Coaching Taglines that Titillate

Want to spice up your coaching brand? Need to communicate how you’re different from other coaches? Not sure how to go about communicating your competitive advantage? Using a tagline can be a great way to explain how your coaching practice can benefit your ideal clients while also helping to define your coaching brand.

What is a tagline?
It’s a short positioning phrase or slogan that serves to explain what a company does for its clients. It can be considered a branding tool or a marketing angle that can help coaches attract the audience they most want to work with.

Back in the days of advertising agencies like those portrayed in the TV show Mad Men, taglines were called slogans. These days, they are also known as benefit statements or positioning statements. This post will help you understand tagline concepts as well as provide tips on getting the most out this branding concept so that you can apply it to your coaching business.

Positioning
Have you ever noticed how a slogan can completely change a brand? Often, a business name is not enough to tell prospective clients what they need to know in order to make a hiring decision. When a business name is accompanied by a tagline, it can complete the brand and help to sell your services.

Here’s a company name without a slogan: Excellence Coaching.

This company could specialize in almost any type of coaching. It’s unclear whether there is any focus or expertise in a specific area.

Here’s the same company name with a slogan: Excellence Coaching, Helping Leaders Shine

Now it’s apparent that the firm coaches leaders and helps them become the best they can be.

Evolution
Slogans are used for various reasons. Some serve to motivate. Others serve to explain. The best slogans are those that are short, to the point and help to highlight the benefits of hiring your firm. Yet your slogan can evolve as your skills grow.

When I began my coaching career in 2004, my tagline was very simple. I was coaching anyone who walked in the door and thus my slogan was suitable for the masses. But as I changed strategic direction, my tagline changed as well.

I found that as my coaching skills became more sophisticated, the clients I most wanted to work with became more targeted. My branding evolved as I changed. I’ve changed my slogan several times now yet my evolution is still ongoing.

What is the optimal length of a tagline?
My personal opinion is that a slogan loses its appeal after seven or eight words. Think about the typical attention span in this day and age. With our focus on the Internet, smart phones, and getting information quickly, a slogan needs to be concise. If it’s too wordy, we lose attention; so keeping it short is the key.

Varieties
There are several types of taglines suitable for professional coaches. Deciding your approach hinges on what you want to convey. Are you in the early stages of coaching? Do you specialize in a subject-matter niche that you want to highlight? Do you serve a specific industry or profession?

Benefits of a good coaching tagline:

• Set yourself apart from other coaches.
• Define your client experience.
• Elicit strong emotions about the work you do.
• Paint a picture of your brand personality.
• Tell prospective clients what they will achieve by working with you.

Here are a few sample coaching slogans:

• Wellness: Improving Health * Improving Life
• Future-focused: Building a Better Life
• Right-brained: Create the Life You Love
• Abundance: Turning Purpose Into Prosperity
• Learning: Growing Skills * Achieving Happiness
• Motivational: Just Live Your Best Life!
• Inspirational: Growing Your Dreams

Here are coaching taglines that target a niche client:

• Leadership coaching for women: Inspiring Women to Lead
• Business coaching for financial advisors: Helping Financial Advisors Build Wealth
• Coaching for business owners: Get Your Business Edge

What do you do with a tagline?
Finish off your business card by putting your slogan somewhere near your company name on the front of the card.
Use it in your website banner to allude to the benefit clients will receive from working with your coaching firm.
Say it on your voicemail message and send visitors to your website.
Use it on your brochure to reinforce your brand.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using a positioning statement in your coaching practice. Imagine the excitement you can create by going deeper into the benefits your clients can receive from working with you. Think about the possibilities!