The Best Types of Marketing Collateral and How to Use Them

With so many different types of marketing collateral out there, it’s hard to know which types are best for your organization to use. Depending on what you sell and what industry you’re in, certain types of marketing collateral may be more effective than others. And, if you have various types of collateral written and designed, what are the appropriate situations for using each? Using the right marketing collateral at the right time is powerful—here’s how it’s done.

Marketing collateral refers to a collection of media and marketing materials that are informative and designed to promote the sale of a product or service. This includes everything from print materials like brochures and 1-sheeters to video production. Anything that can be used to communicate your company’s value proposition, brand, and unique differentiators is considered marketing collateral.

Marketing collateral can be costly and take time to produce. A lot that goes into it—project managers oversee the creation of materials; then, of course, there are the behind-the-scenes folks (professional writers, graphic designers, video producers) who handle the creative components of your project. Despite it being costly, having marketing collateral in your arsenal will make all the difference in a B2B lead generation program. Here’s why:

• It tells your story: Not everyone speaks the language of your business. Think about it; would the owner of a heating and air conditioning company who is trying to generate HVAC leads be good at explaining to someone exactly what their company does? Maybe, but marketing collateral could explain it better. Marketing collateral tells a story about a business and their products or services in an easy-to-understand, concise way. Plus, prospects can keep it handy forever, helping you build top-of-mind awareness.
• One asset, multiple uses: Marketing collateral aren’t just great for sending to prospects; they can also help salespeople improve their sales pitch. If you find that your salespeople are frequently getting stumped on the phone, a library of internal marketing collateral could be helpful when they’re giving an elevator pitch about your business.
• It flows with the sales conversation: Prospective customers love marketing collateral; they’re easy on the eyes because they have a creative design and just the right amount of copy. Plus, it makes your business look professional and well-established. But beyond that, it also flows with the sales conversation. Tell me more about your company. Brochure. Tell me more about XYZ services. Sell sheet. Have you worked with companies similar to mine in the past? Case study. There’s a piece of collateral for every part of the sales conversation.
• It helps you close more deals and increase ROI: Having a piece of marketing collateral for every scenario will help you close more deals in your B2B lead generation program, thus increasing ROI. One expensive video or brochure won’t solve all of your problems, so make sure you have a variety of marketing collateral types.

Sales and marketing collateral are two completely different things. When used together, they make for an unbeatable combination. Marketing collateral is a great sales tool. But if you don’t use it correctly, it’ll be a waste of money. You want marketing collateral to help you achieve business goals, not hinder you from success.

Now that you know how useful marketing collateral can be, which kinds should you create for your business? The number of options can be overwhelming. Here are the six best types of marketing collateral and how to use them in B2B sales.

• Corporate Brochures
• Case Studies
• Sell Sheets
• Pitch Decks
• Infographics
• Promotional Videos

Once upon a time, brochures were just foldable pamphlets that were printed and exchanged in-person. Now, they’ve gone digital and they’re better than ever before. They summarize everything that’s important to know about your company: brief overview and history, products or services, and contact information..

When to use them: A brochure is the perfect introduction to your business. It briefly covers everything that’s important and serves as a great reference point for potential customers. When accurately distributed, brochures can expand your company’s visibility and increase brand awareness. Use brochures early on in the sales process, after the first interaction with a prospect is best.

Case studies are a critical marketing asset to have in your ensemble. The purpose of case studies is to showcase your company’s success stories; the work that you’re most proud of. Components of a case study usually include:

• The problem
• The solution
• The result
• A client testimonial
• A brief summary of your company

When to use them: Case studies are the perfect consideration stage collateral. If you have a warmer lead in your pipeline who likes what you sell, but wants to know more about your past experience, a case study is the perfect thing to drop in their inbox.

Think of a sell sheet like a brochure, except more focused on one specific idea, concept, product, or service. These 1-sheeters are great sources of information for prospects. For example, if you’re trying to find commercial cleaning leads and you offer COVID-19 cleaning services, you may want to have a sell sheet handy in case a prospect has questions. Sell sheets can also talk about an idea and assist sales reps when talking to prospects. For example, if you often receive the same rejections over and over again. Your sell sheet can outline common rejections to your products or services and a rebuttal as to why it’s wrong.

When to use them: Use a 1-sheeter if you suspect that prospect has an interest in a particular product or service that you offer. Listen for queues, as a prospect may not be straightforward in saying exactly what they’re interested in. This is why SDRs must be good active listeners when selling. Also, use 1-sheeters to inform about a larger idea/topic or internally to train.

Pitch decks, also known as sales presentations or sales decks, are essential pieces of collateral for sales teams. Sales presentations are used by account executives when on a pitch with a potential customer. They help guide the sales conversation and tell a prospect everything they need to know about the product or service you offer—from benefits to pricing to next steps.

When to use them: As you might have already guessed, pitch decks are used when an account executive has a scheduled pitch with a prospective customer. Internally, other members of the organization can use the sales deck as a reference point for information (since they basically cover everything about your offering). Sales presentations are great, but make sure you’re using other types of marketing collateral at every stage in the buyer’s journey to improve show rate; this way, the prospect actually shows up to the pitch and has a chance to see how great your sales presentation actually is.

Infographics are probably the most visually appealing asset in the marketing collateral family. Infographics are visual representations of information, data, or knowledge. They are designed in a way that presents information quickly and clearly. For a construction company, an example of an infographic would be a graphic that shows visuals about safety in the construction industry. This shows the prospect that the company takes safety seriously, and it can help the company generate more construction leads.

When to use them: Infographics can be used at every point in the buyer’s journey, but they’re most common at the awareness stage. While you’re still building awareness, it can be hard to stand out. Infographics get the job done because they’re so visually appealing.

Did you know that 64% of consumers make a purchase after viewing a branded social video? Having branded videos in your collection of marketing collateral is one of the smartest things you can do as a business. You can have videos about so many different things, including:

• General company overview
• Specific product or service videos
• Customer testimonial videos
• Case study videos/success stories

Videos can be made to include real footage or they can be animated. Either way, your prospects will love to watch them and they’ll likely result in more sales!

When to use them: Videos explain your product or service in a simple, easy-to-understand, intuitive way. Branded videos should be used if a product or service can be described with visuals in 1 to 2 minutes. Once created, use them as often as you feel necessary. Including them on your website and social media pages wouldn’t hurt either!

Are you ready to start building a full library of content and resources for your team to use when selling? You may not have the internal team to create assets on your own, but you also may not have the budget to outsource. Fortunately, at Abstrakt Marketing Group, we offer marketing collateral design services that are both cost-effective and high-quality. With our services, you get one new piece of marketing collateral per month, the type is entirely up to you. But our experts are always happy to advise on what we feel would be best for your business.

Interested in a conversation about marketing collateral services? Let’s chat → Schedule a meeting today.