Putting together a pitch for a new business client? To walk away the winner, you need to do everything you can to stand out from the competition. After all, the prospective client has probably seen a half dozen pitches in his search to hire a new agency. There’s a good chance every pitch is starting to look alike.
But before you polish your PowerPoint slides, have you used your broadcast monitoring tool to perfect the pitch? Broadcast monitoring can help you add perspective and insight. Researching the client’s past coverage will help you understand business and competitive issues, identify opportunities, calculate risks and brainstorm potential approaches. This process will pay big dividends on bake-off day.
To create the perfect client pitch, use broadcast monitoring to answer these six questions.
1. What problem is the client trying to solve?
Play close attention to the details in the RFP and plan your research strategy based on the client’s requirements. You’ll need to prove to the client during the pitch that you fully understand the problem it’s facing. This information will define what type of information you need to gather and what you should present.
2. What are the client’s business issues?
Use broadcast monitoring to research the latest news about the client’s industry. While you’ll want to have a sense of the bigger picture, be sure to spend most of your efforts researching the specific problem as outlined in the RFP.
3. What does the media landscape look like for this client? Is it friendly or adversarial? Global or local?
Identify the radio and TV outlets that have covered the client in the past, and review the clips to understand how they’re being covered. Get a feel for the type of bias each reporter holds. Also take note of media outlets that haven’t covered the client – but probably should.
4. What type of creative approach might solve this problem?
Although the pitch isn’t a PR plan, you’ll still want to brainstorm a few creative approaches to solving the problem outlined in the RFP.
5. Have we solved similar problems in the same way?
With a few ideas in hand, you’ll want to share your creative approach. Rather than create specific ideas for this client (remember – this isn’t a PR Plan!), you can share stories that illustrate the approaches you’ve used with other clients. Use this portion of the pitch to show of coverage you’ve secured on similar campaigns. This is an excellent way to impress the client!
6. How will we prove our value?
New clients want proof that your idea will work. A key component of any pitch is measurement. Be sure to share details about how you’ll track results and report on the success of the campaign. With TVEyes, you can capture viewership data, and help the client visualize reach and impact with heatmaps and charts.
By incorporating broadcast monitoring data into your PowerPoint slides, you’ll have a pitch that is memorable and persuasive. The other pitches might blend together at the end of the day for the client’s team, but yours will stand out.
Download this free playbook to help you make the case for broadcast monitoring across the enterprise today!
