Sounds familiar? You pour yourself into planning a new marketing strategy. You analyze your existing customers, uncover their pain points, and learn how to position your product or services as the best solution. But just as you’re about to put it all together… you get stuck.
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Try as you might; you just can’t figure out which marketing collateral to use. There is just so much to choose from, after all. And a lot of it seems so alike.
I get it; it’s not an easy call. Using the wrong type of marketing collateral can seriously damage your brand. Shoving sales messages at prospects when you should be educating them can scare away potential customers too.
And they may never forget about it.
(The ever-growing stream of blog posts mocking such brand marketing mistakes proves the point.)
So, how are you supposed to choose?
That’s what I’ll help you with today. In this guide, we’ll review almost every type of marketing material you could use and talk about each of them. We’ll also discuss when to use each of them and why.
So, let’s begin.
What is Marketing Collateral?
The term – marketing collateral – refers to any piece of media that you can use to promote your company, product, or service.
And so, when someone speaks of marketing collateral, they could be talking about flyers, banners, store signs, emails… But, as you’ll shortly see, they can also be referring to digital content, websites, product content, product images, landing pages, white papers, content marketing assets, and practically everything in between.
What is the purpose of creating marketing collateral?
We already discussed the broad use of collateral – You know that marketing collateral can assist you in business promotion.
However, there are several other benefits of having marketing materials for your brand:
Building brand awareness – Many types of collateral help educate customers about a product or service. They don’t necessarily directly assist with sales. But without them, it would be harder for a brand to get customers interested in their products.
Communicating the value of a product – Similarly, many types of marketing collateral focus on ensuring that the target audience understands what value they could get from the product or service.
Boosting decision-making – All the benefits we’ve discussed so far focused on presenting and positioning a product or service. But marketing collateral can also help you convince customers who’ve reached the bottom of the funnel that your product is worth their consideration. Moreover, many marketing collateral types outline the benefits and make arguments to make the buying decision.
With all that in mind, let’s review the most popular and effective types of marketing collateral.
24 Best Types of Marketing Collateral
#1. Brand and Logo
Both logo and brand are probably the most overlooked types of marketing collateral. Yet, at the same time, they are the most important elements of any marketing campaign.
Logo, branded colors, typography, and many other elements form the foundation of a brand. That, in turn, is the backbone of almost every marketing campaign.
It’s hard to consider brands like Apple, Nike, and others without immediately thinking about the swoosh or the bitten apple, right?
#2. Website
Regardless of what your business does, what products or services it sells, and to whom, it needs an online presence.
The website helps your business to get found online. It provides a reference point for potential customers looking for what you sell and offers information and advice to help those seriously considering buying from you make the right call.
#3. Content
Publishing content marketing assets like blog posts or long-form content allows you to reach customers at every stage of the buying journey.
- Educational content helps you engage potential customers at the awareness stage of the funnel.
- Other content types like case studies, whitepapers, lead magnets, product sheets, and more help you engage people at the evaluation and the buying stages.
Not to mention that content can also help you build thought-leadership, position you as an expert, build your brand, and establish your credibility across the entire funnel.
#4. Lead generation assets (i.e., ebooks, whitepapers, etc.)
As the name suggests, these marketing assets assist in generating leads across the entire funnel.
Ebooks, whitepapers, content upgrades, and many other assets allow you to attract highly-qualified visitors and convert them into leads.
There are, however, certain differences between these marketing collateral types.
Typically, you create ebooks to target the top of the funnel audience. Ebooks let you educate and inform your potential customers and position you as the expert and authority in your space.
SEMrush, a digital marketing software company, for example, has built an extensive library of ebooks that help its audience understand different aspects of digital marketing.
Whitepapers, on the other hand, provide more in-depth information, often explaining a technical concept and providing readers with the information they need to make a buying decision. For that reason, whitepapers are an ideal lead generation asset for the middle-of-the-funnel.
Finally, content upgrades are simpler assets that expand a particular piece of marketing content by offering additional information not included in the original content. For example, you include calls to action to them in the original content and allow users to access them in return for signing up with their contact information.
Because of their simplicity and focus on expanding a particular topic, content upgrades work best for building an email list and generating large volumes of cold leads fast.
#5. SEO content
SEO content is content you publish with the intention to rank well in search engines. This content focuses first and foremost on answering queries and questions your potential customers ask online. Because of that, SEO content allows you to position your brand along the entire journey, engage those visitors with highly-valuable information, and start building a strong connection with them while pushing them further into your funnel.
Some of the most effective types of SEO content include:
- Blog posts
- SEO pillar pages
- Content hubs
- SEO landing pages, and more.
#6. Landing pages
Landing pages are the marketing collateral you use to send advertising and other targeted traffic. These landing pages are specific to an offer or advertising campaign and provide a strong reference point for people clicking on your ads.
#7. Infographics
Infographics are content marketing assets visually presenting statistics or a specific data set. A typical infographic can consist of charts, graphs, and other visual elements that help communicate complex data points.
Although infographics are educational, you can use them throughout the entire buying journey and engage potential customers at every step.
#8. Event collateral
All the materials you create for events – from brochures, flyers, and business cards you print especially for the event to event display booths and more – are also part of your marketing collateral.
All these materials provide customers with information about your business, product, or service and show them what to do next should they decide to buy from you.
#9. Case studies and testimonials
These types of marketing collateral often serve as lead generation assets. However, since you could use them for other purposes, we’ve included them as a separate item on this list.
Case studies work particularly well at the consideration stage of the buying cycle. This is because they aim to show potential buyers how well your product or service has worked for other clients through demonstrating their success stories.
Testimonials work similarly but can also help you engage customers at earlier stages of the buying process. Testimonials are also shorter, and often, you use them as part of other marketing collateral. For example, you place them on the website and flyers and use them as part of your ad copy.
#10. Product visuals
WIth the product experience moving online, brands need to create more and more content to help customers experience the product without holding them in their hands. That’s where product visuals like images, 3D presentations, product overviews, and more come into play.
This type of marketing collateral allows brands to provide a satisfying shopping experience in a digital era.
#11. Product catalogs and product pages
Traditionally, product catalogs helped companies describe the features and benefits of their products to customers. In a digital setting, however, the role is now being played by product pages. These marketing assets provide customers with all the information about a product, outline its benefits, and allow them to order it online.
#12. Product comparison pages
Product comparisons target customers at the evaluation stage of the funnel. Brands use this marketing collateral to outline how their product compares to the competition and position themselves as the go-to solution.
Typically, these pages compare two or more products, outlining their features and benefits, and also presenting their shortcomings.
#13. Business proposals
Proposals may seem like something you send once the marketing has done its job. However, they are confidential documents you send to customers interested in buying from you to outline your terms and conditions, the pricing, and the scope of work.
In truth, however, these assets are one of the most important and powerful marketing collateral you could be sending.
Why? Because, often, a business proposal is the final marketing asset a potential customer sees before engaging with you.
#14. Presentations and slide decks
For many salespeople, presentations and slide decks are the best way to show prospects more information about the benefits of using their products or services and convince them to buy.
Presentations and slide decks are highly visual and focus on creating a narrative that guides a prospect from understanding how a product or service benefits them to providing additional information to help them make a buying decision.
#15. Email newsletters
Newsletters are not new. Companies have been mailing newsletters to customers long before the Internet. 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers. 33% of marketers send weekly emails. Another 26% send emails multiple times per month. They do it to engage their audience, establish their authority and connect with new customers.
#16. Transactional emails
Newsletters, typically, engage audiences before they buy. You send transactional emails after someone has made a purchase. These emails can include order confirmation, delivery status updates, and other customer communications about their purchases.
But don’t make the mistake of not considering these messages as marketing collateral. These emails reinforce your brand and authority, build trust, and ensure repeat business.
#17. Re-engagement emails
Re-engagement emails help you communicate with customers who initiated and abandoned their purchases. You can also use these emails to re-engage existing customers and get them to purchase or subscribe to a higher price plan.
#18. Business reports
Reports help companies leverage preliminary research and data to build trust and authority. Business reports can focus on presenting current research and findings to highlight specific points or outline the current state of affairs.
#19. Social media content
Social media remains one of the most powerful channels for connecting with and engaging a target audience. And there is a whole range of marketing collateral you can create for that purpose:
- Social media profiles to tell potential followers who you are
- Images and visual content that quickly capture their attention
- Social media posts tell a story and engage your audience in a conversation.
#20. Online business listings
In many industries, business listings are equally important to the company’s website. What’s more, many service companies, for example, often receive more leads from their Google My Business or Yelp profiles than intake forms on the site.
These listings include all company’s business details, outline services it provides, and even let customers read reviews and testimonials from others who have already worked with the business.
#21. Online ads
Placing paid advertisements on Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other online platforms is one of the most effective ways to promote a business and reach highly-targeted audiences fast. And naturally, these ads contain visuals and copy that forms part of your marketing collateral.
#22. Explainer videos
Explainer videos are becoming more and more popular. This is mainly because these videos are highly effective at explaining what a product or service does. These videos present the pain point a product helps eradicate and show precisely how it happens. Many software companies, for example, include explainer videos in their marketing collateral to help potential customers understand how their products can deliver value.
#23. Swag
It’s true – We rarely see things like branded t-shirts, mugs, or pens as marketing collateral. And yet, according to research, 60% of consumers keep marketing swag for two years. This means that they and many other people get exposed to your brand regularly for quite some time.
Amazing, right?
#24. Podcasts
Podcasts are one of the most successful and fastest-growing types of marketing content. Episodes and shows attract audiences and generate buzz about your brand. The content is so easy that you can listen to podcasts while commuting, working out, walking the dog, or even working.
It’s no surprise that 41% of the US population listens to podcasts monthly.
How to Manage Marketing Collateral
Choosing the right type of marketing collateral is a problem. There are so many potential assets you could use, after all.
But there is another challenge you face when creating marketing campaigns – managing collateral.
Creating specific assets can become a nightmare without a system to manage the process.
So, how do other brands do it?
Well, they use dedicated content production software like CELUM.
CELUM (disclaimer: this is our product) allows you to manage content end-to-end in one unified platform and fully utilize your marketing assets across multiple digital touchpoints.
With CELUM, you can:
- Create, manage, and route content fast
- Collaborate and get projects to the finishing line
- Collect feedback and add annotations to approve any file type
- Build custom workflows and automate recurring project tasks
- Manage all digital assets, including product images, videos, and docs
- And more.
But don’t take our word for it. Here are just some of the amazing results that companies achieve with CELUM:
- Claas was able to cut down the time it took to create various marketing collateral. What’s more, their cost of producing those assets dropped by a third.
- Hansgrohe increased the efficiency of digital asset production
- Shop Apotheke improved their time-to-market with our solution.
Unlock the power of your content today.
Looking to achieve similar results and streamline how you produce and manage marketing collateral?
