After more than 8 years designing brand identities for small businesses, my honest answer is almost always the same (although each company is different):
- It all starts with brand strategy. Without it, you might be investing in the wrong things.
- On that foundation, you can develop your brand assets as the building blocks for your collateral. If you can only invest in two, I’d make them your photography and typography.
- They then get applied throughout into your brand collateral, starting with your branded website—which, in most cases, is the most important piece of collateral you’ll ever own.
This article covers what brand collateral is, what’s genuinely worth investing in, and what most small businesses can safely skip; at least at the start.
What is brand collateral?
Brand collateral includes all materials created to represent a company and convey its brand identity. It can be physical or digital and includes business cards, letterheads, brochures, packaging, signage, advertising materials, or a branded website.
Your brand collateral plays an important role in establishing and maintaining a consistent and professional brand presence.
By consistently applying your branding to all promotional materials, your company can build recognition and trust with its target audience.
The difference between brand collateral, brand touchpoints, brand assets & marketing collateral
Terms like brand assets, marketing collateral and brand touchpoints can be confusing. They are very similar, but not the same thing.
What exactly is the difference, and how does brand collateral fit into all of this?
- Brand assets: These are the building blocks of your brand identity—visual, verbal, or other sensory cues that make your brand distinctive. Examples include your logo, typography, colours, brand voice, and even jingles or scents. These assets are always used in context—in your brand collateral.
- Marketing collateral: These materials are a particular type of brand collateral designed to promote specific products or services and generate sales. Examples include flyers, brochures, catalogues, banners, and digital ads.
- Brand touchpoints: These are all points of contact—intentional or unintentional—a person can have with your brand. In addition to your brand collateral, brand touchpoints could include interactions with customer representatives, product experiences, and more.
Why your brand needs brand collateral
Professionalism & credibility
When people encounter your brand for the first time, you only have a few seconds to make an impression.
High quality brand collateral signals your level of expertise and uniqueness. It shows what your company is capable of and lays the foundation for further interactions.
If the first impression is negative, you have to work much harder to convince people of the quality of your offer. Or worse, they’ll buy elsewhere.
Consistency & trust
We live in a multi-channel world. Your brand can be seen on social media, via Google, in retail, or in person. When your visual identity and messaging stay consistent across all of these, your brand becomes familiar.
And familiarity builds trust—a phenomenon psychologists call the mere-exposure effect: the more people encounter something, the more positively they perceive it.
Differentiation
Professional and coherent brand collateral that remains consistent across all channels helps anchor your brand assets—logo, brand colours, tagline—in people’s minds.
Over time, they become identifiers that people immediately associate with your brand and set you apart from competitors—something I explore in more detail in my article on what makes a brand recognisable.
That said, not all collateral delivers equally. Being deliberate about what you actually create matters more than trying to tick every box.
Types and examples of brand collateral
There are generally two types of brand collateral: print and digital.
Let’s look at some examples for each type.
Printed Brand Collateral
Packaging
If you sell a physical product, packaging is probably your most important brand collateral—by far. It’s the first thing a customer sees and touches and shapes how they perceive your whole product. Well-designed packaging can add a tactile element to the brand experience. Clever details and surprises can help with this.
Research shows that 52% of people are more likely to make repeat purchases when orders arrive in quality packaging. The unboxing experience is a key moment in your customer journey.
However, if you’re a service business with no physical product, skip this entirely and invest elsewhere.
Signage
If you have a physical location or exhibit at trade shows, signage still matters for you. A well-designed sign outside a café, a banner at an event, or point-of-sale graphics in a retail space all make your brand visible and recognisable in the moment.
Larger formats like billboards can also spark curiosity and drive people to find out more about your brand.
Again, if your business is entirely online, this is one to skip.
Brochures
Honestly, most small businesses don’t need a brochure. Your website does this job better, because it’s searchable, updatable, and doesn’t end up in a recycling bin.
I usually ask clients what specific problem a brochure is solving before we go ahead.
This could, for example, be a premium service business that meets clients in person, a business with a complex offering that would benefit from providing something tangible, or a brand whose brochure design signals quality.
If you do decide a brochure is necessary, invest in content, print and paper quality. A well-made brochure gets kept and passed on. You can even make a statement with your printing technique. You might want to use algae ink, for example, if sustainability is part of your brand.
Flyers
The same logic applies to flyers. A targeted social media post or digital ad will usually reach more of the right people for less money. Save print for moments where the physical object adds something, like a beautiful invitation or something tactile that reinforces a premium brand.
If you do print flyers, you could add a QR code linking to your website, menu or booking system. It bridges the physical and digital and makes the flyer more useful.
Tip
High-quality visuals make a big difference when designing flyers and brochures. If you don’t have the budget for custom brand photography yet, stock images are a practical and affordable alternative. Just make sure you choose images that match your brand personality and maintain a consistent visual style.
If you need image sources, I’ve created a helpful guide featuring the best stock photo sites to find authentic, on-brand images.
Catalogues
Catalogues are mostly a thing of the past for small businesses. Online catalogues are more practical in every way. They’re searchable, sortable, and instantly updatable. The only exceptions are certain B2B contexts or audiences where print still carries weight—like retirees.
If you’re a small product-based business just starting out, skip the printed catalogue.
Business cards
Business cards get a lot of eye-rolls these days, and for purely online businesses, that’s fair.
But if you’re in B2B and regularly meet clients in person, a well-designed card is still part of the first impression.
My client Office Flower Solutions pitches to corporate offices and hands cards to facilities managers. For them, it matters.
If you do print business cards, make them work harder. A QR code that automatically saves your contact details removes the friction of manual entry and means the card actually gets used.
Stationery
Stationery—branded letterheads, envelopes, contracts, proposals—is one of the easier wins.
It’s relatively cost-effective to produce and adds a professional touch to every official interaction.
If you’re sending proposals or contracts to clients, branded stationery signals that you take your business seriously.
That said, for most small businesses, a branded letterhead and a PDF proposal template are enough to start with. It doesn’t often have to get printed, these days.
Merchandise
Branded merchandise can be a fun way to extend your brand into the world. And when it’s done well, it takes on a life of its own.
Take Glossier’s pink pouches that customers started posting on social media, Deliciously Ella’s merch that feels like a natural extension of her whole wellness lifestyle, or MoMA’s tote bags that people carry as a statement about their taste,
What these have in common is that they support a story people want to be part of. They’re about self-expression, not just brand exposure.
Merch can range from apparel (t-shirts, hats, hoodies) and accessories (tote bags, phone cases, stickers) to drinkware, stationery, gadgets and small gifts.
For most small businesses though, merchandise is a nice-to-have rather than a priority. The right moment is when your brand has a strong brand personality, a loyal following, and something worth putting on a T-shirt. Get your foundations right first.
Tip
Before finalising your design, you can use mockups to see how your printed materials will look in real life.
Not sure where to find high-quality mockups? Check out my article on premium mockup sites—a curated list of the best mockup sites (including some discount codes).
Printed Ads
Paid print ads in magazines or newspapers are rarely worth the investment for small businesses with their high cost and limited targeting.
But editorial coverage is a different story. Being featured in a niche publication, such as a local lifestyle magazine or an industry trade journal, lends credibility that a paid ad never could.
In a saturated digital landscape, PR might be becoming one of the most underrated levers for small brands.
Digital brand collateral
Website and landing pages
Your website should be the foundation of your brand collateral and everything else points back to it. It’s your information hub, your sales tool, your portfolio and your first impression all in one.
It’s where all your news, links, products, and service descriptions come together. You can incorporate social proof like client testimonials, guide people exactly where you want them to go, and update everything without reprinting a thing.
A dedicated landing page can also be a strategic move when you want to drive a specific action, like a service launch, a campaign or a promotion. Send traffic from SEO, social media, or even a QR code on your print materials straight to it.
Unlike any print collateral, your website can be A/B tested, refined and improved over time based on real data. That flexibility alone makes it worth investing in properly from the start.
Of course, there are exceptions. Some B2B businesses rely entirely on referrals and personal relationships. But even then, a simple website helps you explain what you do, adds credibility, and gives people somewhere to send others.
Further reading
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of having a website, you’ll like my 15 reasons why your brand still needs a website.
Or you might like my article on designing a website that drives conversions.
Social media profiles and posts
Social media is powerful for some businesses and completely irrelevant for others. And it’s totally saturated.
Before investing time in it, ask yourself honestly: is my audience actually there, and am I willing to show up consistently? Because inconsistent social media can do more harm than good. It makes your brand look abandoned.
If the answer is yes, keep your visual identity and tone consistent across whatever platforms you choose. Authentic content tends to outperform polished templates. And people can tell the difference.
Email templates
Branded email templates are worth setting up for newsletters and promotional emails. Mailchimp, ConvertKit and similar tools make it pretty straightforward.
For your day-to-day email signature, keep it simple. Your logo, name, title and website is enough. Nobody needs your full brand manifesto in their inbox.
Digital ads
Digital ads are brand collateral too and as organic reach becomes harder to come by, they’re becoming more interesting.
Whatever format you use, keep your visual identity consistent. An ad that looks nothing like your website or social media creates confusion rather than recognition.
That said, ads are a specialist skill. If you’re considering investing in them, it’s worth working with someone who knows what they’re doing.
Educational material and content
Educational content, like blog posts, white papers, case studies, infographics, explainer videos, can build enormous trust and visibility over time.
It’s been one of the most effective tools in my own business.
But it’s worth being honest. AI overviews are changing the landscape. Simple how-to content is increasingly answered directly in search without a click. What still works is content with genuine depth, personal experience and a clear point of view.
Downloads, tools and templates may become redundant too, as people can simply ask AI. Honestly, I’m still figuring this one out myself.
Whatever format you choose, keep it branded. Educational content that connects back to your visual identity and voice builds familiarity over time — and familiarity builds trust.
Aligning brand collateral with the customer journey
I briefly mentioned the customer journey before. To persuade people to buy from your brand, provide them with the right information at the right time.
Aligning your brand collateral with your customer journey will help you communicate effectively and thoroughly. Even when in real life, this journey is not always linear.
Here are the five stages of the customer journey, along with some examples of suitable brand collateral for each stage:
1. Awareness stage
The awareness stage is when people are first exposed to your brand and learn your company exists. They might become aware of a need or problem and begin researching solutions.
What you’re aiming for
Identify customer pain points and challenges your products or services can address.
Brand collateral to create for this stage
Create brand collateral that educates and engages your audience by addressing their pain points and offering solutions. This will help establish your brand as a trusted authority in your industry and lay the foundation for further engagement.
For example:
- Blog Posts
- Social Media Graphics
- Videos
- Promotional Materials, such as tote bags, etc.
2. Consideration stage
In this stage, people evaluate different options and compare them based on features, pricing, and other factors.
What you’re aiming for
Provide detailed information about your products or services to help customers make informed decisions.
Brand collateral to create for this stage
Develop brand collateral that highlights your product features, benefits, and unique selling points. This will help customers understand how your products or services can meet their specific needs and requirements.
For example:
- Product Brochures
- Comparison Guides
- Product explainer video
3. Decision stage
In this stage, the customer makes a purchase decision, selecting the product or service that best meets their needs.
What you’re aiming for
Encourage customers to choose your brand over competitors and make a purchase.
Brand collateral to create for this stage
Offer collateral that instils confidence and trust in your brand. This will help reassure customers that they are making the right decision by choosing your products or services.
For example:
- Proposals
- Presentations
- Services page
4. Purchase Stage
In this stage, the customer makes the transaction.
What you’re aiming for
You want to facilitate a smooth and seamless transaction process for customers.
Brand collateral to create for this stage
Provide brand collateral that guides customers through the purchase process and makes it easy to complete their transactions.
For example:
- Branded Order Forms
- Pricing Guides
- Custom quotes
5. Post-purchase stage
After the purchase, the customer experiences the product or service and decides whether to buy again or tell their friends about it.
What you’re aiming for
Foster long-term relationships with customers and encourage repeat business.
Brand collateral to create for this stage
Create brand collateral that keeps customers engaged and informed even after purchasing.
For example:
- Helpful instructions and user manuals
- Branded Newsletters
- Birthday cards
Best practices for developing effective brand collateral
Invest in professional branding and design
Your brand collateral will be more effective when it’s designed professionally—and I don’t just mean visually pleasing.
When you invest in brand strategy process and branding from the start, you can develop a brand identity that connects with your audience and sets your company apart. You can also create a messaging strategy that addresses people’s problems, needs, and objections effectively.
Your brand collateral can then be used strategically to express the brand identity and address people’s needs.
Further reading
Ensure Consistency
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Keep your brand colours, brand typography, logo, and messaging consistent across all branded materials. This builds familiarity and trust and signals professionalism.
Further reading
Developing brand guidelines ensures that everyone in your organisation adheres to the same standards.
Another aspect of consistency is using the correct file format for your logo to ensure that it remains clear when printed on business cards, signage, or social media graphics. For a full breakdown, see my article on logo file formats.
Regular updates and revisions
When your strategy, market, or offer changes, you need to keep your brand collateral up to date.
You can also analyse customer feedback or data to make informed decisions about optimising the brand collateral.
Future trends for brand collateral
Digital-first
The shift is already well underway. Websites, social media, and email are now the primary channels for brand communication, and digital-first thinking should inform every collateral decision you make.
Businesses are also rethinking the physical. For example, digital business cards using NFC technology, like Tapt, let you share contact details with a simple tap and no printing required.
That doesn’t mean print is dead. As digital fatigue grows, print might be having a comeback as a deliberate choice that stands out precisely because everything else is on a screen.
Combine the two and it gets interesting: QR codes in brochures, interactive elements embedded in digital collateral, personalised direct mail that drives people online.
Augmented reality is pushing this further. The IKEA Place app, for example, lets customers visualise furniture in their own home before buying.
Personalisation
Data and AI tools now make personalised content and messaging accessible to businesses of any size. For small businesses, even simple personalisation—like a tailored proposal or a segmented newsletter—can make a real difference.
Sustainability
Eco-friendly practices in brand collateral production are becoming an expectation, not a differentiator. A staggering 74% of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging. And that’s before considering other materials. If sustainability is part of your brand story, it should show up in how your collateral is made.
I wrote a comprehensive article with many ideas for creating more sustainable branding.
Conclusion
Not all brand collateral is worth your time and money, especially when you’re just starting out. The businesses that get it right focus on the foundations first—for me this means strategy, often photography and website. Everything else follows from there, depending on how and where you actually meet your clients.
What’s more, the landscape is changing quickly. Some formats are dying out, new channels are emerging, and AI is transforming the way people find and consume content. Brands that stay relevant make deliberate choices, rather than trying to do everything at once.
Need help with your branding? Feel free to contact me and let’s see if I can help you.
And lastly, if you’re wondering whether to outsource your brand collateral design, here’s a helpful guide comparing a branding agency vs freelance brand designer to help you choose the right option for your business.
