Sales Collateral: 11 Types (+ How to Make It)

Trying to close deals without the right tools is like showing up to build a house with nothing but a shovel. Technically possible, but why make life so hard on yourself?

Sure, you might make some progress, but you'll struggle to get the job done efficiently and professionally. Just like a builder needs a full toolkit to construct a house, salespeople require proper resources, tools, and technology to successfully close deals.

These tools might include customer relationship management (CRM) software, data analytics, communication platforms, and more. Without them, you're left to rely on outdated methods and guesswork, making it much harder to understand client needs, track progress, and seal the deal with confidence.

If you're struggling to convert prospects into customers, the missing piece might be effective sales collateral. You know, those strategic assets that make your offering shine and give your sales team the confidence to tackle tough conversations with potential buyers.

What is Sales Collateral?

Sales collateral refers to marketing materials that are used by sales teams to promote products, generate leads, and drive revenue. These assets serve to educate prospects and customers, build brand awareness, and support the sales process.

The main purpose of sales collateral is to help sales reps communicate effectively about products and services to buyers. It's a crucial part of sales enablement.

Well-designed collateral conveys key information, product capabilities, customer success stories, and the value proposition in a compelling way. This enables each sales rep to have more productive conversations with prospects.

Ever noticed how much easier it is to explain something when you have visual aids? That's exactly what good sales collateral does for your team – it turns abstract concepts into tangible benefits that your prospects can grasp immediately.

High-quality sales collateral is essential for companies to generate pipeline and accelerate revenue growth. According to Hubspot, 88% of sales reps who use sales enablement content in their role describe it as "moderately" or "extremely" important to making a sale.

Investing in polished, professional collateral makes reps more confident in engaging with prospects. It also builds credibility for the brand.

Now that we understand what sales collateral is, let's explore the different types you might want to add to your arsenal. After all, you wouldn't use a hammer for every home repair project – and similarly, different sales situations call for different types of collateral.

Types of Sales Collateral

Sales teams have a wide variety of sales collateral types to choose from when educating and persuading buyers. Some of the most common and effective examples of sales collateral are:

1. Brochures

Brochures are multi-page documents that provide an overview of your company, products, or services.

They serve as informative leave-behinds after sales meetings. Brochures should have compelling headlines, visually engaging design, and clear calls-to-action to guide prospects.

2. Case Studies

Case studies tell success stories of how your product or service solved problems for customers.

They build credibility by showing real-world examples. Effective case studies highlight the client's challenge, how you addressed it, and the positive results achieved.

Think of case studies as your "before and after" transformations – they show potential customers what's possible when they choose your solution. Nothing sells quite like proof, right?

3. Presentations

Sales presentations visually showcase your offering and value proposition.

They allow for storytelling and interaction during the sales process. To resonate with buyers, tailor presentations to the client's needs and challenges. Your PowerPoint skills might just be the difference between winning and losing a deal. No pressure!

4. Videos

Videos are an incredible type of sales content that lets you bring products and services to life through rich media.

They capture attention and are easy to share online. Develop videos that inform, educate or entertain prospects throughout the buyer's journey.

5. Email Templates

Email templates enable sales teams to deliver consistent, branded messages at scale, especially when used as part of outbound sales automation.

They provide frameworks for common scenarios like following up after meetings, sharing content, or connecting with new leads.

6. Infographics

Infographics simplify complex information into an easy-to-digest visual format.

They combine data, stats, and graphics to showcase ideas and trends. Infographics make great educational sales collateral for social media and websites.

7. Solution Briefs

Solution briefs are concise, targeted documents outlining how your product or service addresses specific customer pain points or business challenges.

They provide a quick overview of the solution, key benefits, and potential use cases to help prospects understand your offering.

8. Whitepapers

Whitepapers are in-depth reports or guides that explore industry issues, trends, or solutions to complex problems.

They offer valuable insights and thought leadership, positioning your company as an authority in the field. Whitepapers can be used to educate and engage prospects at various stages of the buying cycle.

9. ROI Calculators

ROI calculators are interactive tools that help prospects estimate the potential return on investment from using your product or service. They enable businesses to quantify the value of your offering and make data-driven decisions.

ROI calculators provide a tangible way to demonstrate the financial benefits of choosing your solution.

10. Free Trial Sign Up Forms

Free trial sign up forms are essential for offering prospects the opportunity to experience your product or service firsthand.

As they provide a low-barrier entry, free trials allow potential customers to test the value and functionality of your offering, ultimately leading to increased conversion rates.

11. Product Comparison Sheets

Product comparison sheets provide a side-by-side analysis of your offerings and those of your competitors.

They help prospects evaluate features, functionality, and benefits, assisting them in making informed purchasing decisions.

Comparison sheets can be a valuable resource for demonstrating the unique value proposition of your product or service.

Wondering what's missing from this list? Don't worry – there are plenty of other types of collateral worth considering for your specific needs, including datasheets, FAQs, buyer's guides, catalogs, battle cards, pricing guides, and knowledge base articles. The type of collateral you create should always align with your buyers' needs and where they are in their journey.

Let's shift gears and talk about how to make your collateral instantly recognizable – because in a sea of content, brand consistency is your lighthouse.

Branding in Sales Collateral

Creating consistent and recognizable branding in your sales collateral is crucial for making a lasting impression on prospects. Through maintaining the same visual identity, messaging, and tone across all assets, you reinforce your brand at every touchpoint.

Some key branding considerations for sales collateral include:

Consistent messaging: Ensure your core brand messaging and value proposition are woven throughout all sales collateral content. Avoid mixed messages that could dilute your positioning.
Templates for compliance: Develop templates with your brand guidelines to ensure all sales and marketing collateral assets adhere to fonts, colors, logos etc. This guarantees compliance and accelerates the design process.
Visual identity: Maintain the same visual style in terms of images, graphics, layouts, and typography. This strengthens brand recognition. For example, always use your brand colors, logo placement, and graphic elements like illustrations.

Keeping branding consistent regardless of who in your organization creates sales collateral lets you build familiarity and trust with prospects.

This subconsciously primes them to prefer your brand over competitors. It also lends credibility by showcasing your professionalism and cohesion.

Now that we've covered the what and who of sales collateral, let's explore how it fits into your broader sales strategy. After all, even the most beautiful collateral is useless if it's not deployed strategically.

How is Sales Collateral a Part of Your Sales Strategy?

Sales collateral plays a crucial role in shaping the success of your sales efforts.

With the right set of tools and resources in place, you can effectively engage prospects, build trust, and ultimately close more deals.

Enhancing Your Sales Pitch

Sales collateral provides you with an opportunity to enhance your sales pitch, enabling you to communicate your product's value more effectively.

It acts as a visual aid that can support and reinforce your verbal message, providing your potential customers with a clear and concise understanding of the benefits your product or service offers.

Think of your sales pitch as a story and your collateral as the illustrations – together, they create a much more compelling narrative than either could alone.

Building Credibility and Trust

In the competitive business landscape, building credibility is paramount. Sales collateral, such as case studies, testimonials, and industry research, can help establish your business as a trusted authority in your field.

When armed with tangible evidence of your success, you instill confidence in your prospects, making them more likely to choose your offering over your competitors'.

Tailoring the Message to Your Audience

Ever had a conversation with someone who really "gets" you? That's the feeling B2B buyers should have when engaging with your tailored sales collateral.

Sales collateral allows you to customize your messaging to suit different audience segments. By creating collateral that speaks directly to the difficulties and goals of specific target markets, you can cater to their unique needs.

This level of personalization demonstrates your understanding of their challenges and positions you as the solution provider they've been looking for.

Helping Sales Reps Overcome Objections

Most sales processes involve overcoming objections raised by potential customers. Sales collateral can help address these objections indirectly and proactively, ensuring that prospects have the necessary information to make informed decisions.

Anticipating and preemptively tackling common concerns through collateral means sales enablement teams can remove any barriers to a sale and increase your chances of success.

Continued Engagement and Follow-up

Sales collateral is not only essential during initial conversations but also throughout the entire sales cycle. When you send relevant materials to prospects after meetings or conversations, you sustain their interest and keep your business top of mind.

This ongoing engagement is crucial for nurturing leads and eventually converting them into loyal customers.

The right collateral at the decision stage can be the gentle nudge that turns "I'll think about it" into "Where do I sign?"

Maximizing Sales Teams' Efficiency

The use of sales collateral streamlines the sales process, making it more efficient for your team. Making sales collateral accessible (and incorporating it within sales scripts) means your sales representatives can easily offer these to prospects.

This ensures consistency in messaging and saves time by having pre-prepared materials readily available. It can also help provide better sales and marketing alignment.

How many times have your sales reps created one-off materials because they couldn't find what they needed? Good collateral management in your CRM is like having a well-organized toolbox – every pieces of content has its place and can be found when needed.

Measuring Sales Effectiveness

Another advantage of incorporating sales collateral into your strategy is the ability to measure its effectiveness.

Tracking the usage and engagement with various collateral pieces means you can gain insights into what resonates most with your target audience.

This data allows you to refine and optimize your collateral over time, improving your sales approach and boosting overall performance.

After covering how collateral supports your overall strategy, let's talk about what makes for truly effective sales copy – because even the prettiest design falls flat without compelling content.

How to Write Effective Sales Copy for Sales Collateral

When creating sales collateral, the copy itself is arguably the most important element. Effective sales copy clearly communicates the key benefits of your offering, persuades the reader to take action, and builds trust through an engaging, conversational tone.

You know that feeling when you read something and think, "Wow, it's like they're talking just to me"? That's the magic you want to create with your sales copy. It should feel like a friendly chat over coffee, not like you're standing on a soapbox with a bullhorn trying to get someone's attention.

Here are some best practices for writing compelling sales copy:

1. Focus on Benefits, Not Just Features

While it's important to highlight the features of your product or service, it's equally important to explain how each capability directly translates into value for the customer. Instead of simply listing features, paint a vivid picture of the outcomes and impact they can achieve.

For example, rather than saying "Our software has a user-friendly interface," emphasize how the user-friendly interface will save time and improve productivity for the customer.

2. Use Clear CTAs (Call to Actions)

Every piece of sales collateral should motivate the prospect to take the next step, whether it's requesting a demo, signing up for a free trial, or simply learning more. Use clear, action-oriented language for your CTAs to make it easy for the reader to understand what action you want them to take.

Instead of a generic "Click here," use CTAs like "Schedule a demo now" or "Get started with your free trial."

3. Adopt a Conversational Tone

Avoid over-formal or overly salesy language. Write as if you're speaking directly to the reader - in a helpful, friendly manner. Use "you/your" language to make the copy feel personalized and relevant to the reader's needs. This helps build rapport and establishes a connection with the prospect.

For example, instead of saying "Our product is the best in the market," say "You'll love how our product simplifies your workflow and saves you time."

4. Tell a Compelling Story

Well-crafted stories and anecdotes are far more memorable and engaging than dry facts and figures alone. Use stories to illustrate how customers have succeeded with your solution. Share specific challenges they faced and how your product or service helped them overcome those challenges.

This helps the reader relate to the experiences of others and envision how your offering can benefit them.

Stories are like mental test drives – they let your prospects experience the value of your solution before they've even signed on the dotted line.

5. Simplify Complex Concepts

Don't get bogged down in intricate product details. Distill even highly technical capabilities into easy-to-grasp explanations and analogies.

Use language that your audience can understand, regardless of their level of technical expertise. Break down complex concepts or jargon into simple terms, helping the reader grasp the value and benefits your product or service provides.

6. Highlight ROI

While benefits matter, ROI matters more. Quantify the value your customer will gain in concrete business terms - revenue growth, cost savings, efficiency gains, etc. Use real data, case studies, or testimonials witin your sales collateral to showcase the return on investment that customers have achieved by using your solution.

Highlighting the potential financial impact is a good way to appeal to the reader's rational decision-making process and demonstrate the tangible benefits of choosing your offering.

When your prospect is weighing options, concrete ROI numbers can be the tiebreaker. After all, it's hard to argue with math!

With compelling, benefit-focused copy tailored to your target personas, your collateral will serve as a powerful driver of interest, engagement, and conversions.

Following these best practices allows you to create sales copy that resonates with your audience, motivates action, and ultimately helps your sales team achieve their goals.

Great sales copy is only half the battle – the design of your collateral needs to be just as compelling to catch and keep attention. Let's look at how to make your collateral visually irresistible.

Design Principles for Sales Collateral

When designing sales collateral assets, follow these key design principles:

Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy helps make the most important elements stand out by using size, color, and placement. Putting emphasis on headings and calls-to-action means you'll guide the reader to the most critical information. Use size, weight, and color to create contrast between different elements.

The best sales collateral examples will use visual hierarchy to make it easy for prospective customers to quickly understand the key points about your product or service.

White Space

Don't overcrowd the design with too many elements. White space makes content more scannable and appealing. Use whitespace to break up your content into digestible sections and make important elements stand out.

When the design isn't crowded, potential customers can focus on the message and easily navigate through the content.

Typography

Limit the number of fonts used in your design and be consistent in their use throughout the document. Use clear, readable fonts that are easy to read on all devices. To create contrast and hierarchy of information, vary font sizes and weights throughout the document.

You should also consider line spacing and paragraph spacing, which impact the readability of the document.

Color Palette

Use your brand colors consistently throughout the sales collateral. Limit your color palette to two or three colors to maintain brand consistency and create a cohesive design.

Make sure that your text contrasts well with the background. Ensure that you're using colors that complement each other well, and that you're not using too many different colors, which can lead to a cluttered design.

Consistent Branding

Maintain brand identity across all sales collateral. Your collateral should align with your brand guidelines and make use of logos, fonts, colors, and other visual assets according to the guidelines.

A consistent presence across all marketing materials will help reinforce your brand identity in the minds of potential customers.

Accessibility

Ensure that your sales collateral is accessible for all users. Make sure to use alt text for images so that they can be understood by visually impaired users, while also ensuring the required contrast ratios, and using minimum font sizes recommended for online usage.

Pay attention to font size and color contrast to ensure that all users can easily read and understand your content, regardless of visual impairments.

Accessibility isn't just good ethics – it's good business. By making your collateral accessible to everyone, you're expanding your potential audience and showing that you care about inclusion.

Responsiveness

Ensure that your design works on all devices, especially mobile devices. With more and more people accessing online content via mobile devices, it's critical that your sales collateral is optimized to be easily viewable on a range of devices.

You don't want to lose potential leads simply because your content doesn't display properly on a smaller screen.

Keeping these design principles in mind helps you create great sales collateral that engages your audience while staying true to your brand identity. Proper use of typography, color palette, and white space makes content more consumable while reinforcing key messaging.

Similarly, a consistent brand identity and accessibility considerations help increase the sales collateral's visibility and enforce the brand tone and voice across different marketing channels.

So your collateral looks amazing – but wait! Who exactly are you creating it for? Even the most visually stunning materials fall flat if they don't connect with the right people. Let's dive into how to really understand your audience before you design another beautiful piece that misses the mark.

Creating Customer Personas

Developing detailed customer personas is crucial for creating targeted and effective sales collateral.

These personas represent your ideal customers and help your sales and marketing teams understand their pain points, motivations, and interests. Gathering key demographic information and deepening your insights empowers you to create personas that drive engagement and conversions.

Gathering Demographic Information

When creating personas, it's important to start by collecting key demographic information, including:

Job title/role: Understanding your target audience's job title and role within their organization gives you insight into their responsibilities, decision-making power, and level of influence.

Industry: Different industries have their own unique challenges, trends, and requirements. Knowing the industry your buyers are in helps you tailor your sales collateral to their specific needs.

Company size: The size of the company can impact the buying process, decision-making dynamics, and budget considerations. Understanding company size allows you to align your collateral with their particular context.

Location: Geographical location can influence cultural, economic, and regulatory factors. Factoring in location helps you localize your collateral when necessary.

Uncovering Deeper Insights

To create more accurate and actionable customer personas, go beyond demographics and dig deeper into your target audience's motivations, challenges, and preferences. Consider the following:

Day-to-day responsibilities and challenges: Understand the tasks and obstacles your buyer faces in their role. This knowledge enables you to align your collateral with their struggles and position your product or service as a solution.

Goals: Identify what your buyers are striving to achieve so you can craft messaging and collateral that highlights the value you offer in helping them reach those goals.

Motivations: Explore what drives their purchase decisions. Is it cost savings, increased efficiency, or competitive advantage? Understanding their motivations allows you to emphasize the benefits that resonate most with them.

Content consumption: Determine the types of content and platforms your target audience engages with. This insight helps you deliver collateral in the formats and channels they prefer, increasing the likelihood of consumption and engagement.

Messaging preferences: Identify the language, tone, and style that resonates with your buyers. By aligning your messaging with their preferences, you can create collateral that speaks directly to them, increasing its effectiveness.

Creating Personas for Decision-Makers

Consider the different buyer roles involved in the decision-making process and create personas for each relevant role. Some common personas to consider include:

Economic buyers (CFO, procurement): These individuals are focused on financial considerations and ROI. Craft collateral that highlights cost savings, ROI, and the overall economic benefits of your product or solution.
Technical buyers: Technical buyers evaluate the technical aspects of your product or solution. Focus on technical specifications, compatibility, and features important to their role.
Day-to-day users: These individuals are the end-users of your product or solution. Provide collateral that showcases ease of use, productivity gains, and how it solves their specific problems.
Executives/champions: These decision-makers drive the overall strategy and vision. Create collateral that highlights the strategic benefits, long-term value, and alignment with their goals.

Different B2B buyers need different information – creating personas helps you walk a mile in each of their shoes before you create your collateral.

Updating and Refining Your Personas

Customer personas should not be static. Regularly update and refine them based on data and feedback from your sales, marketing, and customer success teams. You can make this task easier by using tools like Copy.ai, a GTM AI tool with robust Workflows features.

Look for patterns and new insights that emerge from customer interactions and adjust your personas accordingly. This ensures that your sales collateral remains relevant and resonates with your target audience as their needs and preferences evolve.

Detailed customer personas enable you to craft tailored messaging, choose the right sales collateral types and formats, and generate greater engagement and conversions.

If you continually refine your personas, you'll ensure that your sales collateral consistently hits the mark, leading to more successful sales outcomes.

With personas in hand, it's time to think about how to deploy your collateral strategically throughout the buyer's journey. Because, timing is everything!

Mapping Sales Collateral to Buyer's Journey

Have you ever been handed a complex technical manual when you just wanted to know what a product does?

Or maybe received a vague overview when you were ready for specific details? It's like being served dessert before your appetizer or getting the bill before you've ordered – the timing is completely off, and it leaves you feeling confused rather than confident.

Therefore, to maximize impact, sales collateral must be tailored and mapped to the different stages of the buyer's journey. The type of assets used should shift as prospects move through the sales funnel.

Your sales playbooks can let your sales team know how to use different types of sales collateral at different stages of the sales cycle.

Top to Mid Funnel (Awareness Stage)

In the early awareness and consideration stages, sales materials should focus on educating prospects and establishing thought leadership. Relevant sales collateral for your sales team to use here include:

eBooks
Research reports
Whitepapers
Webinars
Blog posts
Infographics

These materials aim to capture interest, address pain points, and position the company as an authority. They should avoid overt product pitches and instead provide valuable insights.

Mid to Bottom Funnel (Consideration Stage)

As prospects evaluate solutions and narrow down options, collateral becomes more sales-focused. Types of sales collateral that are useful for your sales team to send potential clients at these stages include:

Product brochures
Solution briefs
Case studies
Product demo videos
Free trial access
ROI calculators

The goal here is to choose the right sales collateral to showcase specific product benefits, real customer results, and the value of choosing your solution. Hyper-targeted, personalized collateral that uses data enrichment performs best at moving leads towards a purchase.

When your prospect reaches the decision stage, they don't want philosophical discussions – they want concrete evidence that you can solve their problem better than anyone else. Your collateral should evolve accordingly.

Strategically matching sales collateral to buyer journey stages boosts engagement and drives conversions. Tools like Copy.ai's workflows enable dynamic mapping and make it easy for your sales representatives to deliver the right assets at the right time based on individual prospect behavior.

Once you've attracted leads, you need to nurture them – and that's where a strategic approach to collateral deployment comes into play. Let's look at how to keep prospects engaged through the entire funnel.

Lead Nurturing with Collateral

Imagine your lead nurturing strategy as tending a garden – you wouldn't dump all your water and fertilizer on day one and expect things to grow, right? Similarly, feeding your prospects the right collateral at the right time helps them grow from curious browsers to committed buyers.

Sales and marketing collateral plays a crucial role in lead nurturing campaigns. Creating tailored content for prospects at each stage of the buyer's journey means companies can continue to engage and educate leads over time. This helps move prospects closer to a purchase decision.

Some effective tactics for lead nurturing with your sales collateral include:

1. Drip Campaigns

Set up automated email campaigns that deliver targeted sales collateral to prospects based on their interests and actions. For example, send a series of product brochures, case studies, and trial access over a 6-week period to slowly build interest.

2. Segmentation

Divide prospects into groups based on firmographic data, behaviors, or intent signals. Then develop specific nurturing tracks with collateral tailored to each segment. For example, create different nurture tracks for small, mid-market, and enterprise prospects.

3. Personalization

Use prospect data like name, company, role, and interests to dynamically populate collateral with relevant details. This creates a more personalized, relevant experience. For example, populate a case study template with the prospect's company name and industry for greater relevance.

Leveraging workflows makes it easy to scale personalized, segmented drip campaigns with the right collateral assets to nurture prospects effectively. Workflows streamline content production, ensure brand consistency, and enable data-driven optimization of campaigns for maximum conversion rates.

Nurturing leads with the right collateral isn't just about closing deals – it's also about retention. When prospects become new customers, the relationship is just beginning – and your collateral helps set expectations for a productive partnership.

Now that we've covered the strategy, let's talk about implementation. Creating great collateral at scale used to be a massive challenge – but AI is changing the landscape.

Producing Collateral at Scale with AI

The key to maximizing the impact of sales collateral is being able to produce high-quality, personalized assets efficiently at scale. This is where AI comes in.

Think back to when personalizing collateral for different audiences was like hand-writing hundreds of letters – painfully time-consuming and practically impossible at scale. Now, with AI, it's more like having a magical printing press that not only produces materials instantly but also customizes each piece perfectly for its recipient. What once took weeks now happens in minutes.

AI-powered solutions like Copy's workflows automate sales collateral creation from end to end. With just a few clicks, marketers can generate hundreds of tailored collateral pieces for different personas and use cases.

Automated Writing

Workflows tap into advanced natural language generation to automatically write customized copy for various sales collateral types.

Simply input your brand guidelines, product specs, customer data, and other source materials into a tool like Copy.ai's Infobase. The AI will synthesize this information into well-written, on-brand collateral assets.

For example, workflows can quickly generate hundreds of unique product descriptions, case studies, testimonials, and other sales material tailored to each customer. This level of personalization and scale is impossible manually.

Data-Driven Design

Workflows also automate sales collateral design. They can ingest your brand assets and intelligent templates to dynamically populate visuals, logos, colors, and layouts tailored to different content and audiences.

So rather than starting from scratch, your team simply defines the brand guidelines and templates once. The AI handles the heavy lifting of applying those design principles across all collateral at scale.

Translation and Localization

With multilingual workflows, you can instantly localize sales collateral assets for international audiences. The AI will automatically translate copy into target languages while retaining brand voice and tone.

This removes the complexities of manual translation and localization to help you efficiently engage global prospects with culturally relevant, localized collateral.

Performance Tracking

If you're thinking "this sounds great, but how do I know if it's working?" – you're asking the right question. Let's talk about measuring performance.

Measuring and tracking the performance of your sales collateral is essential for optimizing it and achieving better results in the long run. There are several key metrics to focus on:

Engagement Metrics

Open rates: What percentage of prospects open/view each collateral piece?
Time spent: How much time do prospects spend engaging with the collateral? Higher is better.
Interactions: Clicks, downloads, embeds, shares, etc.

Conversion Data

Form fills
Sales qualified leads (SQLs)
Opportunities created
Closed/won deals

Analyze how prospects who engaged with specific collateral assets performed in the funnel. Which pieces correlate to higher conversion rates?

A/B Testing

A/B test different versions of sales collateral to determine what resonates best. Test subject lines, formatting, offers, CTAs, and design variations.

Workflows enable seamless A/B testing of collateral at scale. You can test multiple variations simultaneously and the winning variant is automatically used going forward.

Continuously experiment with and refine your collateral for maximum impact. Small optimizations add up over time. Leverage data to make smart decisions on where to invest your efforts.

Continuous Optimization

Sales collateral is never "set it and forget it." To maximize results, you need to continuously track performance and optimize your assets over time. Here are some best practices:

Update Based on Data

Leverage analytics to identify which pieces of sales collateral are resonating with prospects and driving conversions. Double down on what's working by creating more assets in that style or topic. At the same time, retire or refresh underperforming collateral.

Expand for New Offerings

As your company launches new products, releases, or features, you'll need fresh sales collateral to showcase them. Create new brochures, presentations, case studies, and more that speak to these offerings.

Refresh Regularly

Don't just update sales collateral when you have something new to share. You should also give existing assets a facelift on a regular basis to keep them looking polished and modern. Avoid having collateral with outdated branding, messaging, or design.

By continuously optimizing your sales collateral and keeping it fresh, you'll sustain high engagement levels and give sales teams materials they are excited to share. This process is made seamless with AI, which can handle ongoing updates at scale.

Emerging Trends in Sales Collateral

The world of sales collateral is rapidly evolving thanks to new technologies like AI. Here are some of the key trends to watch for:

Interactive and Immersive Formats

Static sales collateral like PDFs and slide decks are giving way to more interactive, immersive formats. These could include:

Augmented reality demos
Interactive 3D models
Gamified product explorers
Voice-enabled smart assistants

Interactive sales collateral catches attention and drives engagement. It allows prospects to experience products first-hand.

Predictive, Dynamic Content

AI can now generate predictive content tailored to each buyer in real-time. This includes:

Personalized product recommendations
Custom pricing proposals
Relevant case studies and testimonials
Dynamic messaging matched to prospect needs

Predictive content feels like it was created just for the prospect. It builds trust and relevance.

Hyper-Personalization at Scale

Traditional sales collateral production is manual and time-consuming. AI workflows enable hyper-personalization of collateral at scale.

For example, sales reps can instantly generate:

Branded emails personalized with prospect data
Targeted landing pages for each campaign
Customized product brochures for key accounts

The future of sales collateral will be defined by interactivity, predictive content, and hyper-personalization powered by AI. Companies need to start leveraging these capabilities now to stay ahead of the curve.

Overcoming Challenges with Sales Collateral

Managing sales collateral comes with some common challenges that need to be addressed:

Accessibility of Assets

Sales reps need to be able to easily find and access the latest approved collateral from anywhere. Storing assets in shared drives rather than emailing different versions leads to confusion. Using collateral management software with controlled access permissions improves accessibility.

Version Control

As collateral gets updated, older outdated versions floating around cause inconsistencies. Proper version control procedures need to be implemented, like adding version numbers or dates to file names. Digital asset management systems can automatically track versions.

Getting Sales Team Buy-In

Sales reps tend to resist using new collateral if they don't see the value. Make a case for how updated collateral will help them be more effective. Involve top salespeople early and get their feedback. Demonstrate how personalized collateral can help them close more deals.

Sales Collateral Best Practices

To ensure your sales collateral is effective and impactful, follow these best practices within your GTM tech stack.

Balance Consistent Branding with Personalization

While maintaining brand identity across your sales collateral is essential, it's also important to tailor the content to resonate with different buyer personas or stages. Personalization helps create a connection with your audience and makes your collateral more relevant. Customize messaging, examples, and visuals to address the specific pain points, goals, and preferences of each buyer persona or segment.

Track Performance Metrics

Measure the performance of your sales collateral by tracking metrics such as opens, clicks, and conversions. This data provides valuable insights into what's working and what's not. Identify the assets that are driving the most engagement and conversions, and learn from their success. This information allows you to focus your efforts on creating more effective collateral.

Continuously Optimize Based on Data and Testing

Don't settle for mediocre results - continuously optimize your sales collateral based on data and testing. As mentioned above, you can run A/B tests on different elements such as headlines, designs, offers, and calls to action.

Test different variations and gather data to see what resonates best with your audience. Use analytics to identify drop-off points or areas of friction in the customer journey. Continuous iteration and improvement based on data and testing will help you maximize the effectiveness of your collateral.

Implement Scalable Workflows

Scalable workflows are crucial to producing high volumes of collateral tailored to different segments and channels. Use automation tools and templates to streamline the creation, versioning, and distribution of your sales collateral.

Implement efficient workflows that allow for easy testing, personalization, and performance tracking across assets. By doing so, you can save time and resources while still ensuring consistent quality and effectiveness in your collateral.

Following these best practices means you can create sales collateral that both reinforces your brand identity and resonates with individual buyers.

Gathering data, running tests, and continuously optimizing your collateral will help you refine your messaging and improve its impact on your target audience. Plus, using scalable workflows will enable you to produce valuable collateral fast while maximizing its effectiveness for a range of potential buyers.

Final Thoughts

Getting started with optimizing your sales collateral may seem daunting. Copy.ai is a comprehensive GTM AI platform, helping you eliminate GTM bloat and produce hyper-personalized sales and marketing collateral on demand.

We recommend using Copy.ai to help you:

Audit existing sales collateral: Take stock of all current sales collateral assets, using workflows to speed up the process. Review messaging, branding, formats, and more. Identify what's working well and what needs improvement. Look for content gaps.
Identify content gaps: Analyze your existing sales collateral against customer personas and the buyer's journey. (You can use Copy.ai to quickly and easily conduct persona research.) Note where you have assets tailored to each stage and persona versus where there are gaps. Identify priority areas to fill based on conversion rates.
Rapidly create new sales enablement collateral: As an AI for sales tool, Copy.ai lets you create insightful and useful content fast for your potential customers. Build workflows to automate personalization at scale, achieving much faster GTM velocity.
Test and refine: Using Copy.ai's powerful integrations, you can continuously gather data on engagement and conversion rates for each asset. Use those insights to refine content and optimize for higher performance over time, keeping your sales collateral fresh.

With the right strategy and tools like AI workflows, you can transform the impact of sales collateral on your B2B sales. Focus on streamlining creation and distribution at scale while optimizing content for relevance. This will enable your team to deliver the right assets at the right time for sales success.

Ready to learn more? Check out these helpful resources:

To get started using Copy.ai to enhance your sales process and empower your sales team, book your free demo today.