Marketing materials are designed to help you communicate your brand’s products and services to your target market. Having unique yet effective marketing materials will diversify your brand from the rest of your competitors.
You’ve most likely come across some great marketing materials before, like business cards, infographics and email campaigns. Some may use the power of great icons or use striking color combinations. With this guide you’ll be able to determine which marketing materials will be most successful for your brand, and how to make them the best they can be.
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Why Are Marketing Materials Important?
Marketing materials aren’t just used to advertise your services or products. They can establish your brand’s visual identity and (hopefully) allow your brand to stand out among the competition. Here are a few other reasons why marketing materials are crucial for brand success:
- Recognizable brand identity: Marketing materials are an opportunity to showcase your brand’s unique image and color scheme. The goal is for customers to recognize your brand just by the overall look of the materials. Your brand’s voice should be consistent throughout your materials as well.
- Memorable visuals: Visual assets can be beneficial in getting your message across. Pairing both informative text and helpful visuals can make a major difference in your brand’s chance of success.
- Improving sales: Marketing materials make it easier for potential customers to navigate to your product pages, which can increase your sales. Having a flawless website and printed materials with contact information will improve the chances of your target market clicking the purchase button.
Now that you know why they’re important, let’s move into the different types of marketing materials.
Types of Marketing Materials
There are two main categories of marketing materials: digital and print.
Digital Marketing Materials
Digital marketing materials are assets found on an online space or platform. As the internet expands and evolves, so does the type of digital collateral that brands use.
Establishing your brand on different online platforms, like social media, will allow you to reach a far wider audience.
Print Marketing Materials
Print marketing materials are tangible items that can be physically distributed or displayed. Print materials aren’t as commonly used by larger corporations, which tend to use more digitized assets. Their customer base may be geographically larger, so digital marketing is easier to connect with them rather than print materials.
You’ll find smaller businesses or start-ups using printed materials to market their products locally. Hand out printed materials to prospective customers if your company attends conferences or has a booth in a marketplace, like a farmers market.
9 Digital Marketing Materials
Developing a few digital marketing materials can grow your business’s market reach and contribute to the establishment of your brand identity. Below are some digital marketing material examples to look into.
1. Logo
Think of your favorite candy bar. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? It’s most likely the candy bar’s logo. Your logo is the most essential part of your brand’s image. This should be the first item you develop before creating the rest of your marketing materials.
When to use: Your logo will be the most used design asset for your brand — from printed apparel to advertising.
Tip: Make sure your logo is scalable. The simpler your logo is, the easier it is to blow up to billboard size or scale it down to a little favicon in your browser.
2. Social Media
Creating social media pages with graphics will allow you to easily promote your products or services. It’s also an opportunity to share information on upcoming sale events, new product campaigns and connect instantly with your target audience.
When to use: You’ll use social media throughout your brand’s lifetime. Stay up to date on current social media trends and new platforms to expand your reach.
Tip: Use your brand’s logo as the account profile picture so potential followers can recognize your brand easily.
3. Email Newsletters
Does your email inbox constantly flood with branded emails you don’t remember subscribing to? These are email newsletters, and they can work well when done right. They’re cost-effective and should be used sparingly so customers won’t hit the “unsubscribe” button.
When to use: Use when promoting a sale, new product line or welcoming a new customer to your brand’s website.
Tip: Keep your email campaign template simple and easy to read. Using CTA buttons will allow for easy navigation to your website.
4. Infographics
Infographics tend to be forgotten when creating marketing materials, but they can be quite useful to display key information or to share widely online. They can come in different sizes and be full of animation. They can also display beautiful illustrations that reflect your brand’s visual identity. Check out some of our favorite infographic examples for more inspiration.
When to use: There are a few things you may need to use infographics for. You can use them to showcase your brand’s backstory, your service offerings or visually showcase how your product is doing in its target market.
Tip: Make your information easy to digest and scannable. The less copy you can use, the better. We recommend using illustrations to demonstrate product capabilities, along with labeled text to inform the reader.
5. Website
A company website can be a convenient way to advertise your products while being a one-stop shop for someone looking into your brand’s story and history. It’s also a great place for customers to be able to contact you with questions regarding your products or services, as well as companies interested in a partnership with you.
When to use: You should have a website if you plan to sell your products outside of your local area.
Tip: Keep your website’s design simple and easy to navigate. We recommend having at least a homepage for potential customers to find contact information or more information about your services.
6. Online Advertisements
Online advertising uses the internet as its central medium for product promotion without geographical confinements. Utilize the power of online advertising to promote your brand and products. These advertisements can be videos or captivating graphic design work.
Online advertising is what’s known as “paid traffic.” You can pay for sponsored advertisements to pop up on web browsers and social media pages. As a result, you may see an increase of incoming traffic to your website.
When to use: You can use online advertisements to announce your brand and for promotional purposes.
Tip: Start small with your advertisement campaigns to see what ads connect best with your target consumer. That way, you’ll know what types of advertisements will get you the most bang for your buck.
7. Videos
Videos can be a great tool to use when expanding your digital presence. They can be used for any marketing purposes, like video advertisements on social media or product tutorials on your website. The use of digital video advertisements increased by 49% in 2021 and is expected to reach $50 billion in 2022.1 Animated videos are popular to use on blogs to explain topics related to your brand.
When to use: Use videos on social media to promote your brand and for easier shareability.
Tip: Make sure your videos are high quality and have a purpose. Keep your videos short and concise to avoid losing your audience.
8. Presentations
Presentations are usually circled in with internal project slide decks, but they can be a strong strategy to use throughout your other marketing materials. You can use presentations not only internally, but share them externally to engage with customers and partners.
When to use: You’ll use presentations in partnership, team and report meetings. You can also use them in blog posts on your website and in email newsletters.
Tip: Be sure your presentation template uses your brand fonts and color guidelines. If the presentation is shared online, include embedded links to your website and blog pages for easy navigation.
9. Case Studies
Case studies in marketing are an in-depth study of the efficacy of your product or service from the perspective of a customer. A case study focuses on measurable conclusions, like how a percentage of customers feel about using your product.
Case studies are a great way to showcase your products or services from a varied perspective. They can take time to build out, but having a solid case study and a few positive testimonials on hand can be the final push for a potential customer to purchase your product.
When to use: Include a review page on your website to display testimonials you’ve received from happy customers. They can also be printed materials to hand out to customers in a physical store.
Tip: Be transparent with your case studies and testimonials. Showcase the positive feedback, but remember that honesty is key in maintaining a healthy customer relationship.
6 Print Marketing Materials
As the online space grows, print materials were thought to be a marketing tactic of the past. However, if done right, they can be just as essential as online marketing collateral to hit your target market.
1. Brochures
The Old Faithful of promotional marketing — brochures can pack a lot of key information into a tri-fold piece of paper. They should be used as a handout overview of what your company is about and what your brand can offer.
When to use: Brochures can be used to distribute to customers in person or given to other companies to display in their offices.
Tip: Make sure your contact information stands out in the brochure. We recommend putting it on the front or back side of the tri-fold.
2. Flyers
Have a local event coming up and need to round up some potential customers? Post or hand out flyers that are informative and visually appealing.
When to use: Use flyers to promote a product or event or for other various purposes, like employment opportunities.
Tip: Unlike a brochure, keep the copy to a minimum. Use the rule of thirds and
3. Business Cards
Business cards are a great way to provide contact information at any time. They’re usually small enough to fit in a wallet and should have your logo and/or brand name included. Your contact information should include your name, phone number, email address and website URL if you have one.
When to use: You can use business cards virtually anywhere — from networking events to in-store to business conferences.
Tip: Keep the card’s format sleek and legible. It should mirror your brand’s aesthetic with colors and font styles.
4. Letterheads
Letterheads aren’t used in every industry but should be used if you write up communications with customers and clients often. Typically, letterhead stationery will have the company’s logo or name at the top of each paper. You can also choose to include your contact information.
When to use: Letterhead stationery should be used for businesses that tend to send personalized messages to clients or employees.
Tip: Order a few test stationery sets on a few types of paper and with different headers to see which one works best for your business.
5. Posters
Similar to a flyer, a poster is a promotional material that can be displayed outside, like on a street wall. They should be attention-grabbing and pull a potential new customer in for a closer view.
When to use: You can use posters to promote an event or special offerings.
Tip: Include a QR code on your poster that can be scanned by a mobile phone. The destination can be your website or an event page.
6. Catalogs
Catalogs are printed items that group together your company’s products for easy viewing. Catalogs are not always necessary in every industry, especially if your company has limited product offerings. However, a catalog can be useful if your company has many products that need to be easily shared with a client.
When to use: Use catalogs to share a complete product list with a client in person.
Tip: Use high-quality images of your products throughout the catalog. Include contact information or a how-to-purchase page toward the back of your catalog.
Tips For Creating Effective Marketing Materials
Below are some tips to keep in mind when you begin creating marketing materials for your brand.
- Understand your market: Complete market research to understand your target audience. This will help you narrow down which marketing materials will be needed to reach your market effectively.
- Use icons: Using icons can elevate your marketing materials. Icons can be used as buttons, to communicate messages and express actions. Having a branded list of icons will add to the cohesiveness of your marketing materials.
- Track your performance: Monitor the performance rates of your materials to identify which are successfully reaching your target audience and which may need improvement.
- Start small: Don’t feel that it’s necessary to integrate all of the marketing materials listed above into your brand campaigning. Start small, whether it’s developing a website, creating a social media account or a few printed items. You can continue to build your online and physical presence as your brand grows in its ideal market space.
- Deliver at 110%: Even if you start small, be sure that your marketing materials are high quality and mirror your brand’s identity. Your goal is to create a lasting positive impression on consumers.
Ready to create your own branded marketing materials? Check out our icon collection for more illustration inspiration.
Enhance your design with free icons
Sources
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