Your marketing collateral is important. Here is why you shouldn’t take it lightly

Not long ago, I was wandering through the mall when a standee caught my eye.

The vibrant and attractive display informed me that a new store has recently opened up in the mall. This was a pet store.

Was I interested in buying pets?

No!

Am I a pet-lover?

Well, not really..

Did I have space for keeping pets in my studio apartment?

Definitely, not!

But did I visit the store? Well, yes!

Why? You ask!

The answer is simple: the standee seemed quite irresistible.

This was the point when I realized the importance of marketing collateral.

What do you think about when I say marketing collaterals?

Do you think about blog posts and Google ads? Well, that’s just one part of it! Marketing collateral is an extensive term that covers much more than just online material.

Here, I will tell you all about marketing collateral. From marketing collateral definition, its importance, and different marketing collateral ideas – this post will give you a complete rundown of it all!

What is marketing collateral?

Either you have an established business setup or have just started a new one, you need to tell people about it to succeed! But how do you do that?

Yes, you guessed it right! With marketing collateral.

Defining marketing collateral precisely can be challenging as it is quite a broad term. It encompasses all media material, print and digital, used by a business to communicate its message to its target audience. In other words, marketing collateral can be defined as a collection of media compiled by a business for its sales and marketing activities.

It is a representation of your brand to your potential customers. It provides your audience with a detailed overview of your business, promotes your products and services, let them know about your business capabilities, and tells them what you can offer.

You may think that investing in marketing collaterals may be a waste of money in the world of social media marketing. But that is certainly not true.

Even today, marketing collateral holds immense importance to make your business successful. Keep on reading to know about the numerous ways it can benefit your business.

Why is marketing Collateral Important?

After my experience with the marketing collateral and the pet store, I now firmly believe that marketing collateral is simply a must-have for all businesses. Either you have a small business or a large organization, an effective and attractive marketing collateral strategy will surely benefit you.

Here are a few reasons why marketing collateral is essential for your brand.

It gives a face to your brand

The marketing collateral you use to help your brand becomes its face. Your audience gets familiar with it and starts relating with it. Using adequate marketing collateral will help you represent your business in the best way possible.

Your marketing material tells your brand’s story, delivers your message to your potential buyers, and allows you to expose your business across various mediums.

In today’s world, perception is everything! You only get interested in brands that give you something incredible to look at, right? That’s precisely what excellent marketing collateral does to any business.

You should give it a read: How Design Empowers Brand Storytelling?

Image is everything for a business

Your marketing collateral can totally make or break your brand! How people perceive your brand is the first step to make it successful.

Let’s look at it through an example. What is the first brand that pops up in your mind when we say shoes? Nike or Adidas, right? Have you ever heard why is that so? Well, let us tell you. It is because of their marketing collateral. Be it their social media posts, their ads, or other marketing campaigns, and they have become synonyms to athletic footwear. All thanks to their effective marketing collateral strategy.

Like Nike and Adidas, using the correct marketing collateral can boost your brand’s image, making it successful!

Establish a connection with your target audience

Any business has two integral parts: the buyer and the seller. And marketing collateral builds a bridge between these two. And this bridge of trust between a business and its clients facilitates a profitable and robust connection.

Through marketing collateral, you are telling the story of your business directly to your customers. You are sharing the message your brand has, you are encouraging feedback, and you are providing a communication channel. In short, you are adding to your credibility!

Communicate the value proposition of your business

When you go on a shopping trip, what makes you choose one brand over the other? The offers and the benefits it provides you.

Well, that’s exactly what marketing collateral does! It helps businesses communicate their value proposition to their clients. Marketing collateral tempts customers to select the brand that provides for their needs.

So, you can undoubtedly say that marketing collateral is a marketing tool and a weapon against your competitors.

Marketing Collateral can be your sales tool

Sales rep are an invaluable asset to any business. They promote your brand, deliver its message, and help you make sales. However, even the best sales team can be ineffective if they do not have good tools in their hands.

On the contrary, with the right marketing collateral in their hands, even the most incompetent sales team can make you proud!

Collateral material enables your sales rep to be at their best during sales meetings. Take your marketing collaterals as an extra member of your sales team. Plus, if you are tired of complaints and whining from your sales team, marketing collateral can also help you get rid of all that.

It helps you generate a buzz

We all know that word travels fast in the world we live in. Oh, and how!

When people look at your marketing collateral, they talk about it! Your collateral acts as a carrier for your brand and takes it to countless places. Consequently, more and more people start talking about it, helping you create excitement and buzz for your brand.

It creates a positive vibe internally

Creating new and inspiring marketing materials for your brand causes excitement and thrill within your organization.

Let me throw in an example to help you understand it better.

I attended my friend’s official annual party. During the party, the owner announced that all the employees were getting new business cards, the sales team was bringing new marketing materials, and the company was getting a revamp!

The energy shift was undeniable! All the employees noticeably became more excited, more energized, and much more invested in the brand.

So, I can tell you with complete surety that marketing material supports team building, employee contentment and boosts your company’s overall vibe.

Something to Remember you by

Business, branding, and marketing are not about living in the moment! On the contrary, it is about remembering and not forgetting a brand when you need them.

How you ever faced the scenario when suddenly your kitchen plumbing started leaking, and you needed a plumber? And suddenly you remembered that business card a local plumber handed out to you on the street? What reminded you of that particular plumber?

Yes, that is correct! The marketing collateral.

So, a marketing material would not only tell people about your brand, but it will also stay with them whenever they need your services or products.

Well, the list of reasons that make marketing collateral inevitable for businesses could go on and on. But I am sure that the above reasons have now shown you a complete picture!

Five tips for Effective Marketing Collateral

Now you know the role marketing collateral plays in the boom of any business. But is that enough? Is creating marketing collateral all you need to give that push to your business?

Well, no.

There is a lot that goes behind producing fruitful marketing collateral. I will tell you a few helpful tips that will allow you to make some top-notch material for your brand.

• Be simple

When designing your marketing collateral, always remember that simplicity is the way to go!

It is best to use understandable words, simple designs, and non-complicated templates. When you use simple words to describe your brand, products and services, you will connect better with your audience.

• Stay Relevant

It may seem tempting to feature too much information on your marketing collateral. But trust me, that’s not what you want to do!

Stick to the information that is relevant to your brand and its voice. Do comprehensive research, know your target audience, and then create meaningful and relevant content for your marketing collateral.

• Do not overdesign

Yes, your marketing collateral should be unique and appealing, but make sure not to overdo it!

Overdesigning can not only complicate your message, but it can also make your potential clients lose interest. Moreover, it can also cause inconsistency in your content.

• Make sure to include all your contact information

Your marketing collateral should be able to tell your audience about how to connect with you. Thus, make sure that you include all your contacting information on all your marketing collaterals.

Either it is your emails address, the URL to your website, your social media handles, physical address to your office (if any), and your contact number. Make it a point to include all possible touchpoints through which your potential customers can get in touch with you.

A few Marketing Collateral ideas

Like every other thing, marketing collateral has also evolved over the past years. Now, it is so much more than some simple business cards and flyers handed out at the mall or in the streets.

Now, marketing collateral is much more technology-driven and serves a much broader purpose as compared to what it did before. You must follow the correct tactics and techniques with your marketing collateral strategy, or else all that effort would be wasted!

Well, nobody wants that, right?

So, here is a complete breakdown of some of the most effective marketing collateral ideas that can help your business in today’s world.

• Landing Pages

Landing page – the place your potential customer will land on when they visit your website.

Even though a landing page is a part of your business website, it serves a unique purpose. While the website talks about your whole business, a landing page provides a targeted message to your audience. It is specifically designed with the marketing objective in mind.

• Blog Posts

Blog posts can be the gateway to your website. This is because many consumers discover a business through search engines. These search engines usually rank websites based on the “keywords” used in their blog posts.

If you craft your blog posts correctly, they can be immensely effective marketing collateral, bringing customers to your website.

• Emails

Emails can be one of the simplest yet practical tools in your marketing arsenal. Being one of the most flexible tools, you can use this marketing collateral for various purposes.

You can easily promote your brand with every email you send. Be it grabbing new clients’ attention, delivering the news of promotions, sending out your contact info, or just reaching out to potential and existing customers – emails can be the best marketing collateral idea.

• Infographics

Infographics – the visual information!

Humans love visual demonstration! And that is the reason why infographics can be one of the most effective marketing collaterals in your arsenal.

Infographics can convey the most complex ideas in the simplest of ways. It uses illustrations, icons, graphics, designs cues, and other pictorial representations to deliver your message.

• White Paper

White papers are in-depth research studies and reports that are focused on a particular technical topic. They deliver original and technological researches, unlike blog posts.

You can put white papers behind form fills on your website, send them through emails, and use them to collect leads.

The White paper gives authority to your brand! When you feature white papers on your website, they position you as an industry expert in your field. It allows your technical expertise to shine through!

• Case Studies

Praising your own brand repeatedly can be a dealbreaker for your customers! That’s why you need to bring in the voice of others. Case studies allow you to do just that!

Incorporating testimonials and reviews from your top clients onto your website can liven up all your offers. They provide an attestation to all your claims, making your brand a lot more trustworthy and credible to new clients.

• Videos

Video content makes up 80% of all web traffic!

Yes, you heard that right! So, if you want to boost up your website’s traffic to a whole new level, make sure to use videos as your marketing collateral tool. 

These video graphic content may include:

• Video Blogs
• 2D or 3D animations
• Video testimonials
• Web Demos
• Corporate Promos
• Webinars
• Podcasts

Brochures

The tried and tested marketing collateral idea – the brochures.

Yes, the print form of business brochures does still exist. But the online version of brochures takes it to new levels. Digital brochures can include anything and everything that you feel is relevant to your brand. From plain texts to animations, or even videos – a digital brochure can be anything you want it to be!

Brochures can be used to serve multiple purposes, such as:

• Increase your brand awareness
• Educate potential customers about specific products, promotions, or services
• Communicate new features to existing customers

You should also read: Digital Design: A Closer Look Into The Digital Designing World

Newsletters

Newsletters can be referred to as the digital magazine of these times. Like any other magazine, it is also a collection of articles, images, videos, and other digital content. It communicates constant updates of your brand to your clients.

Newsletters aim at keeping customers engaged and updated with your business. It is how you stay in touch with your clients today and vice versa.

Summing up

At this point, you may be speculating if all this effort is really worth it? Well, let me tell you that it totally is!

As old school as it may sound, marketing collateral is still as important to your business as it always was! Maybe even more because of the way it has evolved over the years.

I believe that anything that allows you to connect with your potential clients is an asset to your business. And marketing collateral is an incomparable link between you and your customers. That is the reason why you should never underestimate the benefits it has to offer to your business. Make sure to understand the role marketing collateral plays in your business’s success and invest in it accordingly.

Showcase your brand the right way and watch how your business grows!

Happy Marketing!