How to create an effective "pitch"

You've probably heard a good "slogan" or "pitch" that resonated with you and caused you to remember the brand. What made it memorable for you?

To create an effective "slogan" or "pitch" we need to understand what makes them memorable and appealing.

An effective marketing pitch is short, punchy, and has direct emotional appeal to the target audience.

In order to demonstrate this, let's look at a few examples. Some time ago I was at a chamber of commerce networking event where we were all given up to 1 minute to give our elevator "pitch". One that I will never forget was from a funeral home director, who's tag line was: "Sooner or later, I'll be seeing you. ALL of you!" It was effective because he used humour to market an otherwise negatively viewed experience: dying. We all laughed and some of us even squirmed a bit uncomfortably as we envisioned this undertaker seeing us naked after our inevitable demise!

Humour can be a very effective tool for delivering a memorable marketing pitch. It is almost guaranteed to be the one thing everyone will remember about you and your brand. People like to laugh. It lightens things up in meetings and discussions where we are all being "pitched" to by vendors all the time. We've seen online commercials go viral because of their humorous appeal.

Another example of the use of humour that comes to mind is a local septic tank pump operator who's logo is that of a "bumble bee beside a skunk holding its nose". His company's tag line: "That ain't honey!!" Simple but effective in a competitive marketplace. Everyone remembered this guy. It is important to stand out and the use of humour is a very effective way of doing so.

Of course humour isn't always the appropriate emotional appeal for certain types of products and services. Often the appeal is based upon sympathy or empathy such as making a guilt-free decision to move a parent into a seniors care facility. Certain businesses that are promoting care for the aged will appeal directly to those most affected--the children who are struggling to keep aging parents in their homes. Their tag line might be a quote from a senior such as: "I'm so much happier here. I have everything I need. The staff are wonderful"!"

Note that they always use the quote from the aging parent rather than the adult children even though the marketing is targeting the adult children. Why is this? Because the children want the parent to be happy and will feel guilty moving their parents into a senior's care facility unless they truly believe that the parents will be happier there. So even though the target audience is the adult children of aging seniors, the quote and marketing material will always show happy seniors enjoying their new home. They will never say "Let us help you take care of gramma!"

Another effective emotion that a marketing pitch can appeal to is the "feel good about oneself" emotion, or happiness, or "life's good". This type of emotional appeal is often used in marketing things like travel, spas, hotels, cosmetics, wedding venues, restaurants and other hospitality businesses.

Prestige or "feeling like I'm important or special" is another effective emotion to appeal to. This is often used in B2B marketing pitches. It's important to understand your target audience's likely emotional reaction to your pitch in order to craft it correctly. This often requires some careful thought and preparation, particularly with B2B products and services. We can often use simple, direct and more casual humour in marketing direct to consumers, however, this may not be appropriate in B2B marketing as a greater level of professionalism is often expected.

Create your own effective pitch

The first thing to consider is which emotional appeal best fits your product or service.

* humour

* empathy

* happiness

* prestige

* relief

Above are a few commonly used emotions.

Once you have decided on the emotion you which to appeal to, it's time to engage your creative team in coming up with a short, punchy memorable slogan. Perhaps you might consider an in house contest and offer a reward to the finalists? Ask employees to vote on the suggestions brought forward? Have some fun with it.

If you would like some help creating your business pitch from a member of The Turnaround Team Inc., we would be happy to assist. Contact us through this web site for a complimentary consultation.

Debra Farquharson is the CEO and founder of The Turnaround Team Inc.