Marketing collateral is broad and wide, but has numerous solutions to fit your business’s needs.
Marketing is a hugely important part of your business plan, and as a small business owner, you likely spend a lot of time thinking about it. It can be more than a little overwhelming to think about all of the different types of marketing like experiential, print, and online. There is a reason larger businesses have a devoted staff just to handle their marketing: it’s a lot of work! But when it’s just you, it pays to understand some of the basics of marketing so you can be as successful as possible with your marketing and advertising endeavors. Today, we’re discussing marketing collateral.
The Definition
To begin, let’s discuss what marketing collateral is. Essentially, marketing collateral is any of the materials that you use to promote your brand. The medium of the material isn’t important because these days, you’re promoting your brand’s message everywhere: online, through direct mail, and even in your face-to-face interactions.
The Purpose
Marketing collateral is fundamentally a tool to promote your marketing, but even when it isn’t promoting sales specifically, it will still promote your brand. Different types of marketing collateral will have different specific goals, and should contain a call to action that achieves each goal. Introductory materials will aim to familiarize a potential customer with the brand, while later materials may focus more on the sale. Different types of marketing collateral should all align and work together as they guide a customer through the “buyers journey.”
The Media
Traditionally, marketing collateral has been printed material, but more and more business today is completed online (especially during the current time of pandemic). This means that marketing collateral has to go digital, so many traditional examples have developed into online versions (the print catalog becoming a PDF online one, for instance).
Marketing Collateral Examples
There are literally dozens of different types of marketing collateral, but some are more popular than others. Marketing collateral that you might use to guide a customer through the awareness stage where they realize they have a problem, for instance, includes ebooks and blog posts. A business blog is a much more common type of collateral, but both are strong tools. Your webpage is another example of digital marketing collateral, as is branded content (news articles that appeal to your brand) and marketing or re-engagement emails. Finally, there is still great physical collateral such as magazines, brochures, catalogs, and white pages.
Trust FORMost Graphic Communications for Print and Marketing Needs Today!
FORMost Graphic Communications proudly provides high-quality print and marketing solutions that produce results for your business. Since 1985, we have been providing an array of services for both national and international clients across a wide variety of industries, including all levels of government. As a privately-held company based in the Washington DC area, we are dedicated to providing exceptional services and products to each of our clients’ unique marketing needs. To learn more about our products and services for your marketing and print needs, contact us today at 301-424-4242, or visit us on Facebook, Twitter, or Linkedin for more information.