From the monthly archives:

May 2009

Copywriting: 4 Tips For Crafting an Effective Tagline

by brianlburns on 31 May 2009

in perfection, taglines

Taglines are often the most important piece of copy most companies write. They’re often the most difficult, as well. Taglines have to be both short and sweet, clearly and succinctly communicating your brand statement. Just because taglines are only a few words long, doesn’t mean they don’t require lots of work.

If you want to make the work worth the time, and want to get the most out of your tagline, here are some of my tips.

1. Do your prep work. To me, taglines are a shortened version of your about page. To write one effectively I start with the page, narrow it down to a paragraph, then to a sentence, and eventually to a carefully-crafted tagline. Trying to go right to the last step, without doing the work to uncover the ideas your tagline has to convey, will only get you right back to where you started.

2. Write out your options. Sometimes, you can catch lightning in a bottle, and come up with the right tagline on the first try. More times than not, however, it will take many options and much revising. I advise you start with 5-10 different ideas, picking out pieces you like of each, and working your way toward a final version over 2-3 edits. Plus, you never know what will happen when you start jotting ideas down onto paper… sometimes lightning strikes when you least expect.

3. Speak your options out loud. To me, the effectiveness of a tagline is as much a matter of sound, flow and feel as it is of meaning. I’m not suggesting you abandon ideas, here, or slack in picking the words that work best for your brand. I’m just saying that you also have to pay attention to how those words sound. Read your tagline options out loud, selecting parts you like by how they resonate with you.

4. Find a fun voice. I think there are a lot of bad taglines out there. Almost all of them are single sentences, blandly rehashing a value statement. Like: “Example Dentistry: Let us help you find your best smile.” Instead of this approach, I recommend finding some more exciting way to make the same point. My favorite is adding a period into the middle of a tagline (”Your Smile. Improved”), but each situation and company calls for a slightly different tool.

And lastly, be prepared to let your tagline go. As I’ve hoped I communicated here, taglines are serious business. They take effort to get right, and can help determine the success of a company in their own way. However, I’d also like to caution you against trying too hard creating your tagline. Do your best, put in the effort, strive for perfection, then stop with a final product before you’ve gone too far (and broken the flow that’s so necessary). Easy enough.

YOUR INPUT: Anything you think I’ve gotten wrong here, or that you discovered just by reading this post? Does anyone think I’m overstating the importance of taglines?

Also — I’ve just added tagline writing to my services page, with a set process  and set price. I’m not yet sure how it’ll work… but I’m curious what your thoughts are. Click here to check it out. 

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Avoiding The Social Media Guru-Complex

by brianlburns on 5 May 2009

in guru complex, social media

Social Media offers many benefits to many different businesses. It can help you build your reputation, attract potential customers, and communicate with your clients. Smart businesspeople everywhere are piling onto networks like Facebook and Twitter, trying to get their piece of the pie, and realize these benefits; in an increasingly-crowded and noisy market, there are a lot of people trying to find their way. Guiding them to do it — the art of social media consulting — is fast becoming a growth market.

Like any growth market though, social media consulting is attracting its share of idiots. They’re easy to spot, if you look at the title. Many are self-proclaimed experts, gurus, or mavens. However, in their ignorance, by self-proclaiming such a title, these “consultants” are giving themselves away. The fact is that proper social media marketing, if you can call it that, hinges on interaction. The biggest benefit businesses will get is from participating in two-way conversations with their customers. It’s the gradual back-and-forth that will grow your brand over time, as well as improve its visibility. Andrew Hyde wrote a decent post about this the other day.

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This being the case, any expert or guru title is oxymoronic. It’s like talking about how great you are at listening. It’s like going to a party, climbing up on the couch, and announcing that you’re the best qualified person in the room to have a conversation. And also that everyone else is inferior at the act, because they don’t hold the right credentials or skills. Pretty ridiculous. But more times than even I expect, this very approach is used.

Consultants using this approach may have short term success, but their lack of focus on interaction will stunt any real benefits from their efforts. Over time, their clients will become wise to the trickery, and seek out someone taking a more sustainable approach. Consultants who get it, and who avoid the social media guru complex, will enjoy better long-term success, better serve their clients, and better contribute to the growing social media landscape many of us treasure.

If you’re looking to get into social media consulting, please avoid the guru complex. If you’re looking for someone to help with social media, do your due diligence, ask around, and select someone who does it right. It’s worth it.

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