What Is Pitching? What You Need to Pitch Successfully, in Detail

In Agency and Startup work, the concept of Pitching? This is a familiar term to anyone who works in an agency or regularly raises investment capital. Good pitching skills lead to workable business solutions. The article below Mona Media will answer everything about what Pitching is and how to pitch successfully.

What is Pitching?

What is Pitching? Pitching is known as the activity of explaining, presenting and delivering a talk about ideas, in order to persuade clients or investors to put money into the products or projects of an individual, company or business.

• In communications: Pitching is presenting your ideas in response to a creative brief (Brief). The goal is to win the project for your company. It is a contest among Agency to build a business relationship with the client. The presenter is usually an account manager or a director of the company.
• In startup business: Pitching is presenting your idea about your need for capital, the feasibility of the project, its strategic vision and more, to a range of investors in order to raise funding for the project.

Factors that affect how effective Pitching is

Have 3 basic factors that directly affect a Pitching session

1. Pitching time

Pitching time is the period you have to present your idea to the client. Depending on the size of the project or idea, it can be short or long. It is usually not much, about 5 to 10 minutes, in which you have to present the idea, the numbers and the feasibility of the project.

2. Pitching content

Persuasion is a very important skill in Pitching. But that does not mean presenting in a long-winded, roundabout or confusing way. Pitchers must be brief, concise and easy to understand, while still conveying everything that matters. To score points with investors and partners, go straight to the heart of what you need to present.

3. Pitching format

The format of the pitch supports and brings the session to life and makes it more effective. This includes presentation slides, how you carry yourself and the creativity of your delivery.

Steps in the Pitching process

What is the basic 5-step Pitching process?

• Step 1 – State the problem: Pitching time is limited. Open your investment pitch by stating the problem within about 1 minute. Don't ramble about less important issues. Why? Because investors don't have much time to listen to you, so never waste a single minute. Make an impression from the first seconds.
• Step 2 – Present the product features: Make sure the content of your pitch introduces your product or idea. Try to present it so that it stands out and shows how your ideas solve the problem well.
• Step 3 – Business model: A Pitching session Startup should pay more attention to the business model. The presenter needs to have information ready: the number of orders, signed contracts, financial analysis over the past period and more, to build investors' trust.
• Step 4 – Share market information: When raising capital, be frank about the target market you are aiming for, and also talk about the market size. Using numbers in your pitch makes it more likely to persuade.
• Step 5 – Present the amount you need to raise and how you will use it: Be clear about the purpose of the Pitching session. Include criteria such as the specific amount you want to raise and which area the capital will go into. Also cover the potential, the rate of return, the payback period and more, to raise investment successfully.

->See more: What is Digital Marketing? All the latest Digital Marketing knowledge

What skills do you need to pitch effectively?

A professional Pitcher knows how to use every skill to persuade partners and investors. Which skills make for effective Pitching?

1. Presentation skills

The power of words is always the key to opening the door to business success. A presenter's job is to communicate directly with investors and potential partners to present their ideas. That is why good presentation skills are the first requirement. This is not easy, even with natural talent. You need to practice many times and keep practicing, and above all learn to improvise quickly in any situation. Good presentation skills spark investors' interest in discussing your project idea in more depth. Your language must be clear, orderly and easy to follow. Avoid industry jargon in particular, because investors are sometimes not from that field, and this prevents misunderstanding.

2. Skills for conveying emotion

Before deciding to invest in any project, investors always want to hear the story. They want to know what drives you to do the project. So the skill of conveying emotion helps them understand the issue more deeply, or simply gets past the stiffness of a rigid presentation of ideas. When you weave emotion or your personal story into your talk, investors find it more compelling than a purely forward-looking strategic vision. Bringing emotion into a pitch creates a strong connection and also sets your promising project apart.

3. Skills for building a personal brand

Don't stop at drawing investors in with an emotional story. A good pitcher always comes across as smart, with promising plans. They build a personal brand in other people's eyes. Investors are always happy to work with people of good character. They feel they are backing excellent, smart business ideas.

4. Skills for presenting standout products

Making your product stand out is one of the most important skills for a successful pitch. Partners and investors care about the standout features and uses of the product or service from your project so they can make the most objective investment decision. The pitcher needs to study real figures and sales numbers closely and use them well in the pitch to show the product's authenticity. ->See more: What is a marketing funnel? How to build a marketing funnel for your business

Experience that helps you pitch successfully

The golden keys to successful Pitching come from tireless effort, plus the hard-won experience of a Pitcher.

1. Spend as much time as possible learning and practicing

The key to a successful pitch is not only having a unique, new, appealing product. It is also creating a point of difference. What makes a pitch different? Do you think you will do well without preparing? According to Mona, even if you do well, you can still fail to raise capital, because you can't know what investors will ask. Preparation makes you more confident when presenting. You may already be confident, but preparing is never wasted. To get there, set aside time to practice Pitching every day and build your knowledge and your skill at presenting in front of many people. These help you reach your most polished and refined delivery. There are no shortcuts to a successful pitch. To succeed, you need to practice a lot until you feel comfortable and confident.

2. Build a personal brand

According to experience shared by entrepreneurs on Shark Tank, the best presenters don't simply tell an engaging story. They also have to know themselves as a well-informed entrepreneur. Investors always want to work with people who know what they are doing. They can make money from their own potential goals. A good business partner means the work succeeds as expected. A good Pitcher shows investors the project's big potential. If you build a strong personal brand, not just the product but you yourself become impressive. Investors will remember you and the special impression you made in the pitch.

3. Create an emotional connection through your story

Creating an emotional connection through your story is a great way to pitch successfully. Telling an emotional story is not the whole answer, and it can't make up for gaps in business knowledge. It is a way to connect emotionally with investors and change the outcome of the pitch through that connection. This matters especially for products with a humane purpose, that protect the environment or that are good for users' health. Such products have a higher chance of raising capital.

4. Use sales figures to show the product is real

A compelling presentation and an interesting story, combined well with projections of future sales, make a complete Pitching process. You must show the sales of the product you are pitching to investors, and stress each result it delivers. In practice, investors prefer ideas based on real figures over made-up numbers with no solution behind them. Bring investors back to the reality of your sales forecast. Don't let a mistake at this step cost you their trust in your brand. Give verified results that show the brand's promise in the market, enough for investors to trust you and decide to invest. ->See more: What is inbound marketing? What you need to know about inbound marketing You may be very confident, but it is natural to feel nervous. We hope the information Mona Media has given you, from A to Z about Pitching and the experience that helps you pitch successfully, now makes you confident enough to step through the open door of business. Make your dream of becoming a professional Pitcher, who leaves a personal mark with partners and investors, come true.