Crafting Your Online Presence: The Importance of a Tagline
For those of us who spend hundreds of hours on our businesses each month, the
task of summing up "what we do" in one sentence can be daunting. Most of us would rather write a 5 page Executive Summary than have to potentially edit our companies down to 5-10 words followed by a period.
It became glaringly apparent to me that OttoPilot's online presence and vision needed a sentence when I witnessed numerous friends trying to explain what OttoPilot does to other people and how they struggle.
We are still putting together those 5-10 perfect words. Hell, for now I would even take 5-10 good words as a start.
One company that stands out as a best in class "one sentence creator" is one of my favorite charities, charity:water. I remembered the information from the first time I heard it:
"$100 buys clean drinking water for 5 people for 20 years."
This description is
- Simple. It's about the mission and uses easy numbers. (it's not $97 buys clean drinking water for 4.25 people for 29 years).
- Impactful. In one sentence, charity:water summed up what my small donation of $100 would mean in 5 people's lives for 20 years.
- Sticky. In the book Made to Stick, the Heath Brothers talk about how a story is much stickier than just unrelatable statistics. This one sentence from charity:water enables us to instantly visualize what the money is providing and how little money goes such a long way.
When you do come up with that one simple, impactful, and sticky sentence, make sure that you use it throughout all of your materials. Your online presence and online marketing will thank you for making their lives easier.
What "one liners" have you noticed are really strong in conveying a company's message? Add them in the comments!
