Creating a Tagline That Actually Communicates Something

"Empowering innovation through transformative solutions."

"Where productivity meets possibility."

"Reimagining the future of work."

These taglines say nothing. They could describe any company in any industry. Yet I see versions of them everywhere—on websites, in pitch decks, under company logos.

After developing taglines for three B2B products and analyzing hundreds more, I've learned that most taglines fail because teams optimize for sounding impressive rather than communicating clearly. They want poetry when they need clarity.

Here's how to create a tagline that actually tells people what you do.

Decide What Job Your Tagline Needs to Do

Not all taglines serve the same purpose. Be clear about yours.

Clarifying taglines explain what you are. Use these when your company name doesn't communicate your category or when you're in an emerging space buyers don't understand yet.

Example: "Stripe: Payments infrastructure for the internet"

This works because "Stripe" doesn't tell you what they do. The tagline provides essential context.

Differentiating taglines explain why you're different. Use these when the category is clear but you need to establish your unique position.

Example: "Basecamp: Project management without the chaos"

Everyone knows what project management software is. The tagline communicates their differentiated approach.

Aspirational taglines sell the vision. Use these when you're well-known and the category is obvious, so you can focus on higher-order benefits.

Example: "Salesforce: The customer success platform"

Most B2B companies need clarifying or differentiating taglines, not aspirational ones. Aspirational taglines only work when you're already established.

Start With Clarity, Not Creativity

The best taglines are clear first, clever second.

Use this formula for clarity: [What you are] for [who you serve] to [key outcome].

Examples:

• "Analytics platform for product teams to understand user behavior"
• "Sales enablement software for B2B companies to close deals faster"
• "Workflow automation for marketing teams to eliminate manual tasks"

These aren't poetic, but they're clear. A stranger understands what you do in five seconds.

Only add creativity if it doesn't sacrifice clarity. Once you have the clear version, you can refine for style:

• "Analytics platform for product teams to understand user behavior" → "User behavior analytics for product teams"
• "Sales enablement software for B2B companies to close deals faster" → "Close more deals with better sales content"

Notice the creative versions are still clear. They're not abstract or vague.

Test the five-second rule. Show your tagline to someone unfamiliar with your company for five seconds. Then ask: "What do we do?" If they can't answer, your tagline is too vague.

Creativity without clarity is just noise.

Avoid the Corporate Cliché Graveyard

Certain words and phrases instantly make taglines forgettable.

Banned words that mean nothing:

• Empower/empowering
• Transform/transformative
• Innovate/innovative
• Reimagine/reimagining
• Revolutionary/revolutionize
• Next-generation
• Cutting-edge
• World-class
• Seamless

These words are the linguistic equivalent of elevator music. They fill space without communicating anything.

Banned vague concepts:

• "The future of [category]" (everyone claims this)
• "Where X meets Y" (sounds smart, means nothing)
• "Beyond [something]" (beyond what? to where?)
• "[Adjective] solutions" (what solutions? for what?)

Instead, use concrete language:

• Instead of "transformative analytics," say "analytics that predict churn"
• Instead of "empowering sales teams," say "give sales teams the content buyers actually want"
• Instead of "the future of project management," say "project management that doesn't require a PhD"

Concrete beats abstract every time.

Make It Specific to You

A great tagline couldn't easily apply to your competitors.

Test the substitution principle. Take your tagline and replace your company name with a competitor's name. Does it still work? If yes, your tagline is too generic.

"Empowering teams to collaborate better" works for Slack, Asana, Monday, Notion, and 50 other products. It's useless.

"Where work happens" (Slack's actual tagline) is more specific. It emphasizes their vision of centralizing work communication in one place.

Include your key differentiator. What do you do differently than alternatives? Work it in.

Examples:

• "Intercom: Customer messaging that feels personal at scale" (differentiator: personal despite scale)
• "Airtable: Part spreadsheet, part database, totally flexible" (differentiator: hybrid flexibility)
• "Webflow: Build production-ready websites visually" (differentiator: visual building without code)

Your differentiator makes the tagline yours.

Keep It Short Enough to Remember

Long taglines don't get remembered or repeated.

Target 3-7 words. This is short enough to recall and repeat. Long enough to communicate something meaningful.

Too short (1-2 words): "Think Different" works for Apple because everyone knows what Apple is. Doesn't work for B2B products most people haven't heard of.

Just right (3-7 words): "Payments infrastructure for the internet" | "Project management without the chaos" | "Code review built for teams"

Too long (10+ words): "Helping enterprise teams collaborate more effectively through intelligent workflow automation and seamless integrations"—no one remembers this.

Test memorability. After someone hears your tagline once, can they recall it five minutes later? If not, it's too complex or too long.

Short doesn't mean simplistic. It means distilled.

Align Tagline to Your Positioning

Your tagline should be the compressed version of your positioning statement.

If your positioning emphasizes ease of use, your tagline should too. Example: "Zoom: Video conferencing that just works"

If your positioning emphasizes power and flexibility, reflect that. Example: "Notion: Your wiki, docs, and projects. Together."

If your positioning emphasizes a specific audience, include them. Example: "Gong: Revenue intelligence for sales teams"

Misalignment creates confusion. Your positioning says you're for enterprises, but your tagline emphasizes "simple and easy"? Pick one.

Test It in Context

Taglines don't exist in isolation. Test how they work in real use cases.

On your homepage: Does it clarify what you do in the critical first 3 seconds?

In your email signature: Does it remind people what your company does?

In a pitch: When you say "We're [company name], [tagline]," does it set up the rest of your story effectively?

On social media: Does it fit in a Twitter bio? Does it make sense without surrounding context?

In press mentions: "Company X, [tagline], announced today..." Does it read naturally?

If your tagline works in all these contexts, you've got something.

Iterate Based on Real Feedback

Your first version won't be perfect. Test and refine.

Show it to 10 people outside your company. Ask: "Based on this tagline, what do you think we do?" Their answers reveal whether you're communicating clearly.

A/B test on your homepage. Try different taglines and measure: time on page, scroll depth, click-through to product pages. Clarity drives engagement.

Listen to how sales uses it. Do they naturally include the tagline when introducing the company? Or do they skip it and use different language? If they skip it, it's not working.

Great taglines get used. If your team doesn't naturally repeat your tagline, it needs work.

When to Revisit Your Tagline

Taglines aren't permanent, but they shouldn't change frequently.

Update when your positioning changes significantly. If you shift from SMB to enterprise, or add major new capabilities that change what you are, revisit the tagline.

Update when the market evolves. If your category becomes well-understood, you might shift from a clarifying tagline to a differentiating one.

Don't update for vanity. Just because you're bored of your tagline doesn't mean it's not working. Consistency has value.

Your tagline should last 2-3 years minimum. If you're changing it annually, you're confusing the market.

The best taglines feel obvious in hindsight. They clearly communicate what you do and why it matters. They don't try to be clever at the expense of clarity. Write for understanding first, style second. That's how you create a tagline that actually works.