Sales enablement is a game-changer for any business striving for growth. It’s like equipping your sales team with superpowers to engage potential buyers effectively, and consequently, spur business growth.

Central to sales enablement is sales collateral - a comprehensive arsenal of content and tools your sales team needs to succeed. But what does this collateral look like in 2024? Let's unravel this mystery!

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Understanding Sales Collateral

Sales collateral is like your sales team's Swiss army knife. It's a collection of media or documents that helps steer the sales process and guide potential customers through the sales funnel. This includes tangible print materials like brochures and flyers, and digital assets like blogs, landing pages, eBooks, videos, and social media content.

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The Pillars of Effective Sales Collateral

Sales collateral that delivers results is not a product of random acts of content creation. It hinges on two critical factors:

1. Buyer Journey Stage: The effectiveness of your sales collateral is largely determined by the buyer's journey stage. For instance, a blog post may hit the spot for a prospect in the awareness stage, while a product demo video would be more suitable for someone closer to the decision-making stage.
2. Tone and Content: The tone of your collateral and the information it carries is equally crucial. It should be tailored to address the concerns of the prospect at a given stage of the buyer’s journey. It should also reflect the nature of your brand and the products or services you offer.

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Who Crafts Sales Collateral?

Traditionally, the marketing team wears the hat of content creation. However, in today's fast-paced sales and marketing landscape, it's beneficial to empower your sales team to create tailored content.

After all, they are the ones interacting with the leads and are privy to the valuable insights that resonate with each lead. This approach not only expedites the content creation process but also facilitates a more personalized touch in your sales outreach.

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Sales Collateral Types

Sales collateral has evolved significantly over the years, moving away from monotonous PDFs and pamphlets to a plethora of engaging and inspiring content formats.

These interactive content formats, such as immersive user experiences, parallax scrolls, and background videos, can jazz up your sales collateral, making it more compelling to your prospects.

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Sales Collateral for Awareness Stage

The awareness stage is all about getting your brand on the radar of potential customers. At this stage, your goal is to demonstrate your understanding of the audience's problems and show them that you have a solution. Here are some types of sales collateral suitable for the awareness stage:

1. Blog Posts: Blogs are a powerful tool to establish thought leadership and engage prospects. They should be well-structured, informative, and easy to digest on different devices.
2. Social Media: Posting relevant and engaging content on your social media platforms can help build rapport with your audience and attract potential customers.
3. eBooks and Guides: These provide detailed information on specific topics and can be a valuable resource for leads at this stage.
4. Website Landing Pages: Specific landing pages on your website can serve as a focal point for your sales collateral, driving traffic to relevant pages on your site.
5. Pillar Pages: These are in-depth guides on a specific topic that answer questions and present high-level research findings, driving more traffic to your website.
6. Infographics: Infographics are a visually appealing way to present a lot of information or explain a complex concept.
7. Newsletters: Sending out a useful, relevant newsletter can help keep your brand in the minds of your prospects and continue to demonstrate your thought leadership.

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Sales Collateral for Consideration Stage

At the consideration stage, your prospects are evaluating their options. Your sales collateral should convince them that your brand is the best fit for their needs. Here are some types of sales collateral suitable for the consideration stage:

1. Corporate Brochures: These are a great way to showcase your brand, services, and products. They should be short, snappy, and visually appealing.
2. Fact Sheets: Fact sheets can help present relevant stats and numbers in a well-designed format, convincing customers that you're the brand to choose.
3. Product Catalogs: A visually compelling and interactive product catalog can be a great way to showcase your brand's offerings.
4. Case Studies: Case studies tell the story of your brand and products through the lens of a customer's experience. They can help your prospects envision the benefits your products could offer them.
5. White Papers: These are useful for presenting research findings, company processes, product data, and other factual information.
6. Videos: A tailored video can add a personal touch to your sales outreach. It shows your prospects that they're important to you and that you took the time to create a message just for them.

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Sales Collateral for Decision Stage

The decision stage is where all your hard work pays off. Your sales collateral should reinforce the prospect's decision to choose your brand. Here are some types of sales collateral suitable for the decision stage:

1. Presentations: These are great for summarizing complex information in an easy-to-understand way. They should be concise, visually appealing, and end on a high note.
2. Proposals: A personalized proposal can wow your prospect and reassure them that you understand their needs and can meet them.
3. Digital Reports: These can be used to present important research findings or 'state of play' communications. A well-crafted digital report can be referenced across your industry, boosting your brand's credibility.

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Crafting and Designing Your Sales Collateral

As you embark on creating your sales collateral, here are some key points to keep in mind:

1. Identify Your Audience's Needs: Your sales collateral should be centered on what your audience needs and wants. Understanding their requirements at each stage of the buyer journey can guide your content creation and delivery.
2. Recycle and Repurpose Your Marketing Collateral: Your marketing content can be repurposed into sales collateral. This can save you time and ensure consistency in your messaging.
3. Ensure Brand Consistency: All your sales collateral should be consistently on-brand. This can be achieved by developing a style guide, customer personas, and a tone of voice guide.
4. Use the Right Tools: Using the right content creation tools can streamline your processes, enabling you to create more quality content quicker.

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The Right Tools for Sales Collateral Creation

Producing high-quality sales collateral takes time and effort. Using a content creation platform like Foleon can simplify the process, making it easy to create rich, immersive formats that excite your prospects. With Foleon, you can track engagement and tailor your campaigns to become more effective over time.

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Final Thoughts

Sales enablement is no longer a luxury reserved for large corporations; it's a necessity for any business aiming for growth. At the heart of this strategy is sales collateral. By equipping your sales team with the right content, you're setting them up for success. So go ahead, revitalize your sales strategy with effective sales collateral and watch your business soar in 2024!