What is a pitch deck and why you need one
Have you ever created a pitch deck? It’s one of the marketing materials I often work with my coaching clients on.
Why? Well , it’s one of the fastest ways to a) show people (i.e., stockists, collaborators, media, influencers, yourself!) what it is you do and what sets you apart and b) get clear - internally as a biz owner / team - on the most important elements of your biz.
So, what exactly is a “pitch deck”?
In short it’s a basic PDF / Keynote document that succinctly showcases who you are, what your biz does, why people should care and what others say about it.
Once created it can be used in full or in parts when pitching media, new stockists, collaborators, investors, influencers or even when inducting new staff (especially those that work remotely such as a Virtual Assistant).
Who needs to create one?
I find this exercise awesome for any and all biz owners. Even if you never intend to pitch for funding or stockists, the simple act of creating this document can get you super clear and focused on what your biz does and how it stands out from the competition.
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How do you create a pitch deck?
First you need to get clear on the following:
What is your business about and how can you succinctly get this across in, say, 2-4 sentences? Think of this as your USP. A quick way to create this is to use the introduction formula: We (the business) + help (your ideal audiences) + with (what you offer) + so that they can (end result).
What do you offer? A basic clear list of your services / product categories or both
Why should people care? What sets you apart?
Who is behind the biz? This is where you're humanising the brand; showing the "why" behind its existence
Who is your audience and how does this tie into the audience of the person / company you’re pitching? There should be some cross over or reason they would want to have your audience and/or introduce your biz to theirs
What have others said about your products / services? This is where you add in things like testimonials or X% of our customers say XYZ
Contact details
Of course, there are loads of other things you can include depending on your business and who you’re pitching. These may include:
Product designs
Portfolio
Stats i.e. website, social etc (particularly important if pitching sponsorship or collaborations)
Media (where have you been featured previously)
Traction since commencing business
Market validation
Projected future state / earnings
Investment required (if pitching funding)
and so much more
For ideas on how to present this information and to see example pitch decks from some of the most innovative companies, check out Slidebean’s example decks. Alternatively, the “presentation” layouts in Canva are pretty awesome and can be used as a template for your own pitch decks.
This may seem like such a basic exercise , but I have witnessed it completely change the way small biz owners operate and talk about what they do. If you’re struggling with discussing your biz confidently or finding yourself on the merry-go-round of back & forth prove-yourself-to-me emails when pitching new stockists, collaborators or media, consider creating a pitch deck. This gives recipients the most important information from the get go, rather than spending / wasting time on basic starter questions.