Economic travesties aren’t always a bad thing. Some businesses rise from the ashes and pivot their strategies to come out of the crisis stronger while some become their own bosses, taking the leap, and start their own companies.
Here are several examples of companies surviving catastrophes, and a maybe these would give you hope in these hard times.
Innovations During Hard Times
In the early 1900s, Richard Hellman introduced mayonnaise. During the Great Depression, however, people could no longer afford it because of the ingredients used to make them were expensive. Because Kraft’s sales were slipping, they developed an alternative to mayo using new emulsifying technology, creating Miracle Whip.
A similar thing happened to Domino’s pizza in 2009, when they announced they were making significant changes to their signature recipe. The new pizza was a massive success, driving up both sales and profits of the company.
Netflix used to be a DVD-by-mail service provider in the mid-2000s, but have you ever wondered how they’ve become the streaming powerhouse of the world? During the Great Recession, Netflix defied expectations and found the way to its subscribers’ hearts, attracting 3 million more by the end of 2009. Its stock price rose to 57%, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The first-generation iPod hit the shelves in October 2001. Even though it cost $399, 600,000 people bought one by the end of 2002, and 2 million a year later. While it wasn’t manufactured because of the recession, it provided a cheaper alternative to stereos and going to concert.
With the Recession Comes Reinvention
Lockdowns, canceled events, panic-buying—these are just several setbacks caused by the coronavirus. Apart from the health risks posed by the pandemic, however, a global recession is in the midst.
It’s a domino effect—a pandemic causes lockdowns, which affects businesses in terms of laying off employees and losing customers.
This decade is comparable to the Roaring Twenties, where big businesses will be disrupted and some will eventually collapse, which will create opportunities for small businesses.
Find opportunities in the root of the recession and company disruptions.
Present an alternative.
Get profitable quickly.
Grow with in-house cash.
You have to remember, however, that these are achievable if you have a sound mind and if you’re bringing you A-game even if you’re at home.
Leading Your Company Through Dark Times
Your leadership will go through trial by fire as you face daily challenges in the system during quarantine.
Aptly called the “Black Swan of 2020,” businesses will only survive if they act quickly and decisively.
You might be asking, “How is that possible when there’s so much uncertainty revolving around this global threat?”
Well, right now, it’s only the strongest who will prevail, but those most adaptable to change.
Here are things you can do as a leader to navigate through this crisis and emerge stronger than the competition:
Communicate brutal facts to your team while having confidence that you will get through it together.
Allow your people to voice their fears as the crisis persists.
Get ready for chaos.
Envision the future.
At pitchdeck.com, we want to help you get back up on your feet. Other companies may be on pause right now, but not us. We’re still here to lend a hand to those who want to get their message out there.
Contact us today and let’s talk about what we can do to help.
Given the current state of the world, entrepreneurs need to adjust their ways of getting business done. Traditional pitches and in-person meetings are taking a back seat for now, making way for email-only pitch decks. While it may seem like an impersonal method for landing deals, there are methods of optimizing your pitch to achieve the best results.
Instead of simply emailing your pitch deck to prospects, you can transform it into a video.
We at pitchdeck.com have made it a business being pitch deck experts. Our team of Pitch Deck designers know how to craft winning pitches from the ground up. Our experience allows us to apply the knowledge we’ve built to other pitch deck mediums like videos and graphic design.
In this article, we will delve into elements that make transforming your Pitch Deck into a video more effective.
Record Your Speech
Pitches are best delivered with a speech. However, that luxury is lost when you need to resort to email-only pitch decks. Turning your pitch deck into a video allows you to inject your speech back into your pitch.
Recording your speech should be the first step to creating a pitch deck video, as it will act as a timing guide for your slides. This process will also help you review areas of your pitch that could possibly be shortened or extended.
Ultimately, having a voice to guide along the message will help your prospects gain a stronger grasp of your pitch.
Customize Depending on Your Client
You will eventually land multiple opportunities with different prospects, and while you may have one core pitch deck to offer, that does not mean each video should be the same. You can create custom versions of your video that directly addresses different clients.
First, review your speech for any areas where you may feel like addressing clients by name. Mark these sections as lines that you will record multiple versions of for each of your clients. It will then become a matter of editing in these unique lines into the different versions of your video.
This will take a bit of extra time to complete, but adding in more personalized touches will go a long way.
Be in the Video
The main goal of utilizing video is to replicate the in-person meeting experience as much as possible. Recording a voice-over to accompany you pitch will help guide your message, but prospects will still want to know who exactly they’re dealing with. To solve this, start your pitch with footage introducing yourself and your company. No need to use footage of yourself throughout the entire pitch deck, as that may end up being both time consuming for you and distracting for your client. Having introductory footage will be enough to “put a face” on your pitch deck.
You’ll be making a clear appearance to your audience, so carry yourself with the utmost professionalism in these snippets.
Remember to dress as if you’re meeting with your clients personally, and make sure your background is free of anything distracting or discriminating. Use this time to project how you want to be perceived by your client.
Finish with a Call-to-Action
Be sure to feature another snippet of yourself delivering a strong call-to-action to your prospect. CTAs are effective on their own in directing audiences to what their next move should be. Using a video of yourself once again delivers that final punch with greater impact. It will also give your prospects something more personal to latch on to as the video concludes.
pitchdeck.com Is Your Pitch Deck Expert
Need help in creating a video? Our team of pitch deck designers, writers and animators all collaborate diligently to consistently create winning pitch deck materials. The refined skills of our team has led to over one million slides for 3,000+ global clients.
Our wealth of experience ensures clients are treated to world-class design standards that boost credibility in the boardroom.
As the world’s premier pitch deck design agency, let us help you inject new life into your pitch decks and raise your business towards new heights. We have helped spark million-dollar growth for businesses around the world. We believe that the growth of our clients is our biggest measure of success. Reach out now to get a quote free of charge.
PowerPoint is a superb presentation tool, which, when used properly, can be an effective visual aid for professional speakers. However, at the hands of inexperienced presenters who have no eye for design, it can pave the way for jarring and unattractive slides. Sad to say, the world of business is teeming with mediocre pitch decks that just don’t do justice to the ability of PowerPoint as a great design tool. Luckily, there are people like Canva Chief Evangelist Guy Kawasaki, who can show the noobs how it should be done.
Kawasaki advocated the 10-20-30 Rule of PowerPoint, which banks on the idea that a presentation “should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points.” Although Kawasaki originally meant it to be for entrepreneurs and startup business owners, this principle applies to all types of presentations. By following this guide, you can avoid basic design mistakes and ultimately stand out from the vast sea of lackluster presentations.
Why the 10-20-30 Rule Is Still Relevant Today
Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule is now more than a decade old—which, we can all agree, is a long time for any virtual rule to last, what with the constant and almost abrupt changes that technology makes. Although PowerPoint is still the most recognizable presentation design software in recent history, it’s no longer the only one in the book. A number of competitors have emerged, and they all have something relevant to offer. Apart from that, the way people use PowerPoint has also changed over time. What was invaluable ten years ago may not be as important today.
1. Presenters still cram several ideas into one pitch deck
You’d think a lot would have changed in a decade. Well, in the case of slide design, nothing much has improved. Don’t get this wrong—agencies specializing in presentation design have emerged over the years, and they have indeed elevated the landscape. It’s the individual presenters who have not fully maximized the use of PowerPoint that still make the same mistakes. Despite professionals strongly advising against it, some presenters still cram multiple ideas into one pitch deck. They don’t even bother to filter out the unnecessary stuff and keep only the crucial points.
When Kawasaki first proposed the 10-20-30 Rule, he also suggested ten topics for the ten slides: the problem, the solution, the business model, the underlying technology, sales and marketing, the competition, the team, projections and milestones, status and timeline, and summary and call to action.
So, instead of filling each slide with unnecessary text, why not try to identify your salient points first and then make an outline based on them? Use as little text as possible to avoid overwhelming your audience with a barrage of ideas. If a slide isn’t necessary, do away with it. Remember, you are the star of your presentation, not the pitch deck or anything else. Make sure that all focus remains on you.
We’re in the age of social media, where the best content is short and fast, and people appreciate things that don’t take much of their time. Attention spans have become relatively shorter, to the point that people are growing more impatient and expectant—a combination that is hard to satisfy. This is why when delivering a presentation, you should always be considerate of your audience’s time and level of interest. Even if you’re given an hour to present, prepare for a speech that doesn’t last longer than twenty minutes. You can use the extra time for setting up your equipment or holding a Q&A session.
“But I have something extremely important to say!” you may argue. Well, that doesn’t give you any reason to go beyond the suggested time frame. Look at the universally-renowned TED talks for example. Speakers are expected to deliver their speeches in eighteen minutes or less, and that doesn’t stop them from communicating brilliant ideas that are worth sharing. If you have an imposed time constraint, you’ll be forced to edit your speech meticulously until it’s down to the bare necessities. Trim down all the unnecessary stuff so that you can put the essentials in the spotlight.
3. Readability is a crucial factor that’s still being sidelined
The number one rule of presentations is simple: The audience is the boss. Wherever you are in the presentation process, you should always put the audience at the forefront of your mind. For instance, what the people at the front row sees should be seen clearly by those in the back row as well. Optimize the font size of your text to accommodate all of your viewers. When you see people squinting at your slide, take the hint that something’s not right.
Another reason why the thirty-point-font rule should still be reinforced today is that it encourages you to limit the number of words you can put in each slide. As much as possible, don’t overload your slides with information. Remember that your goal is not to bombard your audience with ideas but to present them a few that can change their lives for the better.
Is the 10-20-30 Rule Absolute?
Kawasaki didn’t mean for the 10-20-30 Rule to be followed religiously by all business presenters. Instead, he set it as a guideline for people who want to improve their pitch decks, and consequently, their presentations. The fact remains that each situation is unique, so there’s no hard-and-fast rule that applies to all.
Instead of asking how many slides you should have, ask how many you need. Also, instead of going with the twenty-minute rule, why not apply the one-third rule, which suggests that the length of your speech should be one-third of the time you’re given? That is, after all, the original idea that Kawasaki proposed. Lastly, you can bend the thirty-point-font rule without breaking it. It’s only the minimum font size recommended, so you can go higher as the number of words you use per slide decreases. Ultimately, you should consider the needs of your audience instead of mindlessly jumping on the bandwagon. What works for one may not always work for you.
Twelve years later and Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 rule is still as effective as ever. If every presenter applies these three timeless guidelines, the landscape of presentation design will be infinitely better.
Resources:
Dlugan, Andrew. “The 10-20-30 Rule: Guy Kawasaki on PowerPoint.” Six Minutes. June 10, 2010. sixminutes.dlugan.com/10-20-30-rule-guy-kawasaki-powerpoint
Jonson, Laura. “The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint: Does It Still Work?” SlideShare. January 13, 2016. blog.slideshare.net/2016/01/13/the-102030-rule-of-powerpoint-does-it-still-work
Kawasaki, Guy. “The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint.” Guy Kawasaki. December 30, 2005. guykawasaki.com/the_102030_rule
“Follow the 10-20-30 Rule for a Perfect PowerPoint Presentation.” Presentation Load. October 17, 2013. blog.presentationload.com/follow-10-20-30-rule-perfect-powerpoint-presentation
Data visualization, to put it simply, is the presentation of data in a graphical format. This involves turning analytics and insights presented in a way other than textually, making difficult concepts much easier to comprehend.
The human brain processes information much easier when presented with large amounts of data translated into charts and graphs.
Using visuals is a quick and easy way to convey complex concepts in a manner that everyone can understand.
Data visualization, therefore, can:
Identify areas of improvement
Clarify which factors influence customer behavior
Help allocate products
Predict sales volumes
In many industries, sales in particular, seeing is believing. The ability to view information and apply solutions in real-time is important.
So, here are five essential dashboard data visualizations that sales teams can use to improve their performance and boost their sales advantage.
Geographical Heatmaps
Also known as “choropleth maps,” these refer to a color-coded matrix that represents value or risk. These are maps of countries or cities, highlighted or annotated to show numbers.
Preparing and analyzing heatmaps are incredibly easy. These could be up and running just by merely translating the necessary data. This type of data visualization is usually quicker to interpret than numbers at first glance because its colors usually range from green (good values) to red (bad values).
An example of sales teams using heatmaps would be when they’re determining their target demographic—a consensus of households that would be interested in their products.
Bubble Charts/Word Clouds
Bubbles charts are similar to heatmaps, only that the objects that represent values are, well, bubbles. You can use colors can to represent values for this type of data visualization.
Word clouds look like jumbled words that seem to have no correlation until given context. These are clusters of words in different sizes. The bigger and bolder they appear, the more often they are mentioned in a text—the more important they are.
In this text for example, you will see the word “data” 13 times. If it were to appear as a word cloud, it would appear to be the biggest word.
Waterfall Charts
To better understand finances, waterfall charts help translate financial data and project a clearer picture of how gains, losses, and balances are affecting bottomline.
To put it in the context of marketing, another example would be how leads and blog traffic in the last year could be affecting your business.
Radar Charts
Also referred to as “spider charts,” these best visualize multiple performance variables that are sub-components of other variables. When you’re uncertain about the units of measurement used, these provide a rough estimate.
An example would be gauging customer experience after purchasing a product. The different variables would include price, customer support quality, ease of the sales process, and user-friendliness of the service.
Bullet/Gauge Charts
Gauge charts, also referred to as dial or speedometer charts, represent one metric at a time. Their goal is simple: to show how close you are to achieving a certain goal.
Say you’re aiming for a certain number of leads for a project. Assume that number is 100 and you’re only at the 65 mark. It’s easier to visualize that using a gauge chart. Apart from that, you’d know how important this value is to the discussion since it is emphasized in graphical form.
Today, as data collection becomes more streamlined, information becomes abundant, meaning there’s so much to learn. The only problem is, not everyone can comprehend all this.
Data visualization is an effective strategy if you want to translate complex datasets into information that is more concise, straightforward, and understandable to those who are not familiar with the concept you are discussing.
It continues to help sales teams and analysts look at data more imaginatively. Ultimately, this is a useful skill to develop, effectively conveying and leveraging information in a visual format.
You don’t always have enough time to sell your ideas. Ideally, you’d want 15-20 minutes to go through the finer details of what makes your business special. However, given your client’s (or perspective client’s) busy schedule, you don’t always get that. When you come across those cases, you should know how to maximize the time you have to make a winning sales pitch.
At the end of the day, it will always come down to making every slide—and second—count. At pitchdeck.com, it’s our business as pitch deck experts to create pitch decks that help our clients sell their business in the boardroom.
Prospects will have their eyes and ears open to pitches that are unique. These are our tips on how to carefully create a pitch deck that can successfully sell your business:
Open Strong
When time is short, the audience’s attention is your most valuable resource. You need to take control of it wisely. This makes your opening slide the most crucial, as this will set the tone of your pitch. Failure to grasp your audience’s interest from the get-go could be a telltale sign of a failed pitch attempt.
Having a strong hook is an effective strategy to catching your audience’s attention. This can be done in several ways:
Make a Provocative Statement
These are meant to challenge your audience’s ideas. It entices them to listen in to what you have to say. After all, it’s only natural to want to hear someone back up their statements after hearing bold claims that catch them off guard.
Additionally, highlight shocking numbers to drive the impact of your statement.
Ask “What If?”
Engage the imagination of your audience by proposing a unique and beneficial scenario. This simple trick subconsciously pushes audience members to put themselves into the scenario you propose. It’s a great foundation to the narrative you’re trying to build throughout your pitch.
Engage Visually
Complement your opening statement with an image that’s relevant and impactful. It will draw in your audience’s eyes and improve their comprehension of your message. This one-two punch of content creates a clear message that your audience can easily latch on to.
Stick to Your Core Message
You can afford to meander through every minute
detail about your company. A good sales pitch delivers a clear message, not a
long one.
Knowing that you don’t have much time on your hands
means you don’t have many slides to work with either. Treat each slide like a
crucial chapter to your story, presenting new and thought-provoking information
with every click. But remember that they all should contribute to your core
message. The last thing you want is for them to feel like their precious time
was wasted by slides that ultimately served very little purpose.
Tailor Your Content
Being prepared will save you time. Before you step into to the boardroom, beware of who exactly you are presenting to. Is it the CEO? Or a specific department within a company? Put yourself into the shoes of your audience and consider the content you want to see from a pitch deck.
Audiences will feel a deeper connection with your pitch when it feels like the content was made for their needs specifically. Having a unique pitch deck for each one will reduce the feeling of repetition for yourself as a presenter.
pitchdeck.com Is Your Pitch Deck Expert
Need help for your next big meeting? Contact us and we can create a winning pitch! From pitch decks to animated marketing videos, we are capable of crafting a variety of pitch materials designed to boost communication and drive better business.
Our team of pitch deck designers, writers and animators collaborate diligently to ensure every element of a pitch is treated excellently. We’ve worked with clients from every industry, creating pitch decks that sell regardless of topic or scale. The refined skills of our team consistently provide world-class design standards that boost the image of our partners. Let us help you inject new life into your pitch decks and raise your business towards new heights.
We have helped spark million-dollar growth for
businesses around the world. The growth of our clients is our biggest measure
of success. Together, let’s achieve greatness through the unlimited
capabilities within PowerPoint! Reach out now to get a quote free of charge.
The SaaS tech industry is one of the biggest sectors in the world and shows no signs of slowing down. New players from every corner appear each day, all of whom claim to bring the “hottest” product on the market.
This hyperbolic sales pitch is a very common practice but is ultimately a misguided one. For a business to land big prospects, their sales pitchhas to deliver more than just big claims. Because the market is so crowded with new products, audiences need to see an extra bit of flair to really sell them on something new.
At pitchdeck.com, we know what it takes to make your pitch deck match your cutting edge idea and we’ve helped countless clients succeed once they had their foot in the door.
Prospects will tune into pitch decks that are unique and standout. How can you carefully create a pitch that successfully sells your business?
Engage Visually
Humans are naturally visual creatures. One of the most common mistakes people make in their sales pitch is their overreliance on text. Blocks of text are not only unappealing to look at, but they can also be counterproductive. Why overexplain when you can say so much with just an image? After all, our brains can process images in just under 13 milliseconds.
By adding more visual flair to your pitch deck, you automatically make it easier for audiences to connect with what you’re selling. Since people are more likely to be visually-oriented learners, images help make your pitch more memorable.
Concise Message
Everyone likes to talk big when making a sale. But when everyone is talking big, then no one ever truly stands out. Instead of trying to speak with the loudest voice in the room, speak with a purpose. Condense the content of your pitch deck to the very essential pieces of information. There will be cases when you’ll be speaking to very powerful people who have very little time on their hands. The faster they are able to understand what you offer, the faster they can decide on when to start buying.
Take the time to carefully curate your slides with content that best fits the interests of your audience. Put yourself in their place and consider what you’d like to hear and see from a sales pitch. Having even just a small grasp of their mindset will help you in the process of refining your sales pitch.
Rehearse Before the Big Meeting
There’s a stark difference between a well-practiced presenter and one who prefers to wing it. While some do prefer to do things on the fly, the style tends to devolve into stammered ramblings that fail to effectively get the point across. Practice runs help you clean up your delivery. The more you run through your pitch, the more likely you’ll catch areas that could use improvement. Once your delivery is perfected, you’ll have no problem projecting the right information to your audience.
High-level clientele will know a practiced speech when they see it. This will reflect your commitment to mastering the facets of your business. While this may not directly affect the content of your pitch deck, your confidence as a presenter will play a large part in successfully selling your business to new partners.
pitchdeck.com is Your Pitch Deck Expert
Need help for your next big meeting? Contact us and we can create a winning pitch deck! From pitch decks to animated marketing videos, no one helps you boost communication and drive better business like we do.
We’ve worked on over one million slides for +3,000 global clients. Our experience has taught us that every pitch deck has the potential to be a unique and impactful sales tool. It’s a matter of knowing how to use PowerPoint to its full potential. Most people only ever utilize the surface-level features of PowerPoint without realizing what can be accomplished using the program.
We’ve worked with clients from every industry, creating pitch decks that sell regardless of topic or scale. Let us inject new life into your pitch and raise your business towards new heights. Reach out now to get a quote free of charge.
Marketing is the backbone of business. It is how communication lines between businesses and consumers are formed. All of the world’s biggest companies would not have achieved their prominence without the support of a masterfully crafted marketing plan. Regardless of product or industry, the principles of marketing are focused on creating connections to generate more sales for the company.
At pitchdeck.com, we specialize in an unsung, yet powerful marketing tool: Pitch Decks. Our team of expert pitch deck designers is fully trained to craft pitch decks that help our clients sell their business in the boardroom. Even when content may seem too much to contain, we always find ways of enhancing the very best aspects of our clients to deliver amazing pitches.
It’s critical for businesses to present a consistent voice in their marketing strategies. Whether they are connecting with consumers or potential investors, the overarching principles of marketing are always the same: Product, Place, Price and Promotion. In this article we will discuss how marketing’s four P’s apply to creating winning pitches.
Product
Target markets may vary, but the end goal of almost every business is to sell products. The structure of your sales pitch should effectively showcase what you are offering and how it’s different from the rest. Whether you’re pitching to potential investors or consumers directly, your slides must clearly present information in a concise and digestible manner. The more your audience understands your product and its value, the more likely they are to purchase.
To give life to your product, craft a narrative for your Pitch Deck. This should build on the ideas of how your product fits into the needs of your audience. A narrative makes it easier for audiences to connect with your message and develop a more meaningful understanding of what you are offering.
Price
Once you provide the details of your product, you must then name your price. This will be the tipping point for most audiences. This makes it important to be transparent with them throughout your pitch. Especially if you are speaking to potential investors, you will need to explain clearly where their money will be going and how it will directly affect the quality of the product. For consumers, they will want a breakdown of why your product is worth their money and if it will truly add value to their lives.
The success of a business depends on more than just the quality of the product. Your sales pitch should illustrate the marketing and advertising plans you have for your product. Your audience will want to know exactly how you plan on getting consumers to buy your products. Otherwise, what value is there in a product that no one knows about? With a sound plan to boost your visibility, investors can get a clearer scope of how your product can generate income in the future.
Place
Just because a pitch deck ends does not mean your sales pitch does, too. Provide your audience with clear directions on how to reach you afterwards. This “place” can be via email, website, or mobile numbers. It will be important to your audience knowing that you’re accessible in order to start doing business. By directing your audience to where they can reach you next, you will subliminally challenge them to make the next move. This engages them to keep the conversation going and further develop the connections you’ve built through the pitch. Knowing where and how they can reach you will be important for audiences to hoping to reach out.
pitchdeck.com is Your Pitch Deck Expert
Are you still struggling to create killer pitch decks? We are always here to help you out! From pitch decks to animated marketing videos, we are capable of crafting a variety of pitch materials designed to boost communication and drive better business.
We’ve worked on over one million slides for +3,000 global clients. Our experience has taught us that every pitch deck has the potential to be a unique and effective sales tool. It’s just a matter of knowing how to use PowerPoint to its full potential.
Our team of pitch deck designers, writers and animators collaborate diligently to ensure every aspect of your pitch is handled with the utmost expertise. We’ve worked with clients from every industry, delivering effective pitch decks regardless of topic or scale. The our team’s refined skills ensure that the world-class standards of our partners are always met. Let us help you breathe new life into your pitches and elevate your brand’s image in the boardroom.
These days, to stand out in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries, companies need to drive meaningful activity at every stage of the buyer’s journey—from creating awareness to validating their expertise to closing those highly-coveted prospects.
It’s not hard to understand why. After all, pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms operate within mammoth industries ($188 billion and $112 billion, respectively).
Standing out, therefore, is a must.
In addition to other marketing efforts, like harnessing content marketing, which drives both awareness and expertise, pharma and biotech companies need to make sure their marketing and sales pitches are doing everything they can to help educate and close prospects.
So what does this caliber of pitch look like?
In this article, we will take a look at what makes a good pitch deck in the bio and pharma space.
How We Did It
We sat down with our accomplished team of designers from pitchdeck.com to discuss the sector in detail.
We had them answer the following questions for three of our customers (Johnson & Johnson, Astellas Pharma, and Pfizer) that operate in the vertical:
What were the client’s goals for the pitch?
Are there any recurring issues that pitch decks have in the biotech and pharma industries?
How did the pitch deck design strategy help accomplish these goals?
Recurring Issues with Biotech & Pharma Pitch Decks
1) Visuals Aren’t Enticing
The Pharmaceuticals sector has always had issues with having stale graphics and data within their pitch decks.
2) Poor Data Visualization
Data is generally very scientific and is hard to understand unless presented in a digestible way.
3) Inconsistent Branding
Typically, companies in the space don’t have a well-established brand or style. In large markets like biotech and pharmaceuticals, companies have a hard time standing out.
BRAND #1: JOHNSON & JOHNSON
Johnson & Johnson’s goals for the pitch:
Their audience was made up of businessmen and women eager to learn what is on the horizon for the company. Johnson & Johnson created this deck to provide an overview of the company, what they stand for, what products they create, financials, and who are some of the minds within the company. They wanted the audience to understand the core of the business.
Original pitch deck’s main issue: visuals weren’t enticing enough.
The Final Product:
How did our design enhancements help accomplish Johnson & Johnson’s goals?
Johnson & Johnson wanted to inject their brand into their pitch deck to stray away from the typical, dull pitch decks we see in that sector.
With that in mind, our goal was to keep their classic red and white colors and pair that with a modern yet minimalist design to engage with the audience in a meaningful way.
For their credo slide, we showcased pictures that tell a story of Johnson & Johnson’s mission.
It was important to showcase the many areas of the healthcare sector that the company touches and this slide helps the audience understand that by provoking an emotional response through imagery.
BRAND #2: ASTELLAS PHARMA
Astellas’ goals for the pitch:
Astellas was concerned that their message got lost with poor use of graphics and monotonous data. They had an important engagement with potential investors in their audience, so it was key to enhance their messaging through graphic design.
Original pitch deck’s main issue: Poor data visualization.
The Final Product:
How did our design enhancements help accomplish Astella’s goals?
Our strategy for this project was to take Astellas’ strong brand colors and create a bold impactful pitch deck that will help drive their message home. Astellas wanted us to highlight their company, products, and sectors they service in a way the audience would understand.
In the product introduction slide, we showcased a few of their products that were new to the market. The goal was to highlight these with meaningful imagery and short descriptions to educate the audience of Astellas’ current projects.
For the “therapeutics” slide, we used iconography to help showcase the different fields of expertise Astellas’ is concentrated in.
BRAND #3: Pfizer
Pfizer’s goals for the pitch:
Pfizer’s audience was comprised of scientists and researchers. They wanted the audience to have up-to-date information with new products, road maps, and financials.
Original pitch deck’s main issue: Inconsistent branding.
The Final Product:
How did our design enhancements help accomplish Pfizer’s goals?
Going into this project, the client and pitchdeck.com agreed that visuals were needed to drive the narrative. Knowing that we incorporated stunning imagery, that drove home the message of each pitch deck slide.
For example, for corporate responsibility, they wanted to showcase their involvement in healthcare with a strong visual that emphasized the message.
Under “leadership”, we highlighted top team members of the organization to showcase expertise in each sector. We wanted to show the audience the full breadth of their services within healthcare.
Cloud-based computing and data management is becoming the global standard for corporations. SaaS providers are leading the charge in developing the infrastructure for this digital-centric future.
SaaS providers carry all the pressure to stand out against their competition and land key partnerships. This means having an impressive sales pitch is absolutely critical for pushing a company to success.
At pitchdeck.com, we specialize in creating impactful sales pitches using PowerPoint. We are experts in utilizing the power of creative visual storytelling.
The unlimited potential within PowerPoint enables us to consistently create fresh and exciting sales pitch decks and help businesses from all industries achieve success.
Our team of pitch deck designers is fully trained to ensure that every slide is treated with masterful design that’s engaging and intuitive. From the introductory slides to closing remarks, we guarantee any audience to be hooked on your pitch.
While platforms, formats and audiences may be different from pitch to pitch, it’s essential to remember these to guide the direction of every pitch deck.
Deliver a Refined Core Message
It’s important to understand the mindset of c-level clientele in the boardroom. They carry all the power in the company but have very little time on their hands. When information is not straight-to-the-point, it’s a waste of their precious time. Getting them into the boardroom takes work. Be sure your pitch is capable of fully capitalizing on the time you have to make a strong impression.
Whether your product is tailored for enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), human resource management (HRM) or supply chain management (SRM), your core message should stand out clearly. Don’t hesitate to put the spotlight on the value your SaaS platform provides. This lets you establish expertise early on in your pitch.
Use your core message as the guiding anchor of your pitch. It should be what you always go back to when fine-tuning your content.
The moment a slide deviates from your core message, you run the risk of losing your audience. Refine your pitch deck to a point where every slide feels relevant to the story you’re telling throughout the pitch.
Visualize Data
Executives are big on data, but they will not waste time personally sifting through the raw numbers. Your job is to showcase all relevant data in ways that make understanding quick and easy.
We’ve all seen the slides that look like raw financial statements pasted onscreen. This is a common mistake that’s absolutely unacceptable. Not only are those slides unappealing to look at, they come across as lazy. It takes a bit of graphic design expertise to accomplish, but infographics are great for presenting relevant pieces of data in engaging ways. Even when the information is seemingly uninteresting, unique graphics can really improve its reception.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Want to deliver a better pitch? The secret is simple… rehearse before stepping into the boardroom. Presenting to executives is always a high-stakes affair. Considering the power their decisions hold, you cannot simply rely on “winging it” to carry yourself to success. Executives are in their position because they know all the skills necessary to take control of any boardroom. Those who just “wing it” stick out like a sore thumb and only do more harm to their business than good.
Practicing your pitch beforehand breeds confidence. Enough practice will help put you in the right state of mind to deliver an effective pitch. The more you rehearse, the more you improve. Whether it’s in your delivery or the content itself, rehearsals put you face-to-face with the imperfections that would have been unnoticeable if you had simply improvised on the day of the meeting.
Let us unlock the power of your next SaaS sales pitch deck. We’ve proudly helped our clients raise hundreds of millions of dollars for their businesses. We look forward to doing the same for you!
These days, technology and software companies need to go above and beyond to stand out.
After all, recent trends in the industry show just how difficult it can be to operate in the space.
Take the SaaS industry for example:
According to Gartner, the SaaS market should reach USD $75.5B within the next three years
Fragmentation is increasing as market entrants regularly offer new innovations (AI, business analytics, Internet of Things, migration to SaaS from traditional enterprise software)
The largest vendors are acquiring smaller and mid-sized players to increase their valuation while adding multiples of existing revenue
The fact of the matter is that even if a product or service is game-changing, failing to showcase your solution’s unique attributes will leave your business dead in the water.
That’s the immeasurable value of having a great looking and effective pitch deck in your arsenal of tools. In this article, we will take a look at what makes a good pitch deck in the technology and software space.
For those of you on the go, we’ve packaged this post into a handy PDF:
How We Did It
We sat down with our accomplished team of designers at pitchdeck.com to discuss the sector in detail.
We had them answer the following questions for three of our customers (Qorvo, Spotify, and Duolingo) that operate in the vertical:
What were the client’s goals for the pitch?
Are there any recurring issues that pitch decks have in the tech/SaaS industry?
How did the pitch deck design strategy help accomplish these goals?
Recurring Issues with Tech & Software Presentations
1) Lack Engaging Stories
B2B Technology companies consistently struggle with developing a strong storyline. This is usually due to their content being full of complex jargon.
2) Visuals Aren’t Enticing
When presenting SaaS offerings, companies tend to struggle with making their visuals enticing to their audiences while also explaining how their software works.
3) Inconsistent Branding
Typically, companies who sell SaaS offerings don’t have a well-established brand or style. In large markets like tech/SaaS, companies have a hard time standing out.
Brand #1: QORVO
Qorvo’s goals for the pitch:
Qorvo needed a pitch deck that would showcase their new technology while also paying homage to their impressive track record as a strategic partner. They were going to be presenting in front of some big time decision-makers and c-suite executives. They needed the deck to convey their forward-thinking drive as an industry leader.
Original pitch deck’s main issue: Lack of a strong story-line.
The Final Product:
How did our design enhancements help accomplish Qorvo’s goals?
Once we were provided the final content for the deck, we set out to meet the challenge outlined previously… develop a cohesive, visual story without drowning out the technical information.
Graphically, this translates into a minimalist color palette, a modest amount of visual cues like icons and photos, and a focus on the actual information needing to be conveyed.
With the graphics doing their job displaying the content, we could now focus on using animation to tell the story. The simplest way to do that is through transitions.
Between every slide, we built a quick and interesting segue that led the viewer from one layout to the next, mostly with classic fly-in animations and smooth ends.
On the slides themselves, the animations included zooms and slow pans, providing a sense of professionalism without losing interest. Transitions were quick, while animations were softer in speed. This helps the viewer feel like they are moving quickly through the pitch but still gives them ample reading time.
You can most accurately see this action when the “Qorvo by the Numbers” slide transitions into the “Strategic Services” slide and the animation that follows on that slide.
Brand #2: DUOLINGO
Duolingo’s goals for the pitch deck:
The client was looking for a lift on their company overview pitch deck. Duolingo has a very fun and vibrant brand identity, but that was missing in their deck. Being a B2C SaaS company, as well as a free language learning app, the pitch had to appeal to a wide array of audience members from all walks of life. By elevating the visuals to match their identity, Duolingo hoped to use this pitch deck in an effort to increase sign ups for their service.
Pitch Deck’s Main Issue: Unenticing visuals.
The Final Product:
How did our design enhancements help accomplish Duolingo’s goals?
From the get-go, we knew that implementing the client’s branding was only going to be half of the job.
The client wanted the pitch deck to be as interactive as possible, much like their app. After discussing it among ourselves and the client, we decided that having a hand come on screen to initiate each slide transition would be an interesting and unique way to navigate through the deck as well as mimic the app experience.
The animations also had to convey interactivity, so we leveraged several Motion Path animations with moderate pacing.
This would help to guide the viewer through the deck without working against the upbeat tone of the client’s branding. We also added some bounce to the Zoom animations we were incorporating to maintain a level of “fun” and “excitement” that directly correlated with the experience of using the Duolingo app.
We utilized an animation that we don’t always get the opportunity to use. On Slide 6, we didn’t just want to fade in the data visualization, so we implemented some Spin on the pie charts. This is typically too playful for a Tech or Financial client, so we were excited to get the chance to incorporate it.
Duolingo’s branding, coupled with the interactivity that the team was able to inject with transitions and animations, lent to a unique pitch experience that would go a long way in enticing new users for their app.
Brand #2: SPOTIFY
Spotify’s goals for the pitch:
Spotify was looking for a dynamic and engaging Company Overview pitch deck that they could use at trade shows and events. The idea was for something to play on a loop at the booth that would entice event-goers to spend some time in Spotify’s space. What’s more, they also needed the same Company Overview deck to be designed for static purposes.
Pitch Deck’s Main Issue: Inconsistent branding.
The Final Product:
How did our design enhancements help accomplish Spotify’s goals?
Our first task was to create the static version of the pitch deck. We knew that it would be more difficult to make the static deck look dynamic and enticing than the animated version. In order to accomplish that, we leveraged Spotify’s use of color gradients in conjunction with circular, bubble-like shapes.
On each slide, we changed the color palette to create a new mood. This has a similar effect to different genres of music. Along with the colors, we used pictures of people we thought would be listening to something the other was not.
With the static deck complete, we set about animating the different components of the slides so there would never be a dull moment.
Additionally, we broke up the content a bit so the viewer was only focusing on one message at a time. This had a dual effect of giving them ample reading time, but also keeping them engaged more than a giant wall of text would.
We used several types of animations in this deck, including pan, grow, motion paths, pulse, spin and appear. We also used gifs to create a continuous flow of music notes. It’s a deck that could be set to any type of music and seamlessly be animated to the rhythm.