“What’s Your Massage Tagline?”
“Nothing Can Stop A Trane”.
That’s what I read this morning on the side of a big white truck, as I was pulling out of the health club parking lot.
“What the heck does that mean”, I thought to myself.
“What are they selling?”
Luckily, I was able to catch a glimpse of the company name also on the side of truck.
“Tod’s Air Conditioning”
How ironic… just one ‘d’ off from my first name, Todd.
As the truck pulled out in front of me, I sat there for a few minutes thinking, “Hmmmm, maybe Trane is the type of air conditioner they install. Maybe it’s the certification company behind their staff. Maybe it’s the tools or machine they use to fix people’s air conditioner. Or, maybe it’s the name of their parent company or something.”
It wasn’t until many hours later that I found out what they meant by “Trane”, when… like the computer nerd I am… I went online and Google’d it.
Fact of the matter is, how many people who see that truck, do you think actually take the time to find out what their tagline means by going online and doing some research?
What do you think… uhhh…. maybe… NONE!
(With the exception of the token person like me who has an insane passion for marketing.)
So, what’s that mean exactly to the company with the tagline?
Well,that unless someone’s an air conditioning insider, they’re not going to have a clue what that tagline is supposed to mean to them, so the company’s hard-earned advertising dollars are completely wasted.
It’s a mistake soooo many companies and professionals make in their marketing, massage therapists included.
They make the mistake of trying to be cute in their marketing instead of trying to be compelling.
Rule #1 with your marketing: It’s better to be compelling and benefit-driven than it is just to be cute simply for cuteness sake.
Personally, I think this idea of crafting a memorable tagline has it’s roots in the brand advertising approach of many of the Fortune 500 companies.
Therapists see the way lots of big companies have these neat little cutesy taglines, and they follow in their footsteps with the creation of a similar-style tagline for their practice.
Unfortunately, what most therapists don’t understand is that those big Fortune 500 companies have a different aim and objective with their advertising than that of the typical therapist.
While the average massage therapist wants a response from their marketing (i.e. new clients), the big companies are using these taglines in their advertising, NOT because they want response, but because they’re after brand recognition.
Funny thing is, most of the time, marketing research shows that even though we remember lots of taglines, we don’t always remember the company who it belongs to.
Not only that, but, in many marketing studies, results show that even on the occasion that we do remember the company the tagline belongs to, we don’t necessairly purchase any of their products or services, and certainly not MORE products or services because of the tagline.
So, when using a cute, memorable tagline, companies may get some additional “recognition”, but they don’t necessarily generate additional customers or sales.
Meanwhile, that’s the entire point of your marketing, at least for the small size company, like the typical massage practice.
Everything you include in your advertising, should increase the response you’re aiming for (i.e. generate you more leads, more new clients, more referrals, etc.).
So, how do you do that with your tagline, if you’re using one?
Well, for one, don’t try to come up with a tagline that people will remember.
Instead, come up with a tagline for your practice that conveys a big promise and desired benefit to your target market.
In other words, if you’re going to use a tagline, use a tagline that states the big unique benefit prospective clients are going to get with you that they won’t get anywhere else.
Give prospective clients a powerful reason, in your tagline, to choose your practice for their bodywork needs.
Be crystal clear in what clients get with you that they don’t elsewhere.
When in doubt, say it like it is.
Again, it’s always better to be clear and concise, than it is to try and be cute, and lose the clarity of your message.
Always remember, your goal when using a tagline is to make bodywork WITH YOU more enticing, more interesting, more beneficial, and more unique.
Returning, quickly, to our earlier example, here are three ways the air conditioning company could have improved significantly on their “Nothing Stops A Trane” tagline:
“The Only Air Conditioning Unit You Never Have To Worry About”
“An Air Conditioning Unit Designed To Continually Give You Cool Air While Conserving Your Home’s Energy!”
“The Only Air Conditioning Unit From One Of Fortune Magazines List Of Most Admired Companies”
Now, think about how you can improve on your massage practice’s tagline.
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To master the art of creating a compelling tagline for your massage practice… one that makes your massage practice stand out from all of the others, CLICK HERE
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March 26th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Todd, I can’t believe you’ve never seen or heard a Trane air conditioning commercial. There entire commercial is about their efficiency, reliability, rating and warranty, and then they end EVERY commercial with “Nothing stops a Trane.” I quit watching TV almost six years ago and I still remember their commercials!
You are abolutely right about large companies having a different purpose (branding) in their tagline (and often most of their advertising). For Trane’s purpose the tagline is more effective than your suggestions because it is short and memorable, even if it doesn’t necessarily say much, it does bring to the minds of those who have seen or heard their ads recollection of all their best qualities.
I couldn’t agree with you more though, that as massage therapists our advertising is not so much about branding as it is about achieving more leads, more referrals and more clients. We need to stand out as unique from other therapists NOW not overall or down the road at the end of our careers, which is going to take much more than a cute tagline.
I appreciate all that you do to help us be more effective. Keep up the good work.
March 8th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Todd,
when I first opened my own clinic, I was wanting to state my purpose of my clinic to all that found my service. I didn’t want some fuzzy, cutesy name or the typical generic name like many come up with. my goal was to stand out from the crowd no matter how weird my clinic name was. in my area it is rare to find anyone that knows what Neuromuscular Therapy is or what it can do for people. most therapists try to call it “deep tissue”. but I learned in school that NMT is NOTHING LIKE Deep Tissue massage! it has a different intent. My family, especially my parents, thought I was nuts calling it The NeuroMuscular Junction. they thought that no one would know what I provided. they were right to a degree. but my goal was to EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE!
one of my first taglines was “Maintain Your Function @ The Junction!” of course it has a double meaning. one can maintain their health & function at my place, but also in the neuromuscular Junction in their body. the exact reason I named my place that!
the name is now starting to pay off. with the increased let down of lack of results of patients getting physical therapy for pain, also lack of results from using chiropractic ALONE! DON’T GET ME WRONG, I FULLY believe in chiropractic as a fitting puzzle piece to Neuromuscular Therapy! but people I talk to are Not seeing results because they are not using the methods together! I also know that physical therapy has its place and importance too. it is just being used in the wrong order in rehabilitation! mainly because doctors are not aware of st. john neuromuscular Therapy, so they do not refer patients. patients are forced to look for alternatives on their own.
you would be proud of me. although I have seen a dip in appointments from last year (2008 was actually good for me) I am seeing a consistent rise this year month after month of hits to my website statz. my research into key phrases and key words lately as well as my consistent daily effort to find new websites to post on.
Kevin
May 3rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Kevin,
that is great. I practice St. John’s Neuromuscular deep massage. My business is rolling. I have never created a we-site. Do you have suggestions on the creation of one and to whom to do that.
Judy
Ogden, utah
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To Judy Smith in Utah,
Sorry, a bit of a late answer, in my defense, I ONLY JUST SAW IT TODAY! But anyhow. I designed my own web site using my host’s editor, which is pretty simplistic, but that’s all I need for now. very easy to create new pages that are formatted for me.
You need to find a reliable host that is affordable for you. Do NOT set up your main site on a FREE page site. You want to look as professional as possible. I make my own web site, because most web designers will limit how many pages they will make for you for a certain price. I like to change things up frequently. This would be costly.
Another thing you should do is get an ONLINE SCHEDULER service. the one I use is very INEXPENSIVE around $10/month I have seen others that are 3x that and don’t offer the flexibility I have with mine. go here: http://www.web-appointments.com/?pc=NMJWC&co=y you can even just use this as a stand-in web site till you get a real one. it will allow your clients to book you 24/7 even when you can’t answer the phone to schedule them in. You can set up UNLIMITED services and use Paypal to take deposits to prevent no-shows or last minute cancellations.
Make sure you use very important keywords of what and who you want to work with. athletes, chronic pain issues, etc. This is key to getting seen. Also, set up a FREE profile on Google Places aka Local Business Listings. I find the majority of those I ask how they found me was through google search of typing out what they are looking for and the area they are looking in. include all local major towns around your area as well as the little local towns.
June 25th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
about setting up on free web site hosts: you can set up satellite web sites on free web sites so you get more exposure. Make sure to link all your sites to each other. but make sure your original main site is NOT on a free site that has advertising you can’t control.
and don’t center all of your lines. it’s a sure fire way to look amateurish.
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