This post continues with the branding theme as we go to the next step beyond logos which is having a good slogan (aka 'tagline'). A slogan or tagline is a brief sentence - or just a few words - that when located just after your company name, gives your audience a more concrete idea of what your company does. It acts like advertising in that it consistently brands your company whenever its name is used.
"Got Milk?," "Just Do It," "Mmmm Good," "The Ultimate Driving Machine," and so many others are imbedded in our minds that in fact, no brand name's mention is even necessary, we just know the company it refers to.
When I began my firm I too wanted a slogan & began tossing around several options. I settled on "big business marketing solutions for small business." For a long time I was happy with it & used it diligently on all my marketing collateral materials. Then, one day I was having a discussion with someone who saw my services as "accessible to everyone" & so I began to think that perhaps "affordable, accessible marketing for all" might be a more focused and warmer way to convey the same thing. So, after passing it by a few trusted people, I decided to make the change.
The lesson? It may take a try or two to get it right but it's worth the effort. When I go to networking meetings & say my tagline everyone gets it. It requires no explanation & invites further discussion - which is exactly what every business owner wants!
There are myriad branding companies who charge many tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to create these taglines for big corporations. But you too can affordably create a memorable, meaningful tagline that will help your audience 'get it'. Here's how:
1. Play the name game. If at all possible, try to get at least part of your company name in. This helps to reinforce your brand and helps your audience connect the name & tagline without much effort.
2. Make it benefit driven. By doing this, it makes your selling job much easier because prospects will see your company name followed by a benefit-driven tagline. By association your company will then be remembered for its benefits.
3. Ask for help. If you're not sure exactly how your audience perceives you then ask your customers, vendors, employees, prospects - even friends and family. As you begin to gather their responses you'll see a very definite pattern of words or phrases crop up consistently. These are the words you will want to incorporate into your tagline development.
4. Be specific. So many slogans have absolutely no differentiation for their intended brand. While researching this topic I read that "Simply the best" is used in 30+ company slogans. If you can easily replace your company name with your competitors, then so can your target audience! Pick something that is unique to what you do.
5. Rhyme Time. Some branding consultants say that your tagline should rhyme. This makes it impossible for anyone to substitute their own company name for yours if you add your name to it & creates a much more memorable line. Think of "See the USA in your Chevrolet" and you'll hear immediately why this works.
6. Phrase it in the positive. Research shows that if a slogan contains negative phrases, people tune out. For example, Lea & Perrins' old tagline was "Steak sauce only a cow could hate." Cute, but not positive. In fact, this conjures up strange images in my mind. Their current tagline is "Unwrap the Possibilities®". This plays off the fact that they still wrap their bottles in paper & this differentiates their product on the supermarket shelf. It also conjures up a "hmmmm" factor such that it makes you think of how else you might use the sauce (in dressings, soups, sandwiches?)
7. Keep it legal. If you absolutely, positively don't want anyone else to ever be able to steal your slogan, then you can easily protect your marketing investment by filing for a trademark. Go to www.uspto.gov for more information. But first, search the trademark database to be sure no one else has already done so.
8. Keep it short. Branding experts say that your tagline should never be more than 10 words. The fewer the words, the easier it is to remember.
9. Once it is final, use it everywhere! My tagline is at the end of my email signature block, on all my stationery & marketing collateral materials (including the banners I use for trade shows). Say it on your voicemail message, incorporate it in to your "elevator" speech used at networking meetings. The whole point is to begin to brand your company & each of these efforts will add to your success.
Now that you've got a great slogan, go tell everyone!
Copyright 2015 Affordable Marketing Solutions LLC
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Showing posts with label slogans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slogans. Show all posts
Friday, February 13, 2015
Thursday, April 10, 2008
But I took out an ad......
The other day I had a phone conversation with a potential new client who desperately needed help building his failing business and finding a new direction to take it to.
As we talked, I asked him how he is currently marketing his business, what has he done in the past, etc. His answers were almost painful to hear.
He had fallen into the trap of “I’m too busy to take care of marketing” when he had business and the revenue to support a marketing effort, and now that business is at a dead halt, he has no pipeline, no marketing experiences to fall back on and worst of all, no budget to do anything with.
His reasoning for not doing any marketing was that he took out an ad several years ago; it didn’t work, so he never did it again.
Sadly, I see this happen to so many small business owners. The idea that marketing and advertising is the same thing is an incorrect assumption.
Let’s start with some basics:
Think of marketing as an umbrella and each spoke is a slice of the marketing pie that all fits together to form a marketing strategy. Those spokes may include advertising, website, acquisition, public relations, packaging, distribution, slogans, sales promotion, pricing, sales, retention, customer service, logo, uniforms, follow ups, even how you answer your phone and the associations you belong to. The most accepted definition of marketing is soup to nuts – everything it takes to get a product or service into the hands of the end user when they are ready to buy.
Confusing marketing with advertising can be fatal and very expensive. To begin advertising without having a solid platform of what your company represents to the consumer, what your competitive benefits are, and EXACTLY who your target market is will always result in a failed advertising effort and therefore wasted dollars. Advertising is a mass form of communication used to sell your product. But it is not the only form and may not be the right platform for your business, especially if it is a specialized product or service.
Because of the high cost of advertising, it should be left to companies who have a proven business and marketing model. Why? Taking out a one time ad at a cost of $1000 is not effective. On average, it takes 3-5 touches for a consumer to make a purchase decision (if you are selling to other businesses it may take even more). If you have a $1000 budget, you are much better off running a smaller $250 ad four times. This accomplishes what is known as frequency which is the proven way to move consumers to a purchase decision.
In addition, because most small business owners do not have a marketing background, they almost always fall prey to selling features instead of benefits. Think of this example, if you told me the ingredients in a new shampoo, would I care? Most likely I couldn’t even pronounce many of them. Instead, if you told me it would make my hair healthier, shinier, cleaner, curlier, softer, etc. THEN I would be more likely to buy it because I now know what it will do for me. In other words, I know the BENEFITS.
Often I review existing or prior ads that have been used by my clients and 99% of the time I see this malady. Because they are so close to their product they know what goes into it, but not why people buy it. This is why their ads didn’t work, especially if they did just a one time placement.
Here’s a fun but powerful exercise to try for yourself:
Turn 3 features of your product or service into benefits. For example, “weights less than a pound” would be stated in all marketing and advertising as “lightweight and portable”.
Once you have the benefits down and know the right way to implement marketing and advertising, you are well on your way to creating an impactful, successful campaign that will drive revenue to your bottom line.
As we talked, I asked him how he is currently marketing his business, what has he done in the past, etc. His answers were almost painful to hear.
He had fallen into the trap of “I’m too busy to take care of marketing” when he had business and the revenue to support a marketing effort, and now that business is at a dead halt, he has no pipeline, no marketing experiences to fall back on and worst of all, no budget to do anything with.
His reasoning for not doing any marketing was that he took out an ad several years ago; it didn’t work, so he never did it again.
Sadly, I see this happen to so many small business owners. The idea that marketing and advertising is the same thing is an incorrect assumption.
Let’s start with some basics:
Think of marketing as an umbrella and each spoke is a slice of the marketing pie that all fits together to form a marketing strategy. Those spokes may include advertising, website, acquisition, public relations, packaging, distribution, slogans, sales promotion, pricing, sales, retention, customer service, logo, uniforms, follow ups, even how you answer your phone and the associations you belong to. The most accepted definition of marketing is soup to nuts – everything it takes to get a product or service into the hands of the end user when they are ready to buy.
Confusing marketing with advertising can be fatal and very expensive. To begin advertising without having a solid platform of what your company represents to the consumer, what your competitive benefits are, and EXACTLY who your target market is will always result in a failed advertising effort and therefore wasted dollars. Advertising is a mass form of communication used to sell your product. But it is not the only form and may not be the right platform for your business, especially if it is a specialized product or service.
Because of the high cost of advertising, it should be left to companies who have a proven business and marketing model. Why? Taking out a one time ad at a cost of $1000 is not effective. On average, it takes 3-5 touches for a consumer to make a purchase decision (if you are selling to other businesses it may take even more). If you have a $1000 budget, you are much better off running a smaller $250 ad four times. This accomplishes what is known as frequency which is the proven way to move consumers to a purchase decision.
In addition, because most small business owners do not have a marketing background, they almost always fall prey to selling features instead of benefits. Think of this example, if you told me the ingredients in a new shampoo, would I care? Most likely I couldn’t even pronounce many of them. Instead, if you told me it would make my hair healthier, shinier, cleaner, curlier, softer, etc. THEN I would be more likely to buy it because I now know what it will do for me. In other words, I know the BENEFITS.
Often I review existing or prior ads that have been used by my clients and 99% of the time I see this malady. Because they are so close to their product they know what goes into it, but not why people buy it. This is why their ads didn’t work, especially if they did just a one time placement.
Here’s a fun but powerful exercise to try for yourself:
Turn 3 features of your product or service into benefits. For example, “weights less than a pound” would be stated in all marketing and advertising as “lightweight and portable”.
Once you have the benefits down and know the right way to implement marketing and advertising, you are well on your way to creating an impactful, successful campaign that will drive revenue to your bottom line.
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