Learn how to create a killer marketing deck with our strategy, tips, and templates. Stand out from the crowd and make your pitch irresistible.
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Without the right content delivery in place, your deck will fall flat and fail to capture your audience's attention. This will lead to missed opportunities and lost revenue.
In today's crowded marketplace, it's more important than ever to make a strong first impression with potential customers.
A well-crafted deck can help you showcase your brand's value, establish your credibility, and win over new customers.
Don’t worry about losing revenue – in this blog post, I'll teach you how to create a marketing deck that sets you apart.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
Let’s go through the process step-by-step!
Creating a marketing deck that catches the attention of your busy audience may feel like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be.
With our tried and tested strategies, you’ll be well-equipped to craft a marketing deck that leaves readers excited about your offering and wanting to learn more.
The cover slide is your first impression, so make it count. Consider using video to showcase your brand's personality and unique value proposition.
According to Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing Survey, watching a video has convinced 89% of respondents to buy a product or service. For software and services, that number stands at 79%.
While people might not buy from you after seeing just one slide, our research found that they will read your deck 37% longer and are 17% more likely to take the desired action at the end.
Here's an example of a video cover:
By using visuals to support your message, you can make your marketing deck more engaging and memorable.
For example, if you're presenting data, use charts and graphs to illustrate the trends and visualize your message. If you're demonstrating your product or service, use images and videos to showcase its features and benefits.
It's important to keep in mind that humans are visual creatures, and we process visual information more quickly and easily than text.
In fact, studies have shown that people can remember up to 65% of visual information 3 days later, compared to just 10% of written information.
A marketing deck that is full of data and information can be overwhelming and hard to follow. To make it more engaging, it's important to tell a story that resonates with your audience.
I) Identify the key points you want to make - structure your presentation around them.
II) Narrate your story from the point of view of your audience persona - this will help your audience see themselves in the story. Consider their challenges, goals, and how your solution can help them achieve their desired outcome.
III) Create tension between a present (bad) state and a future (good) state - this will help create an emotional connection with your audience and motivate them to take action.
IV) Use data and examples to illustrate the consequences of failing to change the status quo - show your audience the loss involved in staying in the present state and the benefits of moving towards the future state.
V) Express your data using allegories or metaphors - this will make your data more relatable and memorable
For example, instead of saying "The level of small particle matter pollution (MP2.5) in New York is 40 μg/m3 during a 24-hour period”, you can say "Walking through 5th Avenue for 10 minutes is the same as smoking 7 cigarettes." You can also mix it with expressive visuals for added effect.
One way to make your marketing deck interactive is to use clickable links to direct your audience to additional resources. This can include links to your website, social media profiles, or other relevant content.
You can also use animation and interactive elements to lead your audience's attention through consecutive pieces of content. This can include tabs to click through or interactive calculators to fill in.
Segmenting your content for multiple reader personas is another way to boost people’s engagement and interest. This can help limit textual overload and show each persona only what they need to see.
By giving your audience something to play around with, you’re increasing the chances of your deck getting read in full by 41%. If you want to learn more, check out our page where we explain in full detail the advantage of interactive decks over static ones.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when creating a marketing deck is that not all audiences are the same. To create an effective marketing deck, it's important to tailor your presentation to your specific audience and their needs.
I) Use your audience's name and/or branding in your presentation. This can help create a sense of familiarity and make your audience feel like the presentation was created just for them.
II) Use language and visuals that resonate with your audience. This can include using images and language that are relevant to their interests and experiences.
For example, if you're presenting to a tech-savvy audience, you may want to use visuals and language that are more technical in nature.
There’s a science behind it too - our research found that personalization is the most important predictor of success, getting 68% more people to read your deck in full and making them 2.3x more likely to share it internally.
Here's an example of a personalized deck:
By creating a marketing deck that looks great and has engaging content, you’re halfway there. But, to be truly effective, your marketing deck needs to motivate your audience to take action.
In this section, we'll share tips and strategies for making your marketing deck convert, so you can get the results you want and achieve your business goals.
To create a marketing deck that converts, you need to understand your target audience.
This means identifying your ideal customer and their pain points, finding out the language that resonates with them (Voice of Customer), and understanding their buying journey and decision-making process.
VoC is now more important than ever, as 80% of companies claim to be customer-centric, but only 8% of customers agree. It’s costing companies in the US alone $136.8 billion per year, as customers move on to their competitors instead.
I) Explain how your product or service solves your customer's problem - highlighting the benefits they will receive from using your offering and contrasting the benefits you provide with the loss they suffer by failing to act.
This can create a sense of urgency and make prospects more likely to take the intended action, as fear of loss motivates more than the promise of gain.
II) Speak to your audience’s personal wants, goals, and concerns - this will create an effective message that speaks directly to your audience, it's also important to.
III) Speak to your decision maker - Rather than focusing on the needs of the organization or group, speak to the person who is making the decision. This can help create a stronger emotional connection and motivate them to take action.
IV) Offer benefits you can provide now rather than later - would you prefer $100 in hand now or $200 in a year?
In today's crowded marketplace, social proof is an essential tool for creating a marketing deck that converts.
Effective ways to incorporate it into your deck:
Here's an example of a social proof slide:
By providing statistics and quantifiable results, you can build credibility with your audience and demonstrate the value of your product or service.
Ways to use data in your marketing deck:
One of the keys to creating a marketing deck that truly stands out is highlighting your unique selling points (USPs). This means identifying what sets you apart from the competition and emphasizing it in your deck.
Practical tips:
I) Clearly define what sets you apart from competitors
Whether it's your product features, pricing, customer service, or company values, you need to identify what makes you unique.
Once you've identified your USPs, make sure they're easy to understand and communicate in your marketing deck.
II) Emphasize your company's values and mission
People nowadays want to do business with companies that share their values.
Highlighting your company's values and mission in your marketing deck can help you connect with your target audience on a deeper level, and show why you're the best choice for them.
III) Showcase any patents, proprietary technology, or unique know-how
By doing so, you’re showing that you're an authority in your industry and positioning yourself as a market leader.
This helps to build trust with your potential customers, and can ultimately help to convert them into loyal customers.
When creating a marketing deck, it's important to think beyond the presentation itself and consider what you want your audience to do next.
One mistake many people make is to end their presentation with a thank-you slide, which can be a hard stop that leaves readers with no way forward to interact with you further.
To make the most of your marketing deck, it's important to end with a specific next step that encourages your audience to take action.
This could include visiting your website, signing up for a newsletter, scheduling a demo, or following you on social media.
The key is to provide a clear call to action that makes it easy for your audience to take the next step.
Adding a singular, clear next step can increase your CTA conversion rate by 27%.
Creating a marketing deck that truly resonates with your audience is no easy task. To make your presentation more engaging and memorable, it's important to not only consider the content but also the structure.
To use these concepts effectively, it's important to tailor your marketing deck to your target audience's pain points and challenges.
By framing your solution or offering in a way that resonates with them, you can create a marketing deck that's engaging and memorable.
Structuring your marketing deck around a concept also helps organize your ideas and present them in a logical order, making it easier for your audience to follow along and retain information.
Here's our recommended deck storyline:
Creating a visually appealing marketing deck can make all the difference in grabbing your audience's attention and effectively conveying your message.
Here are some important design elements to keep in mind:
Here's an example of a product marketing deck from one of our clients:
A SaaS product one-pager delivered as an interactive story with immersive visuals, animation, and live data.
File format type | Pros | Cons |
---|---|---|
PPT | - Easily editable - Allows for animation and multimedia - Easy to modify and update | - Needs special software to create and edit - Formatting and design can shift across different devices - Limited interactivity |
- Universally accessible - Maintains formatting and design - Easy to share | - Not easily editable - Lacks interactive features - Can be hard to manage for large decks | |
Storydoc | - Rich library of pre-built templates and interactive components - New components automatically adjust to the overall deck layout - Optimized for engagement - Robust integration and personalization features - Built-in analytics panel | - Requires a subscription - Needs Internet access to present decks |
To ensure your marketing deck is effective and stands out, there are some best practices to keep in mind:
If you're investing time and resources into creating a marketing deck, it's crucial to know whether it's delivering the desired results.
Here are the main marketing deck KPI metrics you should be tracking:
1. Reading time: The amount of time spent by the audience on your marketing deck.
It can indicate the effectiveness of your message in capturing and holding their attention, which can translate to better engagement and more opportunities for conversion.
2. Conversion rate: The percentage of viewers who took the desired action after engaging with your marketing deck, such as booking a demo or making a purchase.
A high conversion rate indicates that your marketing deck effectively conveys the value of your offering and motivates your audience to take action, leading to increased ROI and revenue.
3. Engagement score: This metric measures how well your marketing deck is capturing and holding the attention of your audience. Factors like time spent, clicks, shares, and other interactions are typically used to calculate it.
A high engagement score can indicate that your marketing deck effectively resonates with your target audience, leading to increased interest and loyalty.
4. Internal shares: This metric measures how many times the marketing deck is shared within the reader's organization.
A high number of internal shares indicates that the deck is being circulated among decision-makers and influencers, increasing the likelihood of becoming paying customers.
5. Reading completion: The percentage of viewers who finish reading your marketing deck from start to finish.
A high reading completion rate can indicate that your content is engaging, informative, and valuable to your audience, which can lead to better retention and increased opportunities for conversion.
Here's a short video showing how to get started with our analytics panel:
Maximizing the impact of your marketing deck can help you reach your target audience more effectively and achieve better results.
Tips to help optimize your marketing deck:
Crafting a marketing deck that truly captivates your audience and drives results can be a real challenge, but it's well worth the effort.
After all, a strong marketing deck can be the difference between landing that big client or missing out on a crucial opportunity.
It's like showing up to a job interview in sweatpants and a t-shirt - you're not putting your best foot forward, and you're not giving your value a chance to shine.
If you want to streamline the process and create a stunning deck that leaves a lasting impact, take our interactive marketing deck templates for a spin.
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