Having a CTA is really important when you are pitching. Let’s take a look at the world of advertising to understand why.
There are 2 types of marketing: brand awareness and direct response. Brand awareness marketing is for example a poster for Coke. It doesn’t want you to do anything except absorb the message that this particular cola drink is fun and a must-have part of any celebration.
Direct response marketing has the aim of getting the target market to take some sort of action: ring for a brochure, sign up for a free trial, get an introductory consultation etc.
Most big brands concentrate on brand awareness marketing. (Disney and AOL have been notable exceptions - remember their free DVDs and Internet trials?).
We smaller businesses should be dealing only in direct response marketing.
What does this have to do with networking? Just as we SMEs need direct response marketing because we are not well known enough to rely on brand awareness campaigns, neither can we rely on just brand building networking.
So at the end of your next pitch, think of some action that you’d like your audience to take. And take advantage of the most powerful marketing tool at your disposal: yourself. Make the prospect come and collect a voucher or similar from you. This will enable you to start building that essential relationship with your prospective customers.
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