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Some call them "tag lines"; others refer to them as "catch lines"
or "tie-in-slogans." Whatever the words used to refer to them, they
are perhaps the most important part of your promotional writing.
Do you recognize any of these ? :
"Like a rock..."
"Fly the friendly skies..."
"It's the real thing !"
"Quality is job number one"
"The quicker-picker-upper"
Most of those tag lines are recognizable by us without even including the name
of the company or product.
They summarize in a very few words the essence of the thing they are promoting.
They communicate a good, positive feeling or relationship to the product. They
do it with a simple, rememberable phrase that is easily repeated.
The shorter the description is, the more challenging it is to write. Anyone
can write a 500-word description of a product or service. Now try doing it with
5 to 10 words ! Each word you choose is very important to the message.
HERE ARE SOME TIPS for writing good taglines for your business offer.
1) Start by noticing ads on billboards as you drive down the road. Billboard
advertisers have but a couple of seconds to grab your attention and sell their
product or service. Usually their copy is going to be a very good tagline with
a picture of the product or service. These are great examples of how to write
effective taglines.
2) Notice other media forms like magazine and newspaper display ads, business
cards, brief radio and TV commercials. Observe the thing that caught your attention
and makes the message easily remembered. It's usually a concise and well-written
tagline.
3) Write down everything you can think of that relates to your business. You
may even start with a narrative description in paragraph form.
4) Now, make a list of the top 25 or 30 things that are important and worth
mentioning. Whittle that list down to 8 or 10 of the most important things you
wish to say. Now eliminate repetition or things that are not really that necessary
to your product or service. Get your list of words or phrases down to 3 or 4
central elements.
5) Based on your final core selection, make up some phrases that will serve
as your taglines for consideration. Keep them short and use simple, everyday
language.
Which of these taglines would you remember best ? :
*******************
"Joe's auto repair shop, the lowest-prices and the best service"
OR
"Quality Care For Your Car !"
*******************
"The Best Tax Service Anywhere Around The Town !"
OR
"Your Tax Experts At Work !"
******************
"Emergengy ambulance service available 24-hours a day"
OR
"When Minutes Count!"
******************
Well, you get the idea!
Do some test marketing with your final two or three best taglines. Discover
the one that works best for you and incoporate it into all of your promotional
messages.
Remember, like any of life's endeavors, experience and practice help to improve
your skills level. If you want to be a good writer, write a lot !
Best of luck in your promotional efforts !
Larry Johnson, Author
(C) 1999-2001, All Rights Reserved.
Copy of article available for reprint at:
mailto:Taglines@freeautobot.com
Article may be reprinted with permission by including the following resource
box:
====================================
Biz Site Biz E-zine Gives you powerful weekly tips and concepts for marketing
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====================================
About the Author:
Larry Johnson is a webmaster and publisher with several years online experience.
His background is in education, radio and TV production. He is nationally published
in Home Business Magazine. Each week he publishes the Biz Site Biz Ezine which
is now in it's fourth year of publication. |
