Whether one works in sales, advertising, or marketing, having the skills to effectively create and present a pitch is key to thriving in one’s role. In fact, being able to communicate ideas and bring one’s vision to life in this way can play an important role in many various career roles across industries.
Unfortunately, developing a creative pitch isn’t always as easy as it seems. However, there are key aspects of the development process that one can focus on to ensure that one is getting their point across. Namely, doing adequate research that helps support claims and give one’s ideas validity. Understanding the significant role that research plays in producing excellent ideas for pitches can make it easier for one to master the process.
Here is the importance of research in generating winning ideas for creative pitches.
Understanding Pain Points
When making a pitch in any scenario, understanding an audience’s pain points can be a vital aspect of persuading them of something. In essence, pain points are the challenges or problems that a target audience experiences. For example, if someone were a tupperware salesman, it would be important to know their audience’s pain points.
While they may be operating under the assumption that their audience desires more convenience, the truth may be that they want to make a positive impact on the environment. Understanding where one’s audience is coming from is key to being able to convince them of something.
Unfortunately, determining an audience’s pain points isn’t always intuitive. Much like the hypothetical salesman was giving the wrong pitch based on a faulty notion, anyone giving a creative pitch is at risk of doing the same thing when making assumptions. Thankfully, there is an effective method for determining pain points. Namely, doing research on one’s audience.
The more research one is able to do on an audience, the easier it will be to understand them and their pain points. With this knowledge in hand, the perfect creative pitch that addresses their pain points can be crafted, practiced, and perfected. In this way, research can play a key role in helping individuals and teams come up with the perfect ideas to convert the audiences they’re pitching.
Sparking Creative Thinking
When it comes to being creative and generating novel ideas, it can sometimes be difficult to consistently think of new things. To avoid this form of creative block, it can be incredibly useful to take advantage of the act of researching various topics related to the pitch. This is because the act of research itself can help spark new ideas by allowing one the chance to be inspired by various stimuli that trigger novel thoughts, ideas, and mental connections.
One phenomenon that commonly happens when exposing oneself to new ideas is connections between seemingly unrelated ideas. This interplay of ideas can lead to the creation of new ideas and solutions to problems.
For those developing a creative pitch, these insights can be extremely useful and effective, helping make pitches resonate with audiences due to their creative nature. As such, those working on these types of projects can help spark their creativity by engaging in research that helps to inspire and spark new ideas.
Validating Ideas
In most, if not all, creative pitches, the aim is to convince someone that one’s idea is credible and valid. Without believing this, audiences won’t be convinced enough to buy a product, accept a deal, or hire a firm. Fortunately, doing adequate research can help one substantiate their claims and present them in an effective manner.
For example, imagine a marketing agency pitching an electronics company on its campaign to market to older adults. The electronics company may incorrectly believe that this isn’t a demographic that it should be targeting. By showing the electronics company stats on older adults’ growing interest in electronics, the marketing agency is able to validate their claims and make it easier to persuade their clients.
The use of clear research can be especially useful when there are communication barriers between those pitching an idea and the audience. This is especially true in international business, where it’s both ethical and important to ensure that everyone understands the pitch. This being the case, research can play a significant role in validating ideas in pitches and helping make them clearer to a wider audience.
Identifying Unique Selling Points
For most teams and individuals presenting a creative pitch, it’s important to have a unique selling point that distinguishes them from others. This can be offering a cheaper product, a more environmentally friendly service, or years of experience in a certain niche industry. Without this, audiences may not feel convinced that a specific pitcher is the right person to trust.
However, finding a unique selling point can be more difficult than it seems. Fortunately, the act of researching various topics, such as consumer problems, can help illuminate certain angles and ideas. In this way, teams and individuals who are developing creative pitches can have an easier time determining what makes their offer unique and different from competitors.
In addition to finding a unique selling point, doing research on competitors also allows one the opportunity to find flaws in other offerings. By doing so, one is able to include these flaws in one’s pitch and show how one is different and won’t make the same mistakes as competitors. As such, using research to develop a unique selling point and differentiate oneself from the competition is a great way to streamline the process and make one’s creative pitch more effective.
Research Can Make Creative Pitches More Effective
While creative thinking and presentation skills are important aspects of creative pitches, research can also play a vital role in the process. By doing thorough research, those developing creative pitches can improve their pitches significantly in many ways ranging from understanding pain points to validating ideas.
Though it may not seem as glamorous as some of the other aspects of developing creative pitches, research can help individuals and teams generate winning ideas that sway audiences.