Hello folks and here we are on part 3 of our little build-a-brand blog series to help kick-start your new year with a successful bang.

If you’ve been keeping up, and I assume that you all dutifully have, you’ll know that our last two posts have focused on the importance of branding for small businesses and the key foundations to focus on when starting to build a successful brand.

So, what is in store for you this week I hear almost no one cry…? Well, this week we’re looking at some initial, and effective, marketing assets that any brand should have in their arsenal when looking to boost their brands growth in the modern age.

As a creative, digitally focused agency, we’re more than used to helping brands create and develop some of their most key and effective assets – from traditional, printed sales-aids, to digital apps and developments – so it’s safe to say that we really do know what we’re talking about when it comes to presenting your brand in the very best way possible in 2019.

And seeing as we’re such great people, we’ve kindly put together a short, comprehensive guide to what we think are the most popular and effective pieces of collateral to get you on the right path in 2019 …

1. Direct Mail – print

Yes, it’s an old school choice, but DM’s are still one of the most widely distributed marketing materials on the planet, and for good reason. Despite being in the middle of the digital age thanks to the onslaught of emails we get sent to our inboxes every day – that subsequently get binned before we even open them – physical direct mail pieces can offer something that few other mediums do not.

An engaging and timeless DM allows you the space to present a powerful and engaging message in such a portable and innovative manner, that it can be hard for people to ignore it. Typically, a DM is going to be the piece of collateral that is a conversation starter, a foot in the door and an intriguing way to spark people’s interest in your brand and leave them wanting to know more about you.

DM’s are intended to grab attention and awareness, so you’ll want to provide easily digestible information that compels the recipient to follow a link, attend an event or pick up the phone to get in touch. There are so many innovative options for print DM’s out there that won’t break the bank, or require the inclusion of a fancy gadget to impress people, to help you stand out from the crowd and elevate your suite of assets to the next level.

From never-ending folding mailers that are addictive to play with at your desk, to 3D build-a-brochures, there’s no doubt that with the right vision, content, and of course creative, that will ensure the longevity of the piece, there’s sure to be a DM mail out there that your brand can utilise as part of a successful branding strategy.

2. Landing page

Ah, the good old landing page. Think of a landing page as like a younger, more popular sibling to your website. Landing pages can provide a highly targeted message for a specific product, service or promotion without giving away the whole shebang. Not only do landing pages help disperse specified information about your product or service, but they also help to increase your conversion rates.

A good landing page will illustrate the same aspects of your brand and effortlessly merge well with your current website – but it really doesn’t have to look like a carbon copy. The selling point of an effective landing page is its ability to include large calls to action, and other items that might not be the usual focus of your regular pages – i.e. videos, quizzes or a competition.

One of the singular most important features of a landing page is to make sure that they don’t require viewers to swim through, and potentially get lost in, a sea of information.

Ideally, you should make it a best practice to use a landing page for every inbound advertising campaign you operate – or at least any big event, promotion or sales incentive that you want to drive awareness to. Landing pages are great for growing awareness and helping your brand to get your promotion out into the digital world.

3. Video

Video is increasingly becoming more and more important in claiming the majority of engagement online for brands. Explainer videos are an especially effective, and creative, way to draw attention to your business and hold people’s attention for longer than a split-second, something which is a big problem in the mindless-scrolling-nature that most consumers get lost in today.

The most effective promotional videos use short and impactful and focus on one particular product or service. This way you can show customers how your product or service will change or impact their life in a valuable way.

Videos also offer your customers an insight into who you really are. Human interaction can be hugely undermined in the digital age, so by putting a human face to your brand, this can help people to connect to your brand on a personal level and inspire more loyalty and trust in your business.

4. Case Study

Who doesn’t love a little experiment? Because that’s exactly what a Case Study is. In most cases a client will want to know how what you do will benefit their life or company.

The best way to do this is to pick a real-life example of how you’ve absolutely smashed a previous project in the past and use this to demonstrate to any prospective customers that they can expect the same success by working with you.

Loyalty and trust is easier to gain when a customer can see tangible evidence that your service truly works. It’s all very well creating a pretty video, DM or landing page to show off your capabilities in a perfectly packaged way, but by adding something evidence-based into the mix, you’re really showing your pulling power as a brand that can provide real solutions.

5. Infographic

Infographics have rapidly been growing in popularity in recent years, so we couldn’t leave them out of our top 5 assets today. Infographics are now widely used amongst businesses and organizations, large or small, across both digital and print, and they’re a fantastic way to promote your business in an engaging and succinct way.

An effective infographic uses clear, informative and aesthetically pleasing ways of presenting information without losing the attention of the viewer. In this insanely fast-paced, digital age, people are in danger of being overwhelmed by information on a daily basis, so much so that attention spans are decreasing at an alarming rate. You’ve probably already scrolled through Instagram or Facebook 3 times whilst reading this, right?

So, It can be difficult for people to navigate through countless chunks or text and numbers in order to find the information that they need. Therefore, Infographics can be a powerful tool that allows people to easily digest information and statistics in a visually compelling format. With the proper use of creative design, information can be transformed into memorable, attention-grabbing and even persuasive graphics that can be packaged up in a versatile infographic that your customers will enjoy reading.

In conclusion, having the correct types of marketing collateral in place to help grow your brand is an important part of successfully converting leads and ultimately growing a successful business.

You can have a great product or service, and even a superb sales team, but if you’re missing the key components that spell out your offering succinctly, and with the ability to reach a wider audience, you’ll struggle to achieve the growth you really want.

One of the biggest battles in developing your brands suite of marketing assets is knowing the difference between collateral types and using them to benefit your business. So, let us help you find the best ones that will really help your business to flourish and get in touch today!