Sales collateral is the subset made specifically for sales conversations. In B2B companies it is often the largest and fastest-changing part of the library.
Examples by type
| Type | Examples | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Sales collateral | One-pagers, datasheets, case studies, comparison sheets, pricing sheets, proposal and pitch decks, ROI calculators | Sales, partners |
| Product material | Product sheets, specification sheets, product photography, screenshots, demo videos | Sales, website, resellers |
| Event material | Roll-up banners, booth graphics, flyers, speaker slides, badges, giveaways | Events team, regional teams |
| Digital collateral | Ebooks, white papers, webinar promo images, email headers, social posts, display ads | Marketing, demand generation |
| Partner material | Co-marketing kits, reseller brochures, joint case studies, logo packs | Partners and resellers |
| Corporate material | Company overview deck, press kit, annual report, recruitment material | Leadership, HR, communications |
Why collateral goes out of date
Collateral describes things that change: prices, features, customer logos, screenshots, certifications, team members. A one-pager is accurate on the day it is approved and starts drifting the next week. The common problems:
- Personal copies. Salespeople keep the version that worked for them on their laptop and keep sending it after the official one changes.
- Edited copies. Regional teams and partners edit a PDF or a deck to localise it, and the edited copy becomes a new, unofficial version.
- Expired content. A customer logo or quote used without a current approval, a photo whose licence has ended, a certification that lapsed.
- No signal of what is used. Marketing produces material without knowing which pieces sales actually sends.
Keeping collateral current
- One source per piece. Each piece of collateral lives in one place, and everyone links to it rather than attaching a copy. When it is updated, the link shows the new version.
- Templates for the parts that change. If regional teams and partners need to adapt a piece, give them a template where the layout, logo and legal lines are locked and only the text and images may change.
- Dates on anything that expires. Customer approvals, image licences and offers carry an end date, and the material leaves circulation on that date.
- Review on a schedule. A quarterly pass over the sales library, starting with the most downloaded pieces.
- Measure use. Download and share figures show which collateral sales relies on and which can be retired.
Print basics
For printed collateral, export at the final size plus bleed (commonly 3 mm, or 0.125 in, on each side), with text kept inside a safe margin, in CMYK using the profile your printer asks for, and as PDF/X when the printer accepts it. Colours specified in Pantone in your brand guidelines will not match exactly in CMYK; ask for a proof for anything colour-critical.
Marketing collateral in Freedam
- Templates are built in a visual editor or imported from Photoshop (PSD). You choose which layers may change, so a partner or regional team can update the text and photo while the layout and logo stay as designed. Template sets produce the same design in several formats at once.
- Studio crops and extends product photos to new formats, removes backgrounds and exports every social format from one image, without changing the original.
- Version control keeps one copy of each piece: upload a new version and every share and portal link shows it.
- Brand portals give sales and partners the current collateral without an account. See distributing marketing assets to dealers for a worked example.
- Usage figures on every asset show which pieces are downloaded and which nobody has opened.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between marketing collateral and sales collateral?
Sales collateral is the part of marketing collateral used in sales conversations: case studies, one-pagers, decks, comparison sheets. Marketing collateral also includes material that reaches people before they talk to sales, such as ebooks, ads and social posts.
Is a website marketing collateral?
Usually not. The term normally refers to discrete pieces (a brochure, a deck, a video) that can be sent, downloaded or handed out. Website pages are counted as owned media instead.
How much collateral does a sales team need?
Fewer pieces than most teams have, each kept current. A common set is a company overview deck, one one-pager per product, case studies by industry, a comparison sheet, and a pricing or proposal template.
Related terms
Make a piece of collateral from a template
The demo workspace has Nordi templates whose layout is locked and whose text and images can be changed. Pick one, swap the product photo, and export it at the sizes you need, without a design tool.
You enter Nordi’s workspace as an administrator. No card, no setup.