Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

Dear Nicolette,

Given the nature of your niché, you might want to think about playing up the health aspect of the product lines you're offering, particularly with regard to their connection to your tag line.

I'm suggesting you consider this because every word or term has a certain amount of ... er ... "baggage" attached to it.

I'm also suggesting you consider this because often, a tag line or slogan contains a vivid and long-lasting mental anchor that—if it's done right—can be difficult to dislodge from the mind.

And if it's done wrong?

Well, that can also be difficult to dislodge from the mind—but for all the wrong reasons.

Could it be that the terms in your question sound almost medical in nature to your prospective audience? To make sense of this you must put yourself in their shoes and detach from the personal for a moment.

Nicolette, as nice a person as I know you are, this isn't about you dearie. It's not about you and what you want and like, it's about the things that appeal to your audience.

Why?

Because they are the ones who will be giving you money. So in order to connect with them, you must address their concerns, their wants, needs, desires, and aspirations. You must be the cure for what ails them. You must be the salve for that which makes them itch. In this regard, your tag line does a great deal of the heavy lifting for you. Or, the tag line can snap and the whole message can fall flat because the tag line wasn't doing its job.

Does this make sense?

For what it's worth, it's my considered opinion that any marketer who ignores these rules is heading for a fall. Perhaps not now, or even next week. But soon. And from a great height.

You, my dear, you must not be one of these buffoons. You must be a smart, savvy marketer.

When you write down the words "gluten free, low GI, dairy free, immune boost" don't just look at them as words or terms. Ask instead what emotions each word or term summons up, then contrast these emotions with the almost opposite emotions summoned up by the terms "healthy, flavorful, nutritious, health conscious, outward bound."

Do you see the difference?

If you need help with this, ask a few friends to read your list and to write down the first words that spring to mind for each term or word that's a tag line possible. The results might surprise you.

Way too many marketers pay scant if any attention to their use of primary copy words, but the truth is, when it comes to anchoring key elements of any given marketing message, these words are astoundingly important. I know this because I've fallen foul of this rule myself—with dire peril as a result—and once learned it's a tough lesson to unlearn, which in many ways, is a good thing.

So, with this said, how about:

"Nutritious snacks for outward bound individuals!"

"Health-conscious snacks for health-conscious individuals!"

... or some variation thereof.

And as for the name? You may want to do further keyword research on the positive emotion-based words connected with your niche. A swift keyword search using Google's Adword's keyword tool:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

reveals that the search term "healthy snacks" pulled in 165,000 searches in May alone (that works out at 1,980,000 searches per year for just that one search term!).

Having popular keywords in one's domain name as part of one's business name (or tag line) can do a great deal to increase one's search engine rankings.

Why? Because of their search relevance.

Search engines hunt for words that people are searching for.
What does this mean for you and your business name? It means you may need to think more about the search terms your site users will be searching for.

Which terms seem like better bets?

Select Pantry Gifts?

Or

Healthy Snacks?

How can you know which domain name is likely to pull a better response rate? By buying multiple domain names and testing them!

Now, this might sound like more expense, but hear me out.

What makes more sense? To buy one domain name and find it offers little or poor result in terms of traffic generation because—as much as it might appeal to you, it's not search engine or Internet user friendly due to few people if any actively looking for it?

Or to buy three or four domain names and to launch your site (identical in every way) on each name and wait 30 days or so to see which site pulls the higher amount of traffic based solely on its domain name?

At the end of your test you'll have a better idea of traffic based on domain name and you'll only have invested the $10 - $20 it's cost you to buy the extra domain names (which you can park, or sell on and recoup your investment).

That $10 - $20 spent now could pay off in a major way six months from now if search terms are not working in your favour (and no, that's not a typo. At least, not where i come from. I spell favour with a "u" because I'm British!).

I've found three domain names that tie in with your niche that may be worth further investigation. Rather than share them here (and risk losing them, because they are all currently available) I shall e-mail them to you [what fun!] and you can then do with them what you will.

Sound fair?

Splendid! But alas, it will have to wait until tomorrow morning because it's 11:40 p.m. and bedtime for Bonzo!

But good lord! We've bounced from tag lines to names to SEO and domain names and heaven knows what else and personally? I'm exhausted.

So, until tomorrow and my e-mail with domain name suggestions, I hope this has helped and I wish you all the best with your new venture. Truly I do.

Enjoy your July 4th weekend :)

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

"Select Pantry Gifts" doesn't tell me enough about what you're offering. Gifts - yes, but what's a pantry gift?

Why not simply, "Healthy Gourmet Gifts"? That includes gourmet/healthy as benefits to the gifts.

As for a tagline: Tasty Treats That Are Also Good For You.