As mentioned in our previous article – How do you create great Marketing Collateral to increase Sales?, all businesses require sales and marketing collateral which are either printed or digital media to convey or promote their brand message, products, or services. Marketing can be done through the use of traditional marketing materials or digital marketing materials. Traditional materials include brochures, displays, point-of-sale posters, magazines, direct mail, and merchandise. While these are popular, thanks to the Internet, digital materials such as blog articles, videos, websites, and more, have fast become the go-to sales and marketing collateral for many businesses. Of course, before embarking on any marketing campaigns, decide on your target audience and goals and then choose the right collateral.
Traditional Sales and Marketing Collateral
Traditional sales and marketing is an old-school method of spreading the word about a business’s brand, products, and services. That’s not to say that it’s completely lost its place in the world of marketing. A lot of businesses still utilize print, display, and postal or “snail mail”, finding these to be effective with their target audience. So let’s learn about the different options in more detail.
1. Brochures
Also referred to as pamphlets, they usually contain information about a business’s products and/ or services. Depending on the budget, they can be simple and low-cost or exquisitely designed and expensive-looking. Brochures aren’t meant to be bulky. Therefore, when designing them, stick to creative visuals and short but catchy copy. Keep the long-form content out of it.
2. Displays
Displays come in a variety of options such as roadside billboards, shelf signage, point-of-sale stands, and even interactive product kiosks and screens. Use a lot of bright colors and visuals to make them eye-catching and attention-grabbing. Make sure you know what you want to get out of utilizing displays as sales and marketing collateral, whether it’s entertainment, education or engagement.
3. Brand Magazines
Brand magazines are a great type of sales and marketing collateral. They are generally used in two distinct ways. One way deals with showcasing a brand’s products and services and the second utilizes content marketing to help target audiences with information they want. An example of the first case is product catalogs for brands like Voltas, Samsung, Pantaloons, etc. In the second case, we have beauty, lifestyle, entertainment and travel magazines like Cosmopolitan, Femina, Vogue, Conde Nast, etc.
4. Direct Mail
This kind of sales and marketing material refers to any mail or communications sent via the postal system. It could be in the form of mailers or even pamphlets. It’s an older way of marketing but can be effective if done right.
5. Merchandise
Merchandise is yet another very popular type of traditional sales and marketing collateral. Many businesses give out specialty items such as t-shirts, caps, mugs, blankets, bags, pens, phone chargers, stickers, water bottles, and more as a way to build relationships with customers, potential and existing, and create brand awareness. That being said, you need to offer these with a relatable theme so that customers aren’t stuck with stuff that they won’t look at twice.
Digital Sales and Marketing Collateral
Everyone makes use of the Internet today for all sorts of things. It offers a much better reach when it comes to marketing a business’s products and services. You can even take some of the traditional marketing collateral types, put them in a digital format and utilize them in your marketing strategy. Let’s take a closer look at some of the different types of digital sales and marketing collateral available.
1. Blog articles
Blog articles are a very popular marketing tool and a great way to bring in prospective customers and offer support to the current ones. If you have your own website, you can post blog articles there or become a guest contributor on sites that allow you to post for free. However, keep a balance with the type of content you generate. Ensure that you offer them information that is relevant to their needs besides promoting your products and services.
2. Videos
Everyone loves watching videos on the Internet. It’s an extremely easy and frequently used sales and marketing collateral. According to many marketers, it’s the marketing tool that offers the highest returns on investment (ROI). You can create them in different formats like product demos, how-to videos, testimonials, and so much more.
3. Websites
Your company’s website is probably your most powerful marketing platform. After all, it is literally where you’d post blog articles, videos, infographics, whitepapers, other visual content, and more. All of these make up a collection of sales and marketing collateral that you can leverage to attract potential customers as well as assist existing ones.
Creating the Sales and Marketing Collateral you need
There’s a lot of traditional and digital sales and marketing collateral that you can create and utilize to up your marketing game. If you need assistance in creating well-designed and effective content, get in touch with us at Synapse. If you need a little encouragement, we have samples of our work on our website for you to look at. If you would like to book a consultation, call us on 1800 121 5955 or email at contact@synapse.co.
