Practical Sales Training™ > How To Get Attention > The Tagline Effect
The Tagline Effect
What Is It
The Tagline Effect is about using a tagline to seize attention and become more memorable in the mind of the buyer. A short line, doing a big job.
Most businesses have a name and a logo. Far fewer have a line that actually sums up what they do, in a way people repeat.
That line is often what people remember long after everything else is forgotten.
Why Does It Work
It works because, as human beings, we have an 8 second attention span, and the average reading age of a nine year old, if in the UK. The need for a short, explanatory, memorable tagline to aid buyers’ understanding of your offering can’t be overstated.
Taglines exist to explain, engage, seize attention, and help your offering become more memorable. All in the space of a single sentence.
A good tagline does the job of an entire elevator pitch, but faster, and without the buyer needing to ask a single question.
How Can You Use It
Put it everywhere your brand already appears
Taglines apply to any kind of offering, and can be used alongside logos, as website headers, on business cards, or even merchandise and uniforms. If you don’t already have a tagline for your offering, you aren’t using a simple and very effective way of communicating with your clients.
Study how good taglines get built
You can find out more about taglines and how to create them at howtowriteatagline.com.
Test it out loud before you commit to it
A tagline that reads well on a page can still sound clumsy said aloud. Say it to someone unfamiliar with your business, and see if they remember it a minute later.
When It Works Best
This works best when it captures something genuinely true about your offering, not just a catchy phrase with no real connection to what you do.
It also works best when it’s used consistently everywhere your brand appears, rather than treated as a one off line for a single advert.
When It Becomes Dangerous
It backfires if the tagline is clever but meaningless. A phrase people enjoy but can’t connect to your actual offering wastes the memorable moment it creates.
It also becomes risky if it overpromises. A bold tagline that your product doesn’t back up creates a gap buyers notice fast.
Changing your tagline too often causes its own damage too, since recognition needs time and repetition to build, and constant changes reset that clock.
Common Mistakes
Being clever instead of clear
A tagline that needs explaining has already failed its own purpose. If people don’t get it instantly, it’s not doing its job.
Using it in only one place
A tagline confined to your homepage misses most of its potential. Repeat it across cards, uniforms, and packaging wherever it fits.
Copying a competitor’s tone
A tagline that sounds like everyone else’s in your industry does nothing to make you stand out. Say something only you would say.
The Tagline Effect – An Example
Urbin’s Rubbish Tagline
In this example, this company uses humour to catch your attention and be memorable, while still relating it directly to their offering. Not such a rubbish idea after all.
A waste collection company built around a simple pun works because the joke and the business are the exact same thing. Nobody needs the connection explained to them.
See also
