A great tagline distills your brand promise into a few unforgettable words. In 2025—when attention is scarce—clarity and distinctiveness win. Here’s a simple framework:
- Who do you help?
- What outcome do you create?
- Why is it different or better?
Examples
- Stripe: “Payments infrastructure for the internet”
- Notion: “All-in-one workspace”
- DSNOUSE (example): “Design with purpose”
Quick checklist
- Is it clear in under 3 seconds?
- Could a competitor say the same thing?
- Does it reflect your brand’s personality?
If you need help crafting a tagline that fits your voice and market, we can help you test options quickly.
A practical 3-step framework
- Audience: Who exactly are you speaking to? Niche > generic.
- Outcome: What result do they get? Make it tangible.
- Differentiator: Why you? Point to the unique mechanism or POV.
Turn that into a single line using this prompt:
- "For [audience], we [outcome] by [differentiator]."
Examples:
- For B2B startups, we turn complex products into clear brands by shipping fast, research-backed design.
- For ecommerce founders, we grow AOV with conversion-first UX and purposeful brand systems.
Tagline archetypes (with templates)
- Outcome-first: “Get [result] without [pain]”
- Category leader: “[Category] done right” / “The [superlative] way to [verb]”
- Mission/creed: “Design with purpose”
- Mechanism-led: “Brand clarity through rapid sprints”
- Contrast: “Serious design. Zero fluff.”
Use and adapt:
- “Clarity that converts.”
- “Brand systems that scale.”
- “From chaos to clear.”
20-minute workshop exercise
- List 3 audiences, 3 outcomes, 3 differentiators.
- Combine into 10 rough lines. Don’t self-edit.
- Read aloud. Remove filler words.
- Pressure-test with 3 customers. Ask: “What do you think this means?”
How to test quickly (≤48h)
- Homepage hero A/B: Swap H1 only. Measure CTR to primary CTA.
- Ad headline test: 3 variants, same creative. Measure CPC and CTR.
- Email subject line: Same body, 3 subject variants. Measure open rate.
- Qual feedback: 5 customer calls; ask them to paraphrase the line.
Success metrics to track:
- +10–20% hero CTA CTR
- +5–10% email opens
- Lower CPC with same targeting
Common mistakes to avoid
- Vague superlatives: “innovative”, “world-class”, “cutting-edge”.
- Inside jargon: if a CFO can’t get it in 3 seconds, it’s not clear.
- Copycat phrasing: if a competitor can say it, it’s not yours.
Mini creative brief (copy/paste)
- Audience:
- Primary outcome:
- One-line differentiator:
- Tone (pick two): Bold / Precise / Human / Technical / Playful / Serious
- Constraints: ≤6 words, no jargon, no punctuation flair
When to keep vs. change your tagline
- Keep: If it’s clear, distinct, and supports positioning.
- Change: If category or audience shifted, or it’s testing weak on CTR/recall.
Quick before/after (real-world style)
Before (vague): "Powering digital transformation"
After (clear): "Launch apps 3x faster with managed Kubernetes"
Before (generic): "Design that delivers"
After (distinct): "Serious design. Zero fluff."
Why the after wins: specific outcome, unique POV, clearer memory hooks.
Tone adaptations (same idea, different brand voice)
- Bold: "Clarity that converts."
- Precise: "Conversion-focused brand clarity."
- Human: "Make your message make sense."
- Technical: "De-jargonized positioning for faster adoption."
Use the two-tone rule (pick two adjectives) to keep voice consistent.
Ideal length and structure
- 3–6 words for recall; up to 8 if highly specific.
- Prefer concrete nouns/verbs; avoid abstract filler.
- Test without the logo—does it stand on its own?
Where to use your tagline (and how)
- Homepage hero (H1 or support line)
- Social headers and pinned posts
- Sales deck cover and closing slides
- Ad headlines (with 1 variant per audience)
- Email signatures and proposals
Pair with one supporting subhead that answers “How?” in one sentence.
Implementation checklist (one week)
- Draft 10 variants using Audience/Outcome/Differentiator.
- Shortlist 3 with team feedback (no more than 10 minutes).
- Run A/B on hero for 48h; run ad headline test in parallel.
- Customer sanity-check (5 calls; ask them to paraphrase).
- Ship the winner with usage guidelines (do/don’t, tone, placement).
If you want help running this in a 1-week sprint, DSNOUSE can generate 10 on-brand options, test them with customers, and ship final copy with usage guidelines.