The Art of the Social Media Pitch

The Art of the Pitch

One of the demands of social media marketing is that it be conducted in Real Time. We hear a lot about prioritizing kinetic over static. Because social media marketing is so new, and there are so many people actively (and passively) engaged in this new medium, its evolution is moving very quickly. Brands, businesses, agencies and the independent consultants, are all out there experimenting with their ideas, discarding poor performing ones and tailoring solutions to fit customer’s needs, capabilities and importantly, budgets. In this nascent stage of social media marketing, the evolution is fast and furious.

This manifests in a number of ways but today it has occurred to me to discuss how this evolution is effecting the primal act of social media marketing: The Pitch.

The marketing pitch is a curious beast. It is often a mix of overviews, education, entertainment, raw ideation, implementation, metrics, schedules and cost projections. I’ve probably written 50 pitches in the past 6 months. Each one is different. But just how different do they need to be?

The Authenticity of the Social Media Pitch

It is accepted wisdom now that authentic outreach is one of the hallmarks of effective social engagement. I believe that authenticity is here to stay. Therefore, the pitches that are created to land social media work have to reflect that authenticity. They cannot be standard fare. The tools and implementations may be roughly the same from client to client, but exact shape of each campaign requires a crisp tailoring, one that captures and encapsulates the specific needs, history, expectations and personality of that client.

It is on the last point that I believe social media marketers need to pay particular attention. Every client I have spoken to, pitched or worked with has widely different personalities. Some are fun and casual, others are more business-oriented and formal. Most everyone is somewhere in between. I don’t know what standard practice is in traditional media marketing, but for me, I require a good deal of face time with potential clients before I feel I can sit down and write something with them. I say with them, because even though they are not literally standing over my shoulder or sitting on my couch as I write, I basically operate as if the client is in the room. As if the details and particular angles my pitch takes on are part of the conversation that that client and I have already initiated.

So How Do You Tailor Your Pitches?

It is all about listening. When I go to meet with clients the first time. I bring nothing. No note pad, no phone, no recording devices. Since I am working primarily with restaurants, these meetings are taking place in the restaurants usually during the off hours. And because even in the off hours, in between lunch and dinner service for instance, restaurants are a buzz of activity, I get to see what kind of operation they run. Are the owners/ operators constantly being interrupted to deal with this or that crisis? Are they answering phone calls? Do they offer me coffee or a sampling from the menu? How focused are they? How excited or terrified do they appear?

I let people talk. And then I ask a few very simple questions. But the questions are rarely what they expect. It’s not about budgets or free time. I ask them about themselves. Who are they? Where do they come from? If they are a chef I ask them about their training, about where they’ve worked in the past. What styles have they cooked in? What languages do they know? What is their wine knowledge? Where have they eaten lately?

Again, the specific answers are not as important as the conversation. It is HOW people answer that is more important to me than what they answer. Of course, listening to both ends of the conversation is important, but the personality of the client comes out in their articulation of their answers.

A talented marketer will then and only then be able to custom tailor a pitch. One that speaks directly to and for their clients. Because social media marketing is about unearthing the latent authentic voice in many brands and businesses, the people behind the brand need to be activated to develop that voice. The process above leaves the marketer with more than enough stimulus to go back, look at their previous pitches, snatch this tool and that approach, and deliver something truly customized. A couple of in-depth conversations is more than enough to give you content for several months of a social media campaign. And of course, by then, you’ll know a whole lot more about each other. And that is when the real fun begins.

Image Source: artolog on Flickr