What is a Video Pitch?

You might be familiar with the typical pitch in which you create a pitch deck complete with supporting graphics and images that you’ll use to deliver a presentation pitch to the intended audience. Perhaps you even send the pitch over and then go over the slides via phone conferences if you can’t be with the stakeholders in person? This was the “old” way of pitching a new idea, product or service. Today’s way of pitching ideas is with a video pitch, but what is a video pitch, exactly?

What is a Video Pitch?

A video pitch is a short, 2-5 minute video presentation that delivers the details that would typically be expected of a standard pitch in a fraction of the time and with much more enthusiasm and excitement. Pitch videos are attention grabbing and they are incredibly powerful compared to the typical presentation, particularly because the use of video provides so much flexibility to deliver key insights and important concepts.

Why is a Video Pitch Important?

Campaigns that utilize video pitches over standard pitch decks or other forms of marketing have up to 4X the buy-in. In fact, campaigns with video raise 114% more than campaigns without video on average. This alone shows why a video pitch is important for your business or brand. Merely creating your pitch in video form rather than in a slide or deck format will help you to get your audience’s attention, keep them engaged, and gain their support. 

If you’ve never made a video pitch before, you’re probably not sure what all the hype is about. The truth is, video pitches are valued by viewers and they’re essential to today’s marketing and advertising campaigns. In fact, when executives were asked whether they would watch a video or read about a topic, 59% of them chose the video over the written pitch. 

Recently, an investor was asked whether she preferred pitch decks or pitch videos and her response was exactly what tells us how important video pitches are: “I get decks all the time, … but I would tell you that if 85% of them sent me a video instead, I probably would answer 85% of those emails.”  She went on to state that she prefers video over decks and would appreciate higher use of pitch videos for the process of pitching new product or service ideas, investment opportunities, and business or brand buy-in.

What Makes a Video Pitch so Powerful?

Video pitches set your brand apart from the competition. Not only does a video pitch have the power to captivate the attention and interest of your audience, but with video you have the power to showcase significantly more information in a fraction of the time. A short, 3 minute or less video, is going to deliver the ideas and key concepts of your presentation in an efficient and effective manner unlike any other form or style of content.

Through the video pitch, brands are able to showcase key details about their story, bringing their pitch to life. By building up excitement and interest around your idea, and showing investors or your core audience why you’re so passionate about the idea, you can generate perceived passion and interest that will have a positive impact on the decisions made by your audience. No other type of content can do that!

Video Makes Personal Connections

The use of pitch videos can help you to build personal connections with your audience. Investors that are accustomed to paper pitch decks love the change to a video pitch. Not only does video deliver more detail and information, it also allows you to showcase your business, brand, team or other important information about your business to the investor creating a personalized experience.

Pitch videos are ideal for startups that are pitching to investors for the first time, but they’re equally useful for pitching new product ideas, services, or other information. Whether you’re fundraising or you’re trying to get your audience excited about something entirely different, the use of video over the written pitch is bound to have stronger, more positive effects. 

Video Pitches Pack a Powerful Punch

In fact, a single minute of video has the power to communicate the value of 1.8 million words. Just think about how much impact you can make with 3 minutes of video as compared to a 15-20 minutes pitch that you pack into a deck which is then reviewed by the average investor for under 3 minutes? That’s right, the average investor will receive many different pitch decks per week and they have very limited time to engage and review. Because of this, most investors only review a pitch deck for about 3 minutes.

If you’re delivering 3 minutes of written work, there’s not a whole lot of insight that will be gained. However, with 3 minutes of video, the investor can walk away with understanding of:

• Who you are.
• What you can do.
• Why you’re the best for the job.
• What you expect them to do.

So, what is a video pitch? It’s a short, 3-5 minutes pitch that is shared with investors or key stakeholders to encourage a particular buy-in or call-to-action. The use of video pitches is incredibly valuable and insightful for all involved!