Advertising pitches are usually the first step for marketers when establishing a campaign with a client. Landing this client depends on how well the agency presents its idea and what it uses to make its idea attractive for the client. Ideally, an ad pitch should take the agency's vision and present it in a way that the client hadn’t thought of before.
In trying to do this, however, some marketers can get lost in trying to make the pitch too flashy or unique. But a well-dressed advertising pitch without a solid foundation is doomed to fail. If a marketing agency wants to "stick the landing" with their pitch, they will need to establish the necessary basic groundwork before they start getting creative with the presentation.
To give you some guidance, these six professionals from Ad Age Collective draw on their in-depth knowledge of advertising to offer sage advice on how to develop a successful pitch to earn and close the deal you want.
1. Explain who you are and don't sell.
An effective pitch is one where the agency isn't selling, but rather is clearly explaining who they are and what they're excellent at doing so that they help the prospective client find the best match for their business. Winning a pitch isn't really a win if the relationship isn't a long-term fit between partners and peers. - Reid Carr, Red Door Interactive
2. Lead with the result.
Too often, ad pitches focus on detailing why the product is so great and convincing the audience that they need it. This is misguided. An audience never cares about the product in and of itself -- they care about what the product can do for them. So focus on the result that will accrue for the audience. Tap into FOMO so they will see what they lose by not purchasing the product. - Patrick Ward, Rootstrap
3. Understand all the stakeholders.
Understand all of your prospect’s stakeholders and what drives their path to purchase or engagement. It's not enough to know what the client wants to say. You need to know what, when and where their audience wants to hear from them. This audience-first mindset will set up and provide the rationale for any strategy, and creativity that follow. - Maggie O'Neill, Peppercomm
4. Focus on building consumer connection.
You need to clearly convey that you understand what motivates the consumer or customer relative to the objective of the campaign and how your recommendation delivers against that. Only then do creativity and executional considerations matter. - Dan Beltramo, Onclusive (formerly AirPR)
5. Explain how you're solving a particular problem.
You need a problem and a solution encapsulated into one. Otherwise, why are people listening to your pitch? Give them a reason to pay attention to you and hear you out. Tell them how you are going to solve a particular problem and why it matters to your audience. That is the most important thing a person can do. - Duran Inci, Optimum7
6. Provide examples of similar campaigns.
When creating an ad pitch, remember that the thing that holds the decision-maker back is uncertainty about whether it will work. Your best bet is to collect examples of previous ad campaigns that are similar and to present the results. Another option is to find data about your target market and why they would respond positively to your ad. This will make your pitch convincing and inform you if your ad will work. - Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
