Why and how to be more memorable is the goal of all marketing and personal branding activities. Whether applied to companies, brands, leaders or career professionals, the same focus and success elements apply.
It’s not always easy to stand out, differentiate and be remembered in saturated digital channels and LinkedIn.
But the opportunities to grab a chunk of the memorability pie are available for everyone who is willing and brave.
In this article I discuss 2 very powerful tools to elevate personal and business brand memorability is a great tagline and LinkedIn banner. Both share 3 general elements to consider in creating them :
ALIGNED: On brand. Representative to the business, profession, values, goals
UNIQUE: Original, tailored, show personality, be creative – not a carbon copy of others
INSPIRING: Creates desire to learn more. Delivers a feeling of ‘that’s my tribe’
TAGLINES
First up, a tagline is not just for the big end of town companies and brands. Every size business, or self employed person should create and use one to stand out.
Yet I estimate less than 30% of SME’s have one. And that is a real pity and missed opportunity.
Nothing beats an inspirational and aspirational tagline to set your personal brand and business apart in competitive markets. And a powerful tagline will boost all marketing actions and self confidence no end.
The sense of pride and motivation to deliver on that vision and mission cannot be under-estimated. It just feels good!
They are also powerful for leaders and professionals to differentiate their values and career. Include them on your CV, LinkedIn, cover letters, email signatures to be memorable.
My own business tagline is ‘DARE to step up and stand out‘. Some famous ones include:
Benefits
- Professional perception
- Identifies brand personality
- Creates confidence, builds trust
- Clarifies the vision and mission
- Differentiates the business
- Amplifies all other promotions & marketing
- Joins staff, teams and stakeholders together in a common purpose
Key elements
A tagline should be between 2 to 8 words. Always be mindful of Trademark and IP checks for business use. Keep the below as a guide.
LINKEDIN BANNERS
The large piece of free real estate on personal profiles is the LinkedIn banner. Officially known as the ‘background photo’, it’s a under-utilised feature (sad face )
When someone lands on your profile, your photo and background banner is the first thing they see. It’s like your own mini personal PR website.
But it’s mind boggling how and why so many people leave their profile banners blank. Or have just a block colour, an image as inspiring as a soggy bowl of pretzels or a pretty scene that any other Tom, Dick or Mary on the platform could and does use.
Will people get a sense of who you are, what your do and your brand essence from your banner? People are visual beasts but a tad lazy (often not always reading the about section if rushed, so make it easy for them to join the dots for them.
If you’re only on LinkedIn for fun and giggles, well it doesn’t matter if you have a banner of naked apes or Mickey Mouse.
But if you want to leverage the platform, make an impact, be memorable etc, use that LinkedIn image cover real estate.
Canva is brilliant for creating banners. And the best thing – you can update them to reflect changes anytime. Go corporate, fun, quirky, classy, simple, and elaborate – the sky is the limit.
A few different examples for inspiration below:
Tips for businesses & the self employed
Consistency with your website and other branding is essential. Be it a logo, taglines, colour palette, images, awards etc. Update as necessary to showcase important events, launches etc, all within the framework of your brand and market.
Your personal profile banner is even more important than your Company page one. Make sure your personal profile banner reflects key brand elements from the Company one – but of course can be a bit different.
Check my personal banner on LinkedIn here and my company banner on LinkedIn here .
Tips for career professionals & executives
Consider including a tagline, awards, favourite quote etc. Use images that represent your field of expertise/profession/personality.
Banner Dimensions
Personal: 1584 x 396px / Company: 1128 x 191px. Official LinkedIn information page here
Footnote I’ve created 100s of taglines for different sectors over the years (even in the days before social media ha) and a host of unique LinkedIn banners for business and career clients.
So do get in touch if you need professional help More information on LinkedIn services here and Personal Branding Marketing Services here:.
This article was also published on my Newsletter series on LinkedIn. Subscribe to my bi-monthly newsletters HERE to receive all the latest tips & strategies on personal brand communications, job search/careers and LinkedIn updates
Like to know more?
Then get in touch with Sue Parker via your preferred method of email or mobile
Phone 0416 385 779