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Four Powerful Pitch Styles to Engage & Persuade Your Audience

14 Dec
2018
Four Powerful Pitch Styles to Engage & Persuade Your Audience

Do you panic when you have to make a sales pitch? Maybe you freeze up because all you can think of are used car salesmen and smooth-talking insurance brokers?

As stress-inducing as the idea of crafting a pitch can be, it’s uber important to have one prepared.

Why?

Well, when it comes to marketing, you need to have a solid pitch within every piece of content you release into the world. Plus, pitching is used every day in interactions from the most casual conversations, through to more formal proposals and business plans.

So, today we're going to help you work through those jitters.

We'll start off by outlining the DNA of an effective pitch.

Then, we'll take a look at how some big companies are embracing the power of pitches via email.

Finally, we'll share some actionable ways for you to implement these powerful pitch styles in your own marketing messages.

Let's dive right in!

The DNA of a successful pitch

To start off, let's look at what makes an effective pitch.

Oren Klaff, the author of ‘Pitch Anything,’ teaches that you cannot successfully ask for the sale (or email open, or click-through) unless you can answer a few essential questions related to your business.

  1. What is difficult about what you do?
  2. What is interesting about what you do?
  3. What do you do that is not obvious to an outsider?
  4. Why is your business worth doing? Why would someone find this compelling?
  5. If you succeeded in your mission/goals/objectives, what would be the upside for everyone?

Take a few minutes to think about how these questions relate to your product or service. Now, let's analyze four of the most popular pitching styles, including how some big brands made these strategies work in their emails and how you can too!

1. The friendly introduction pitch

"Hello potential customer, it’s great to meet you! We just wanted to pop our heads in to show you that we are awesome, and why you should give us a try!"

This approach is great for a welcome email because purpose of this pitch style is to show off your products and services to those who may not know your business very well.

Thrive Market masters the friendly pitch in this introduction style email:

The anatomy of a "friendly introduction pitch"

Headline

The ‘Never Pay Full Price for Healthy Groceries’ headline immediately answers the age-old "What’s In It For Me?" question that every consumer asks.

When you are writing a headline for an introduction style pitch, be sure your opening statement is focused on the potential customer.

Call to action

The "Start Saving Now CTA" is focused on what the customer needs, and not about the company and its business needs.

You could also try "Grab Your Discount or Save $40 Today!"

Design

Tempting product photos, along with a quick ‘How it Works’ infographic is a fast and simple way to highlight to potential customers just how easy (and tempting!) it is to do business with you.

Infographics allow you to relay a message much faster than with copy, and are a perfect choice for a friendly introduction email or even a new product launch.

The hook

By including a coupon code, there is added temptation to at the very least, check out your website.

Remember, you are building a relationship, so even a click-through is a huge success.

How to make this work for you

Choose to connect to your audience by showing that you care they are opening your email.

The ‘Friendly Introduction’ Pitch isn’t going in for the kill. The call to action is still very clear and tempting, but for now, you are simply fostering a relationship with the recipient.

What problem does your business solve, that you can highlight in the form of a friendly hello?

Pro Tip: When you immediately show that your offer makes lives easier, healthier, more comfortable, or less expensive – your recipients are more likely to listen.

Learn more about creating a buy-now mindset without shouting it out.

2. The we know you want us pitch

"Hey, we see you see us! You started signing up for our amazing service, then left us hanging. Come on back, friend!" This approach is fantastic for retargeting emails, or when you know that the recipient has already shown interest in your product or service.

The purpose of this pitch style is to give a little nudge where you see there once was a temptation. Uber Eats deploys this perfectly here:

The anatomy of a "we want you to know us pitch"

Headline

The ‘Welcome…we’re thrilled you chose to partner with us’, headline creates the impression that the reader is already part of the cool club. Who would back out now? It may seem assumptive at first but remember; the recipient started signing up at some point, triggering this relationship in the first place.

Call to action

The "Finish Signing Up" CTA is putting the ball in their court and, since most people really dislike loose ends, it's tempting the reader to finish what they started.

Design

The design of Uber’s email feels light, airy, and comfortable which expertly matches the message of the copy. A testimonial puts the cherry on top. Showing happy customer faces is an excellent way to build immediate trust with the reader. With a real-life review, you can build even further trust with the recipient.

The hook

By showing the reader the immense value waiting for them, they are more likely to act.In this case, Uber highlights the fact that drivers earn on their own time, keep 100% of their tips, and have full support. The hook is a win, win, win approach.

How to make this work for you

The ‘We Know You Want Us’ pitch can be playful and simple. Try beginning with a statement showing that a relationship has already started to unfold. It will be tougher for your audience to ignore you if they feel there is already an investment in place.

The call to action may be a bigger ask, but when you add tempting value statements, it should be a natural next step for your readers to click.

If Uber wanted to put their pitch into overdrive, they could have started with a more compelling and eye-catching headline such as "Earn $500 per day while driving your own schedule".

What does your business offer that is not so obvious, but has a huge upside to the customer?

Pro Tip: When you write your own hook, try to keep it as short as possible, so you don’t lose the punch!

Click through to learn more about power words for your emails.

//[inject:ad-multi-automations]

3. The we do it better pitch

"We know you like products like this, but don’t you deserve better? We are better than the others, and here’s why. Check us out."

Stating that you do it better than your competition is a stronger approach, but it doesn’t have to feel aggressive if executed properly. If you are claiming to do it better, you’ll need to clearly outline the ways why this is so.

Turo takes the competition for a ride in this ‘we do it better’ email:  

The anatomy of a we do it better pitch

Headline

The "Rent a Better Car" headline is to the point and eye-catching, while the "Any Car, Anywhere" sub-headline answers the readers' next question before they can even think it. This added jab is smart.

Call to Action

The "Search for Cars" CTA is brilliant because it’s playing on voyeuristic human nature to take a peek and see what’s out there. Other CTAs that fit into this category include "See them now," "Discover the secret," or "Check out what’s next."

Design

Turo’s image supports their pitch perfectly. It shows a young woman driving in what appears to be a classic Benz. Talk about style. This IS better.

When the image in your email stirs a specific emotion or creates a sense of lifestyle, you have a memorable message.

The Hook

Buzzwords such as adventure, traveler, and community, are perfectly scattered, reinforcing the message that Turo is better.

By discussing the need for member screening, there is now a feeling of exclusivity which will also drive registrations.

You can recreate this approach for your own business by capturing the emotions you want your customers to feel when they see your brand.

How to Make this Work for You

How can you use words to create emotion and a feeling of exclusivity?

Brainstorm all the ways you create a better customer experience over your competitors. How do you want your customers to feel, and what is the lifestyle or experience that should be conveyed?

All this approach really requires are a handful of tempting buzzwords, a crisp image, and a bold headline.  Pro Tip: A Pinterest-worthy image can significantly boost the performance of your emails.

Sendlane makes it easy to design eye-catching emails with plenty of pre-designed templates to choose from.

4. The Educational Pitch

“We employ a group of engineers and have our own lab. See – you can trust our brand because it’s backed by facts, research, and science.” 90% of customers purchase from companies that educate them, according to a statistic we just made up right now. Seriously though, when you put research and learning into your pitch, customers listen up.

Casper knows all about the educational pitch, which they have mastered:

The anatomy of an educational pitch

Headline

The "Casper Labs…" headline catches the eye because it seems so official and offers legitimacy to the email. But then the subheadline packs a punch... "The Real Problem." Headlines that make bold statements will rarely be ignored. Other headlines that are bold could be, "Finally, Your Problem Solved" or "We Fixed It. You’re Welcome."

Call to action

The "Learn More" CTA is for those who want to take a deeper dive into the science behind the email. To be honest, it isn’t our favorite call to action.For your business, you could try a CTA like "I Need to Know More," or "Be in the Know."

Design

Video is king in email marketing, and Casper knows it. By implementing a video loop in the header of your email you are shaking up the usual email offering. Video is eye-catching and can triple your click-through rates. (That’s a real fact – thanks Salesforce!).

The hook

This educational approach doubles up as a way to offer a behind the scenes look at what your business is up to. For Casper, it’s what’s happening in their lab.For your business, it may be what you’re creating in the studio or who you are collaborating with.

How to make this work for you

If you have a product or service that is a new addition, or a bit different than your usual offering, this type of pitch could be an excellent choice.

The educational pitch brilliantly introduces what you have been up to lately while creating feelings of trust around your products. Pro Tip: You will come out on top if you both educate and entertain.

If you aren’t sure that all of your customers would be interested in an education style approach, consider sending this type of email to only the portion of your list who may.

Sendlane can help you segment your email list for super targeting powers!

//[inject:ad-ebook-segmentation]

Write Your Own Powerful Pitch Today!

Once you have figured out the answers to Oren Klaff’s 5 pitch mastery questions, it’s simple to craft a message that will resonate with your readers.

Don’t be afraid to dig a bit deeper, ask your team, or some of your best clients, if you are unsure of what is most interesting, compelling, and beneficial about what your business does.

Once you have the answer to these questions, decide if you want to say a friendly hello, tease your customer, show how you are better from your competition or educate them. Then, you can craft your enthusiastic headline, decide on your call to action, and create the design that will support your message most strategically. Now that you know how to form a pitch with a few styles to choose from, you’ll want to make sure it’s seen by many. So, login to start experimenting with Sendlane's email marketing automation.

Or click here to give us a try today!

Want to learn mor about marketing? Check out our similar posts:

8 Ways to Successfully Align Your Social Media & Email Marketing

How to Upsell & Cross-sell Customers: 4 Ways to Boost Sales

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