Most business owners I've found have a fear of marketing, much less branding. Most people do not realize or understand the importance of branding. Branding matters, messages matter, & tag-lines are something that can have a huge effect on you business. A successful tagline's lifetime is almost infinite. The only time a tagline would need to be changed is if there are pressing reasons to change the core message. There can be reasons, for example if there's a change in your company's focus, or the competitive environment in which you work; then you'd need to change your tagline. Although ideally you would never want to change your tagline.(that will only confuse people) If you must change, change only your "Image" to help consumers meet where you are today. As challenging as it is to create a strong tagline, it's all too easy to craft one that fails. NEVER be generic. Remember, your brand in general and your tagline, almost more than any other piece, should be as specific and emotive as possible to highlight the connection between an individual and your business. Generic language is deadly! Your tagline should show the value of your business. Your marketing should never raises more questions than the answer. Do NOT be generic. Be specific and distinguish your company from the others. Never indulge in or plan uneasiness. Avoid introducing ambiguity into your branding. Avoid poor word choices. Only use ONE tagline at a time!! The best way to confuse and alienate your audiences is to send out multiple messages at the same time. Unless consumers are hearing consistent messaging from your business, they are not going to recognize you in an instant.
To be honest that is all you truly have. You have an instant to attract & keep their attention. It's imperative your message has a generalized positioning value. If your message doesn't have positioning value, if it is just a descriptor, it is a waste. That is really key, the most important "do." You want to make sure you make your tagline broadly accessible and memorable, avoiding jargon and acronyms. Make sure you can be recognized at a glance, that your company is memorable. What is it that is so important that people want to repeat it and that they can not stop thinking about. You ultimately want your company to be seated not only in the brain, but in the heart of your consumers.
