When people land on your site, they’re more than likely looking for guidance and some kind of understanding as to how they can interact with you.  They want to know who you are, what you’re about, how you can help them, etc.

That’s what your tagline is all about.  There’s just as much marketing oomf in a website tagline as there is in an entire article that talks up your business.  That tagline is a statement from the go that delivers the promise of bigger, better things.  It paints the big picture for visitors.

It also needs to hit it’s mark in a matter of seconds.

“1,000 songs in your pocket.”

That sounds like a good idea.  The concept is great, and that tells a big story in just a few words.  It doesn’t matter if you recognize the origin of the tagline, because you know exactly what you’re getting when you read it.  You’re getting a thousands songs in your pocket.  How they get there isn’t relevant, and you really don’t care the whither to’s and why for’s.  You just know at a glance that you’re going to get a ton of music in a small package that goes with you.

That’s a smart tagline that works.  Apple thought so, that’s why they used it for a marketing campaign that put them on a fast track to success with the ipod.

Unfortunately not all companies make the most of the tagline and they leave a big gaping hole where potential just kind of leaks out and drips all over the floor in a very anti-climactic fashion.  Take a look around and you’ll see a lot of tag lines like this:

“Innovative solutions for tomorrow”

That doesn’t really inspire a lot when you read it.  Yeah, you know you’re getting innovative solutions, but what are the solutions?   …and what makes them innovative?  I imagine the solutions are solving a problem but… what problem?  Do I have this problem?  Does this even relate to me?

Most people wouldn’t be able to establish relevancy with this kind of message so they do what everyone else does – they move on and find someone that they can connect with.  Hell, most of us don’t see anything wrong with our future, what we need is an innovative solution right now – not later.

Like a thousands songs in my pocket, because I’m going to the Gym today and need some music.

If you aren’t able to deliver a powerful and meaningful message in a handful of words to your target audience then you certainly aren’t going to pull it off in your site content or within your content marketing off-site.  You’re just going to miss the target.  You can’t just depend on curiosity alone.  You need to make it clear to people what you can do for them, from your content marketing clear through the sales funnel all the way to the end – that includes your tag line.

You have to avoid being “full of yourself”.  Not in an egotistical sense, but in the sense that your customers may not know anything about you.  It’s easy to forget that someone coming to your site knows nothing about who you are.  Business owners often market themselves with content and taglines that seem perfect for them because they understand it.  Those same taglines come off as really vague to someone who knows nothing about your company.

Think from the shoes of the customer who knows nothing.  Present them with clear concise information that instantly lets them know what they’re getting themselves into.  Try to tease them with some clever mystery in hopes of generating interest from curiosity and they will leave.

They have problems and they want solutions now.  Not tomorrow.

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