Viguerie’s BLOG: TAGLINE (continued)

Post #6

November 25th, 2024

Dear Conservative Leader/Activist,

Why have I devoted four blog posts to something few people in marketing/communication ever think about? (And the few who do usually get it wrong.)

While a tagline is not “officially” part of the Four Horsemen^®, it probably should be.

As Kathleen Patten, our company’s president and CEO, says, “If your tagline can be accurately used by another in your market, throw it away, keep thinking, keep writing until you have a tagline that works only for you.”

A tagline is not, “We’re the best,” “We’re better,” or “We accomplish more for less.”

Most ideological nonprofits do not have a name that identifies them as being on the right, left, or in the middle. How are people supposed to know if they agree with you or not unless they spend 5–10 minutes reading? And trust me, that seldom happens.

By the way, in a postal mailing, put the tagline in numerous places where it’s most likely to be seen, including under the name of the organization, the bottom of the first page, the bottom of the last page, on the reply form, and any inserts.

The problem is even greater with a candidate for public office than with a business or organization, because most candidate names tell you nothing about their position on the issues, their values, opinions, beliefs, goals, etc.

Think of a tagline as the tail of an airplane. Just because it’s at the end of the plane and doesn’t get as much attention as the front or interior, doesn’t mean it’s not vitally important.

Without the tail of an airplane, it’s not going to get airborne, much less fly at 30,000 feet. The same with your nonprofit. Without a good tagline, your wonderful marketing campaign may not get off the ground.