Have you ever looked at other company’s marketing material and thought to yourself, “I am just not creative! I don’t have what it takes to write (or design) that.”

Unless your business super power is writing or design – and even if it is – many companies struggle to write about themselves. Further, with so many kinds of “content” out there, it can get confusing or overwhelming to decide what content your company really needs.

To help you plan, we reviewed our most recent marketing action plans and strategy decks to determine what the most common collateral needs that we see among small businesses. Here is a list of the most common collateral companies need to create:

• Company Collateral Material: You need something that talks about who your company is. This can include an overview document, customer interviews and testimonials and a list of your services.
• Email Newsletter Primer: Email marketing is still a primary workhorse for most marketing plans. Think about creating turnkey content and a branded email template to build out a strong email nurturing strategy.
• Blog: For those thinking of building an online presence, a blog is invaluable for displaying your thought leadership and building SEO.
• Customer Outreach toolkit: You don’t want to only focus on reaching out to new prospects, but also think about how you are communicating with your existing – and brand new – customers. Opt for creating a customer Welcome Kit, customer collateral pieces and other outreach options (such as mailers, and referral programs) to build a strong relationship with your existing clients.
• Thought leadership content: With consumers getting better at tuning out messages they don’t want to hear, sharing what you know with your prospects (sometimes called adopting an inbound approach to marketing) is becoming the most efficient means of building a successful marketing program. Think about creating eBooks, whitepapers and tactical tools to share your knowledge with your prospects.