Getting noticed in today’s market is hard! And, unfortunately, it’s even harder to be remembered. According to the marketing rule of 7, it takes an average of seven interactions with a brand name before a purchase will take place.
Having a great name for your business will help you maximize this age-old rule by making it easy for the public to notice and remember you.
Whether you’re picking a new name for a product, program or your entire business, you want to pick a name that is easy for your target audience to remember. A memorable name has the added bonus of saving you thousands of dollars in marketing over the life of your business.
What sorts of names are easy to remember? Well, first, they tend to be short, easy to say, and easy to spell. A lot of different words and word combinations fit these criteria; that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll make great names. Memorable names are also unexpected.
What we mean by unexpected is that it’s not a word or a term the average person would expect to see connected with what you’re selling. Think about names like Sweaty Betty for workout gear, Yeti for coolers and beverage containers, and Hero Burgers for burgers. So unexpected, and so easy to remember!
Finding an unexpected name can be challenging. One way to avoid expected or obvious names is to stay far away from descriptive words and terms. For example, if you’re selling pies, you don’t want to talk about pies or obvious pie features. You don’t want to talk about blueberry, delicious, or flaky crust. Instead, you want to pick something that consumers would not expect to be used in connection with pies.
Names that are easy to remember also invoke some sort of familiar thoughts, concepts, and feelings in relation to what it is you’re selling. Whether you’re inventing a whole new word or you’re relying upon existing words as the basis of your name, if you pick words and terms that invoke some sort of familiar image in relation to what you’re selling, there is a much better chance that people are going to remember you.
The last key factor that goes into the memorability of a name is how similar it is to other names that are out there. You want your name to be very different. If your name is similar to everyone or even just someone else’s, the likelihood that they’re going to remember you over them is pretty slim.
To find out if your name is different, you can search to ensure no one else is using it or anything similar. You can check google, social media platforms and trademark databases, and pay particular notice to any similar names that are in use in your industry.
In short, you can setup your startup for success by picking a name that is short, easy to say, easy to spell, unexpected, but also a little bit familiar or invokes some familiar feelings and is completely unlike any other names that are out there.
Once you’ve got a great name, take the steps to trademark it. Trademarking your name gives you national ownership of it and the ability to stop others from using a confusingly similar name in connection with their business.