline from “Keeping tabs on your Diabetes just got a lot easier.” to “Maintain your Optimal Health by keeping tabs on your diabetes.” Source
In their new and more successful tagline, CareLogger communicated the benefit of their product rather than just its function.
3. Big Contacts saw a 55% increase in conversion when they changed their tagline from “Affordable, easy-to-use web-based contact manager.” to “The quickest & easiest way to organize your contacts.” Source
BigContacts’ new tagline packed three benefits – quick, easy, organized – into one small phrase to outperform their original tagline. The new tag line, created by Surge Labs, is much more concise and descriptive. Check out some spoof taglines Surge Labs thought up for their own company.
Why taglines matter.
Beyond the importance of taglines to humans, search engines look at tag lines to determine the relevancy of a page to a search.
“The tagline is your opportunity to use the top keywords by which you’d like your home page to be found in search.” – Michael Martine, Headway Themes
Follow these tips to create an effective tagline or headline that boosts conversion rates and is remembered by your customers.
Know of a great tagline or a have a favorite? Leave them in the comments!