Definition of the Marketing Collateral, The Types and How to Optimize It?

19 Januari 2023

The use of marketing collateral is not a new strategy. Yet, the concept and execution itself is worth revisiting every now and again. Like most things, it’s not static. Business environments, new technologies, and consumer trends all play a role in how customers respond to marketing collateral and how businesses use it.

 

So what better time than the present to rewrite definitions, reassess best practices, and re-evaluate if you’re really getting the most out of your efforts?

 

Definition of Marketing Collateral

 

Marketing collateral is any digital or printed material used to communicate or promote a company’s brand, products, or services. Marketing collateral includes a variety of formats ranging from printed brochures to point-of-sale posters, videos, newsletters, graphics, and more.

 

While every company has different goals and budgets, businesses that create marketing collateral typically use it as sales support tool. They rely on it to attract and gain new, qualified leads. And they use it to support existing customers, drive brand loyalty, and ultimately win repeat business.

 

With that said, marketing collateral isn't only an asset to sales teams. Many organizations also use it to achieve goals unrelated to revenue. For a company that's dealing with low employee morale, they could use marketing collateral to promote new initiatives aimed at improving workplace culture.

 

Or an organization undergoing a corporate rebrand could practice marketing collateral to drive adoption of their new brand identity and guidelines. Whatever the case, marketing collateral has applications for any audience and any goal — you just need to determine what type of marketing collateral to create.

 

Types of Marketing Collateral

 

Marketing collateral can be utilized in both traditional and digital marketing channels. Depending on your audience, budget, and goals, you can determine which types of marketing collateral as your content arsenal. While new types pop up regularly, there are some options that marketers can consistently rely on.

 

1. Blog posts

 

Perhaps the most popular form of marketing collateral, blog articles are an excellent way to attract new prospects and support your existing clients. You can create blog posts for your website or show off your expertise as a guest contributor on partner sites. Just make sure the content you're producing is helpful to your audience and not just an excuse to promote your products and services.

 

2. Brand magazines

 

Companies typically use brand magazines in two different ways: to share information about their products and services, or to support their audience through content marketing. The first use case is more promotional in nature and includes collateral like product catalogs.

 

The second strategy is less explicit, relying on articles and information that appeal to a specific audience. With this approach, a company can connect with their audience over shared interests, validate their authority, and ultimately drive customer action.

 

3. Brochures

 

Brochures are pamphlets that typically contain information about a company and its products or services. They range from simple and inexpensive booklets to high-gloss, high-design materials.
Brochures should be scannable, so leverage visuals and short, catchy copy or bullet points to tell your story. The crowded, long-form stuff has no place in brochures.

 

4. Direct mail

 

The use of direct mail, or communications sent via postal mail, has been around since ancient Egyptian times. Yet, it still has a place today eventhough there's a lot of junk mail in our mailboxes.
However, with the right audience targeting, you can reach people with mail they actually want. For example, if you know someone attended one of your conferences in the past, a coupon for a free gift at this year’s events seems appropriate.

 

5. Displays

 

Eye-catching displays — or exhibits placed in prominent locations — come in many shapes, sizes, and formats. Roadside billboards, shelf signage, point-of-sale stands, and even interactive product kiosks are a few examples.

 

To determine the display that's right for you, start with your goals and consider your budget. Do you need a display that will grab customers' attention? Or, are you looking to engage, entertain, or educate? How much do we have to spend on this new piece? Asking yourself questions like these will help inform your strategy.

 

6. E-books

 

E-books are long-form content that individuals or businesses create to educate readers and demonstrate their expertise on a specific topic. While also educational, e-books tend to be more entertaining and less technical or in-depth than white papers.

 

They are considered premium content, so depending on your strategy, you could ask people for an email address or even a fee in return for access.

 

7. Infographics

 

Looking to present information in an easy-to-digest format? Infographics might be just the ticket. Giving readers a much-needed break from dense text, infographics are visual representations of information or data.

 

They are great for storytelling, simplifying complex subjects, and winning audience attention. Just remember that no matter how creative you get, your brand should still be recognizable.

 

8. Logos

 

Logos are an important piece of marketing collateral that have the ability to make your brand recognizable in a single glance. Your logo evokes your brand's purpose and personality, and lets the world know who you are.

 

It's a foundational element of your marketing and should be given a fair bit of attention in order to get it right. That's not to say your logo won't evolve over time, but any changes you make should be deliberate and meaningful.

 

9. Podcasts

 

Podcasts are incredibly popular – it seems like just about everyone has one these days. But just having podcast doesn't equal success. While they can pay off big time when done well, you have to really understand your audience and deliver stellar content to stand out in the crowd.

 

Podcasts aren't just a side project for a marketing team; they take dedicated resources to be successful.

 

10. Reports

 

If you have proprietary research, data, or findings, reports are an excellent way to share your learnings and prove your subject matter authority and dedication. Plus, with so much false information circulating the web, people appreciate legit intel that's backed by research.

 

And, there are more marketing collateral types that can be useful for each business model; such as reviews, sell sheets, social media, specialty items, testimonials and case studies, videos, visual content, webinars, websites, also white papers.

 

How to Optimize the Marketing Collateral?

 

Now that we got a list of marketing collateral examples to explore, it's time to get creative. Creating marketing collateral for the sake of “having something” is not worth the time, money, and energy it takes to produce and distribute it.

 

To create great marketing collateral, you need a plan, goals, and skilled people to craft effective and professional-looking materials. But that's easier said than done, right? Well, not necessarily. You just need to know where to start.

 

1. Put your audience first

 

While it may sound obvious, you absolutely must keep your audience in mind when creating marketing collateral. Who are you talking to? What are their pain points, concerns, motivators, likes, and dislikes? Understand who you're talking to and help them make a decision, solve a problem, or achieve whatever goal they're after. Only then can you achieve what you also want.

 

2. Stay true to brand

 

Regardless of how different each piece of marketing collateral is, your brand should be a constant. Whether you need to ensure designers are using the same red across logos or your marketing team only uses stock photos with a certain look and feel, you need brand consistency.

 

To safeguard against misuse, it's critical to establish brand guidelines. Technology, such as a digital asset management (DAM) platform, can also help by ensuring that people have access to marketing collateral and design files, but only to materials that are approved and on brand.

 

3. Let data inform decisions

 

You can create marketing collateral day in and day out, but unless you know (like really know) it's effective, it's not worthwhile. Figure out what's working and not working, so you can optimize your efforts. Talk to customers about what content they need, but also look at the numbers.

 

Bringing It All Together

 

There's no way around it: creating powerful marketing collateral takes time, money, and energy. But if you approach it the right way, it's a tremendous asset to your entire organization. Digital asset management (DAM), is one way to ensure you get the most out of your marketing collateral and all of the visual assets you need to create it.