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How to Create a Marketing Deck (Strategy, Tips & Templates)

Learn how to create a killer marketing deck with our strategy, tips, and templates. Stand out from the crowd and make your pitch irresistible.


Dominika Krukowska

12 minute read

How to create a marketing deck

Short answer

What does a marketing deck include?

  1. Company overview
  2. Market analysis (target market, market size, segmentation, trends)
  3. Pain points
  4. Product/service description
  5. Competitive analysis
  6. Marketing strategy
  7. Testimonials
  8. Call-to-action

Your company will fail without effective content to feed your funnel

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:

  • Essential elements of a successful marketing deck
  • Expert actionable tips
  • Customizable templates

Let’s go through the process step-by-step!

How to make my marketing deck engaging?

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.


1. Avoid generic covers - make effort to stand out

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:

Storydoc video cov

2. Show don’t tell

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.

3. Don’t dump data - Tell a story

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.



4. Go from static to interactive

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.

Static PDF or PPT
Interactive Storydoc

5. Personalize - one shoe does not fit all

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:

analytics_default

How to make my marketing deck more converting?

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.


1. Know your target audience

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.


2. Focus on benefits and the value you provide

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?


3. Use social proof

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:

  • Showcase logos of your most noteworthy clients. This can establish your brand as a trusted partner in your industry and give your audience a sense of confidence in your offering.
  • Display customer reviews and ratings. Sharing positive experiences from real customers can demonstrate the value and benefits of your product or service.
  • Highlight any awards your company has received. This can include industry awards, recognition for innovation, or customer service, and can help build credibility with your potential customers.
  • Leverage influencer endorsements or case studies. Partnering with an influencer who aligns with your brand values and creating influencer marketing strategies can help you reach a wider audience and build trust. Similarly, sharing case studies of real customers is a powerful way to showcase the value of your solution.

Here's an example of a social proof slide:

Testimonials

4. Use data to back up your claims

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:

  • Provide statistics that support your claims - Numbers speak louder than words. If you want to show your audience why your product or service is the best choice, use statistics and data to back it up.
  • Use infographics to visualize your data - Data can be overwhelming and boring to look at. But, by highlighting key statistics and trends with infographics, you can make your data more engaging and interesting.
  • Share customer success stories with quantifiable results - People love stories, especially those that involve a happy customer. Share stories that show how your offering has helped customers achieve measurable results. This can be anything from increasing revenue to reducing costs, saving time, or improving customer satisfaction.


5. Highlight your unique selling points

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.


6. Don’t use a thank-you slide - end with a next step

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%.

Embedded calend

Marketing deck concept and structure

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.


Concept: popular marketing deck concepts include

  • The problem-solution-resolution framework - it identifies a common problem, offers a solution to that problem, and then shows the results or benefits of implementing that solution.
  • The hero's journey - it takes the audience on a journey of transformation, typically starting with a relatable challenge or obstacle, followed by a journey to find a solution, and culminating in a successful outcome.

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.


Structure: what to include in your marketing deck

  1. Company overview - Provide a brief overview of your company, including your mission, values, and key offerings.
  2. Market analysis - Conduct a thorough analysis of your target market, including size, segmentation, and current trends.
  3. Pain points - Clearly articulate the pain points or challenges that your target audience is facing and how your product or service can address them.
  4. Product/service description - Describe your product or service in detail, highlighting key features and benefits that differentiate it from competitors.
  5. Competitive analysis - Analyze the competitive landscape and identify how your offering stands out from other options in the market.
  6. Marketing strategy - Outline your marketing strategy, including channels and tactics you will use to reach your target audience.
  7. Testimonials - Showcase customer testimonials or case studies that demonstrate the value of your offering and build trust with potential customers.
  8. Call-to-action - End your marketing deck with a clear call-to-action, encouraging your audience to take the next step in engaging with your brand.


Here's our recommended deck storyline:

7

Marketing deck design

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:

  • Animation - Adding animation to your deck can help bring your content to life and capture your audience's attention. It can also help to explain complex ideas or processes in a visually engaging way.
  • Interactive content - By encouraging your audience to interact with your content, you can boost engagement and build a stronger connection with your target audience.
  • Scroll-based reading - A scroll-based reading format can make it easier for your audience to follow along with your content and retain information, improving the overall user experience.
  • Mobile-friendly - With more and more people accessing content on their mobile devices, it's crucial to ensure that your marketing deck is mobile-friendly, so your audience can engage with your content on the go.
  • Stay on brand - Your marketing deck is an extension of your brand, so it's important to ensure that it reflects your brand's values, personality, and messaging to create a cohesive and recognizable brand image.


Here's an example of a product marketing deck from one of our clients:

Yotpo

A SaaS product one-pager delivered as an interactive story with immersive visuals, animation, and live data.

Marketing deck file format type (pros and cons)

File format typeProsCons
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
PDF- 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

Marketing deck best practices

To ensure your marketing deck is effective and stands out, there are some best practices to keep in mind:

  • Keep it concise and focused: aim for 10-20 slides that cover only the most important information.
  • Use a consistent design: maintain a clean and cohesive visual style throughout the presentation.
  • Use clear, concise language: avoid using jargon or overly technical language that may be confusing to your audience.
  • Tell a story: structure your presentation around a narrative that captures your audience's attention and builds a compelling case for your proposal.
  • Use data and visuals to support your points: back up your claims with hard data, and use charts, graphs, and other visuals to help convey complex information.
  • Personalize your content: tailor your presentation to your audience's needs and interests, and avoid using generic templates or messaging.
  • Include a call-to-action: end your presentation with a clear call-to-action that outlines what you want your audience to do next.

How to measure marketing deck success?

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:

This is a video label

How to optimize your marketing deck?

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:

  • Tailor the content and design to the preferences and needs of your audience.
  • Incorporate interactivity such as clickable elements or animations to engage the audience and make the marketing deck more memorable.
  • Use a consistent branding strategy throughout the marketing deck to create a strong visual identity and reinforce brand recognition.
  • Use A/B testing to compare the effectiveness of different versions of your marketing deck.
  • Make data-driven adjustments to your deck.
  • Ensure your marketing deck is mobile-friendly and accessible across different devices and platforms.

Create your best-ever marketing deck from a template

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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Dominika Krukowska

Hi, I'm Dominika, Content Specialist at Storydoc. As a creative professional with experience in fashion, I'm here to show you how to amplify your brand message through the power of storytelling and eye-catching visuals.

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