EP 4: Pitching Internally

NARRATOR: If you're pitching brand affinity marketing to your company, then you probably know the old content marketing playbook is played out. The cost of digital ads are skyrocketing. And even if you can afford to foot the bill, over 25% of consumers install ad blockers to tune them out. And with four million blog posts published every day, that listicle you phoned in last week isn't exactly going to break the internet. Yep. These days, the best way to get noticed is by building a strong brand that actually attracts and provides value to a loyal audience. We know the best way to do that is with episodic shows. But if your company has never done that before, it's going to take a shift in strategy. And that will take some convincing. So, how do you get your company on board with brand affinity marketing? CHRIS SAVAGE: So the way we like to think of it is that brand affinity marketing is a long term play. And it's like brand awareness. But the difference is that with a brand awareness campaign, when you stop spending, no one sees your message. But with brand affinity the content lives on and people can still engage with it. So really it becomes evergreen. So consider taking some of your brand awareness budget and just putting in brand affinity. It's way easier to get a lasting return. But allocating resources isn't just about money. It takes people and time to make shows. And when it comes to reallocating those resources, Patrick Campbell from Profit Well has some thoughts. PATRICK CAMPBELL: What a lot of people don't realize is that it's not about adding more to your plate, it's about creating more effective content with the time and resources that you already have. If you have that ebook that you've been writing that unfortunately isn't going to be as effective as it once was five years ago, you should be using that time and resources to basically create a show because you're actually going to find out that it's the same amount of time and the same amount of resources. DAVID CANCEL: Really, you have to take accountability for this idea. One of the things I look for the most in terms of when I hear people pitching different things is, are they willing to put their own skin in the game? Which in most cases, the idea is going to fail. It's going to fail in the first version, the second version, the third version. It might not be the 10th version until we get that idea right. Are they going to drive that thing? Or are they just going to give you an idea, expect you to implement it? Or give you an idea and the minute that they fail, they're going to hand it off to someone else or quit? Most people will quit. If you find someone who can drive that idea who really wants to take ownership of it, then you have something. NARRATOR: Pitching a change in strategy means you need to prepare. And that means knowing your internal audience. Are your stakeholders more numbers nerds, or do they need a proof of concept? Are they more budget conscious or do they appreciate a compelling vision? Let's talk to the experts to get some ideas on how to present brand affinity marketing to your company. MYKIM DANG: You've got to master the pitch. NARRATOR: Here's Mykim Dang, executive producer at America's Test Kitchen. MYKIM DANG: If you're approaching your team or a stakeholder or your boss about a new idea that you've never done before, doing your homework really counts. For us that means knowing who your target audience is, having something to compare it against, creative projects that you may have done in the past, and having all of those things at the upfront is going to make those initial conversations a lot easier. COLIN ROSENBLUM: Pitching an idea to your team starts with a really good pitch deck. SAMIR CHAUDRY: And that's a wrap. COLIN ROSENBLUM: Yep. SAMIR CHAUDRY: Thanks, everybody. NARRATOR: Colin and Samir have pitched hundreds of clients on unique video ideas. SAMIR CHAUDRY: So when you're making a pitch deck for a show, obviously you have to make that show interesting to the audience. But the first audience that you have to make it interesting for are the people that are going to give you the green light to make the show. A pitch deck in itself is a story. So it has to follow the same elements of every good story. Oftentimes, a great pitch deck has a cold open. Something that might hook the person who's reading it. And then it leads into an act one of the greater purpose of the show. Why does it exist? Act two, the context. The kind of meat and potatoes of the show. How is this going to work? How is it going to happen? And then act three, why does this matter in the context? How does this help us get towards our goals as a company or our marketing goals? NARRATOR: That's right. You need to create a vibe with your pitch deck. So don't be afraid to pull in images and videos that will get your decision makers pumped up. BROOKE VAN POPPELEN: Really, anything you can do to help your boss or your co-worker visualize the idea that you're trying to pitch to them, I think it's completely fine. If it doesn't break the bank, you know, add a visual element. If it's a song, give them a quick little version of the jingle. Sing it to them. Although, the sound of that makes me feel incredibly embarrassed. But do you, OK? NARRATOR: For Gnarly Bay, pitching is all about leaning into your strengths. DAN RIORDAN: If you're a writer, write your ideas down, get them in a nice pitch deck. If you're a photographer, take some great photos. For us, video is the way to do it. DANA SAINT: When you're talking about a pitch video, we call that an animatic. And an animatic can be very simple. It can be a scratch track VO of what the script is, either photos or video that you kind of-- either you shoot or you have in your archive, and then some very rough music. And be like, look, this is what we're trying to create so the client can actually sit back and just watch it and they say, oh, I get it. I get it right away. DAN RIORDAN: Back to you, narrator. NARRATOR: Well thanks, Dan and Dana. But convincing your team is more than just presenting your idea. MYKIM DANG: Even though your end goal might be getting to a yes, think about the no's. If you had come up with all the things that they might poke holes into around the business case, around why this might not be a good idea, that can actually reframe the conversation so that your boss and your stakeholders know that you have put in the due diligence. LIZ COHEN: Kind of being prepared for the questions that your team might ask you I think is really important. And being prepared. If this is too expensive to make as a show, maybe it's a podcast, maybe it's a docuseries, maybe it's 10 minutes or five minutes and not 30 minutes. How is this going to roll out, the distribution of it all? Have every question answered. NARRATOR: We'll talk more about launch and distribution later, but showing that you've thought through every aspect of your show will help you get that all important green light from your boss. Speaking of getting to a green light idea, let's talk with CEO of SparkToro, Rand Fishkin. RAND FISHKIN: Me? I like to tap into the competitive nature of people. NARRATOR: You've done some pitching in your day. RAND FISHKIN: Oh, yeah. Pitching venture capitalists, that is no joke. NARRATOR: But what about pitching inside your company? RAND FISHKIN: Management hates losing out to competitors. You know what they hate even more? Being shown how they're losing out to competitors. So go to Google Trends, put in your brand terms and theirs, and show your team how they're losing. If you don't have people already playing in your space in episodic content, you got to pitch them on how being an early mover is a huge advantage. When I started Whiteboard Friday, no one was doing video in the SEO space. The videos didn't perform all that great, but people who loved video loved Moz. They loved watching Whiteboard Friday. And over time, that was a huge competitive advantage for us. DAVID CANCEL: The way that I pitch is, like, why are we doing something? What is the problem? Why do we need to solve it? Why now? You can find the real gems among all these different ideas that are going to be pitched to people you're trying to pitch to, as well as being pitched to yourself. So answer the "why now" question. CHRIS LAVIGNE: And don't forget about the fun factor. NARRATOR: Whoa. Calm down there, Wistia's Head of Production Chris Lavigne. CHRIS LAVIGNE: Making shows is fun, so sometimes all you need to do is get your boss closer to the process. Keep them involved along the way and they're going to get fired up about the project, too. Honestly, they may get so fired up that they want to star in the show themselves. CHRIS SAVAGE: Hey, how are you? This is Brandwagon. Brandwagon, episode three. I'm actually quite a large fan of magic. Sleight of hand magic, I'm a fan of stage magic, I'm a fan of grand illusions, I'm a fan-- The cameras and lights? The magic? I mean, come on. This is incredible. CHRIS LAVIGNE: But you know what? That is pretty great. Because when the leaders of your company are this excited about a show, that excitement is pretty contagious. LIZ COHEN: You have to be passionate about your idea. That is the number one thing. No one's going to get excited about something if you're kind of, like, mediocre about something. You have to go in and say, this is amazing, this is what we should be doing. And if you believe it, someone else is going to believe it. RAND FISHKIN: You are a marketer. Your greatest strength is tapping into people's hearts and minds. Empathizing with them. Putting yourself in their shoes. You can do that internally, too. Tap into that. MYKIM DANG: So what are you waiting for? You have the passion for this idea, you understand what it takes to set up a successful pitch. Get out there and have those conversations and bring those collaborators in. NARRATOR: Thanks, Mykim. MYKIM DANG: You're welcome, narrator. NARRATOR: If you're ready to start pitching, start by checking out a few of our sample pitch decks to get you inspired to pitch your ideas to your team. We'll see you next time.