How Do Slogans Function?

By Eric Shafer

While national chains have their fair share of cute, catchy slogans, it can be challenging for small businesses to choose the right one. Without hours of television commercials, radio campaigns, and print advertisements, you’ll have to rethink how your customers are accessing your slogan — and what it will mean to them. Perhaps you’ll choose a pun or play on industry phrases. Maybe there’s a saying that’s been passed down for generations in your family. Either option is fine, but you’ll need strong branding in place to make sure your slogan is adequately explained. Remember that this phrase should tell your customers about your business or brand story. Entrusting this task to the right sentence is a lot of pressure, so read on for our guide to slogan best practices.

What Do Slogans Trigger?

When someone hears the jingle for their favorite fast-food chain, they’ll be triggered to think of the brand and may even start to crave it. This cycle is why companies invest in slogans as a part of branding, and they know that the right phrase can do wonders for promoting “brand familiarity.” The concept of “brand familiarity” pushes customers to choose chain restaurants over small businesses when traveling. If given a choice between a brand they are familiar with or a local diner, the majority of customers will choose what they already know. Brand familiarity also allows diverse chains to unite all of their offerings under one standardized expectation. This means that no matter who is working or owns the franchised business, the team will benefit from national branding and welcome new customers.

How Can Slogans Help Small Businesses?

Every business should always try to build brand familiarity in their community, no matter the size of their company. Slogans can help you quickly spread “brand recognition” within your town — even with customers who have never visited your business. For example, if an auto mechanic crafts the perfect slogan, they may popularize the phrase in their community. From there, even customers who have never visited them may remember the phrase and think of them the next time they need an oil change. Imagine that concept applied in every single industry, and you’ll quickly glean the importance a slogan can have for your business.

Hone In On Your Audience

When you’re deciding on your company’s slogan, you’ll need to factor in a few ideas before choosing any one phrase. As discussed, your final slogan may be shaped by your personal history with your brand or certain keywords in your industry. If you can think of a creative phrase that can situate your brand in your community, you’ll be all the closer to finding new customers. That being said, whether you’re starting from scratch or trying to decide if your slogan works, you can measure your phrasing across a few key ideas. Among them will be your “target audience.” Targeting is a critical component of any marketing campaign and is the process of determining who you want your brand to reach and where you expect to find them. For example, suppose you’re establishing a slogan for your salon. In that case, you might have to think about whether you’re trying to present your brand as an option for families, high-end services, trend watchers, or working professionals. From there, you can hone in on your target audience as precisely as you want or broaden your reach to make sure you’re appealing to every potential customer. Think about where your target audience shops, works, or plays and design a campaign that will reach them there.

Your Slogan Should Align With Your Brand

Once you know who you’re trying to market towards, you have to ensure that your slogan aligns with your brand’s “voice.” This voice will be determined by the content you use to describe your services on any platform and how you tell your brand’s story. Remember that your brand’s story is the core force pushing your company forward and can only be decided by you, the business owner. This story is a way by which you can tell customers why you opened your business and what you hope to achieve with it. It should also tell them about your brand’s values, and your slogan should quickly get these across. This is part of why the wording of your slogan is so important. Do you wish to highlight fast, convenient services? Or do you want to show off the endearing family values that power your restaurant?

How to Choose Your Slogan

After honing in on your audience, brand story, and values, it’s finally time to choose your slogan. Remember that the most effective phrasings are short and will communicate your message in one quick swoop. While your slogan has some heavy lifting to perform, in terms of balancing your brand’s voice, values, and audience, it also needs to be easy to understand. Try to focus on choosing strong, branded terms to get your message across quickly. This may mean choosing a slogan that is specific to your company’s services, cuisine, products, or mission. This may sound like a lot of pressure but imagine phrases like “when you’re here, you’re home” or “home of the 10-minute oil change.” These phrases get their point across immediately and incentivize a particular type of service.

How To Get Your Slogan Out Into Your Community

As mentioned, one of the most important parts of marketing is targeting. One platform that will always reach customers is grocery store advertising. Because grocery stores often pull their customers in from a three-mile radius of the store, grocery store advertising can promise hyper-local targeting. Then, with campaigns like coupon-receipt advertising, your supermarket advertisement can go home in the pocket of every single customer. By printing your ads on the backs of grocery store register tape, you can trust grocery store advertising to get your slogan out and into the heart of your community.

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