What Marketing Collateral Is and the Print Pieces Every Business Needs

What is marketing collateral?

Marketing collateral is the collection of branded media a business uses to communicate its message and support the sales process. It includes printed pieces like business cards, brochures, flyers, letterhead, postcards, and presentation folders, as well as digital assets. The defining trait is purpose <h3 class="section__subheading" id="digital-collateral">Digital collateral</h3> <p>Print is half the kit. The other half never gets trimmed or folded, and most of it starts from the same design file, which is why a piece laid out properly for a flyer also exports as a clean PDF. These eight cover what a sales team actually sends.</p> <ul class="typesList"> <li><strong>One pagers and sell sheets.</strong> A single PDF page per product or service, emailed before the call, and printed as an 8.5 x 11 flyer when it needs to be in a hand.</li> <li><strong>Case studies.</strong> The customer, the problem, the work, and the result, written so a prospect recognizes their own situation in it.</li> <li><strong>White papers.</strong> A longer, research led document that trades real depth for an email address.</li> <li><strong>Pitch decks.</strong> The slides that carry a live pitch, plus the leave behind version that has to make sense with nobody talking over it.</li> <li><strong>Email templates.</strong> Reusable layouts for announcements, quotes, and follow ups, so every message leaves in the same voice and the same colors.</li> <li><strong>Landing pages.</strong> One page, one offer, one action, built to receive the traffic a postcard or a flyer sends.</li> <li><strong>Social graphics.</strong> Post and story sized artwork cut from the same photography and type as the printed pieces.</li> <li><strong>Short product video.</strong> A clip that shows the thing working, useful on a landing page, in an email, and on a screen at a trade show booth.</li> </ul> <p>Run both halves off one brand system: the same logo files, the same two or three brand colors, the same type. When the printed brochure and the emailed sell sheet clearly come from the same company, each one makes the other easier to believe.</p> : every piece is created to inform, persuade, or reassure someone on the path to becoming a customer. Good collateral is consistent in look and voice, so each piece reinforces the same brand rather than feeling like it came from a different company.

What are the three types of marketing collateral?

A useful way to group collateral is by the job it does. Brand collateral, such as business cards, letterhead, and envelopes, builds recognition and trust and makes a business look established. Sales collateral, such as brochures, sales sheets, and presentation folders, makes the actual pitch and helps close a deal. Event and outreach collateral, such as flyers, postcards, and banners, is designed to be handed out or mailed to reach people directly. Most businesses need a little of all three, and the same brand system should tie them together.

What is the difference between marketing collateral and marketing materials?

The terms overlap and are often used interchangeably, but there is a useful distinction. Marketing materials is the broader bucket: anything used to promote a business, often aimed at building wide awareness. Marketing collateral usually refers to the more specific, sales-supporting pieces that educate and persuade a prospect who is already paying attention, like a brochure handed over in a meeting or a folder left behind after a pitch. In short, materials cast the net; collateral does the closer work.

What does marketing collateral printing cost, and how are prices set?

Cost depends on which pieces you print and the options you choose for each. Every product is priced by the same levers: quantity, where a larger run lowers the price per piece, plus size, paper stock, and finish. Because a collateral kit is several products, you build it piece by piece and each configurator shows the live total as you adjust it. That lets you scale, ordering a big run of inexpensive flyers and a smaller run of premium folders, without guessing at the budget.

What sizes, stocks, and finishes are available for marketing collateral?

Each product carries its own range. Business cards come in standard and premium stocks with matte, gloss, and <section class="section" aria-labelledby="all-types-heading"> <div class="section__container"> <h2 class="section__heading" id="all-types-heading">All the Types of Marketing Collateral, With Examples</h2> <p>There is no official register of collateral types, so here is the working list a print shop actually sees on the floor. These 18 printed pieces cover almost every business. Each one is listed with what it does, the sizes and stocks it usually runs on, and a real example, and each belongs to one of the three jobs above: brand, sales, or event and outreach.</p> <ol class="typesList"> <li><strong>Business cards.</strong> The 3.5 x 2 inch handshake, usually printed on 14pt or 16pt card stock with a matte, gloss, or soft touch finish. Example: the card left on the counter after a site visit.</li> <li><strong>Letterhead.</strong> Your logo, address, phone, and web address printed on 8.5 x 11 text weight sheets that still take a laser printer or a pen. Example: a quote or an invoice that looks like it came from a real company.</li> <li><strong>Envelopes.</strong> A #10 business envelope printed to match the letterhead so the mailing looks like one set, not two. Example: a signed contract sent back to a client.</li> <li><strong>Brochures.</strong> A folded sheet with room to explain. 8.5 x 11 folded into a tri fold rack piece, or 11 x 17 folded into an 8.5 x 11 bi fold when the photos need space. Example: the service menu handed over in a meeting.</li> <li><strong>Flyers.</strong> One flat sheet, one message, 8.5 x 11 or 5.5 x 8.5, and the cheapest piece per unit once the run gets large. Example: a grand opening handout.</li> <li><strong>Postcards.</strong> A mailer with no envelope, in 4 x 6, 5 x 7, or 6 x 9, that lands face up and gets read before it gets sorted. Example: a reminder for a seasonal promotion.</li> <li><strong>Presentation folders.</strong> A 9 x 12 folder with pockets and a business card slit that holds 8.5 x 11 inserts. Example: the proposal left behind after a pitch.</li> <li><strong>Catalogs.</strong> A multi page book of the full line with photos, specs, and item numbers, saddle stitched so it lies open on a desk. Example: the wholesale book a buyer orders from.</li> <li><strong>Booklets.</strong> Saddle stitched, commonly 8 to 48 pages, for a story too long for a brochure. Example: an onboarding guide, a program book, or a lookbook.</li> <li><strong>Posters.</strong> Large format, from 11 x 17 for a window up to 24 x 36 for a wall, printed to be read across a room. Example: an event poster in a shop window.</li> <li><strong>Banners.</strong> Vinyl with hemmed edges and grommets for outdoors, or a retractable stand that travels in a case for indoors. Example: the sponsor banner at a race, the backdrop behind a booth.</li> <li><strong>Table tents.</strong> A folded card that stands on its own where people are already sitting. Example: the special on a restaurant table or a signup prompt on a counter.</li> <li><strong>Door hangers.</strong> Die cut with a hole and a slit so it hangs on a handle and cannot be missed. Example: a service route through one neighborhood.</li> <li><strong>Hang tags.</strong> A small drilled card strung to the product itself, carrying price, size, care, and the logo. Example: the tag on a garment or a candle.</li> <li><strong>Stickers and labels.</strong> Die cut stickers for giveaways and vinyl or paper labels for packaging and jars. Example: the seal on a shipping box, the logo sticker dropped in the order.</li> <li><strong>Notepads.</strong> Glued pads printed with your logo on every sheet, so the brand stays on a desk for weeks. Example: the pad left behind in a client office.</li> <li><strong>Trade show displays.</strong> Retractable banners, printed table throws, and backdrops sized to a 10 x 10 booth. Example: the kit that has to travel and set up in an hour.</li> <li><strong>Branded merchandise.</strong> Pens, mugs, totes, and apparel that carry the mark after the event ends. Example: the tote handed out at a conference.</li> </ol> <p>Nobody needs all 18 at once. Pick the ones your buyer actually touches, print those well, and add the rest as the sales process asks for them.</p> </div> </section> specialty finishes; brochures fold in several configurations on coated or uncoated paper; flyers and postcards offer multiple sizes and weights; folders come in standard and premium options. Coated, gloss, or silk finishes make color and photography pop for sales pieces, while a heavier stock signals quality for brand pieces. Set the exact size, stock, and finish in each product configurator and confirm it on free paper samples before a full run.

How many types of marketing collateral are there?

There is no official register, so the honest answer is that collateral is grouped three ways by job and counted many ways by format. This guide lists the 18 printed types a print shop sees most: business cards, letterhead, envelopes, brochures, flyers, postcards, presentation folders, catalogs, booklets, posters, banners, table tents, door hangers, hang tags, stickers and labels, notepads, trade show displays, and branded merchandise. It then lists 8 digital ones: one pagers and sell sheets, case studies, white papers, pitch decks, email templates, landing pages, social graphics, and short product video. No business needs all 26. Print the pieces your buyer actually touches and add the rest as the sales process asks for them.

What is digital marketing collateral?

Digital collateral is the half of the kit that never gets trimmed or folded: one pagers and sell sheets emailed before a call, case studies that walk through a customer problem and its result, white papers that trade depth for an email address, pitch decks in both the live and the leave behind version, email templates for announcements and quotes, landing pages built for one offer and one action, social graphics sized per platform, and short product video that shows the thing working. Most of it starts from the same design file as the printed piece, so a layout that prints as a flyer also exports as a clean PDF. Keep both halves on one brand system, the same logo files, the same two or three colors, the same type, and each half makes the other easier to believe.