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Your Collatoral Library
Business customers are more informed, more easily reached by competitors, and more demanding of service. This means marketers need sharp, compelling messages, liberally and consistently applied, backed by systems that assure accuracy and traceability. Competition hinges on quality, effective differentiation and price - which means marketers and sales channels need continuously updated intelligence, application-specific success cases, and a range of educational materials, counter-arguments, and offers. Marketing in an increasing electronic and many-media business environment has a number of challenges: Challenge 1. Proliferation of Electronic Materials Marketing materials and messages now are developed, distributed and used in electronic forms as much as in the traditional print/physical forms. While print materials (brochures, catalogs, media kits) are still an essential and major budget item, electronic materials increasingly are the bread-and-butter of the typical marketing department.
Challenge 2. Raised Expectations of Prospects and Customers Customers today want immediate gratification throughout the evaluation and buying process. The web has revolutionized information access about products and markets a prospective customer can easily amass a wealth of relevant information on products, alternatives, advantages, etc. before they even contact a vendor for a sales conversation. And of course, they can explore the depths of your web site before you have a chance to engage them or understand their needs. Customers have never been more powerful or self-sufficient. Challenge 3. The Web as s Primary Touch Point Websites increasingly are the focal points for sales interactions and customer service for prospects and repeat customers. Marketers have come to see that websites need to present the full gamut of information and materials that prospects require - with value-added features such as on-line ordering of materials not possible to post on the site, subscriptions for selected content and topics, and self-service information libraries. . Challenge 4. Personalization of Messages and Content Savvy marketers and salespeople realize that increased sophistication and expectations of prospective customers must be met with directed, tailored sets of information and sales materials. Personalization of messages and content, and electronic literature fulfillment, are hot topics for marketers. Instead of sending a standard follow-up folder of literature with a generic cover letter (typical cost: $2-5) cutting-edge salespeople can assemble virtual literature kits. Such kits are comprised of electronic datasheets, customer success stories, technical drawings, some PowerPoint slides, and such - all dispatched with a customized cover message, and links to relevant web pages. The incremental cost of an electronic literature kit is simply the time it takes to point and click on an electronic order page to specify the kit. Challenge 5. Digital Printing and Print-on-Demand Marketers are dealing with a transition in print materials as well. The advent of low-cost color desktop printers and short-run digital print vendors creates possibilities for cost reduction, optimization, and flexibility within traditional print materials. Progressive marketers are reviewing their collateral systems with an objective of reducing the number of non-print-on-demand items, and optimizing the format of each item. It's too early to proclaim the demise of high-end and long run printing services - most companies still rely on these capabilities for a significant portion of their customer-ready materials. Similarly, it's inaccurate to argue that print-on-demand quality isn't suitable for customer-ready materials - many marketers have already made a successful transition to print-on-demand for some of their materials, and the underlying technologies are improving rapidly. Benefits of an Collateral Library A Collateral Library is an easily accessed, readily integrated repository and deployment engine for marketing materials, sales tools and product information in both print and electronic forms. It contains catalogs, brochures, presentations, images, advertisements, cover letters and templates, forms, fax broadcast sheets, renewal notices, price lists, product samples, and more, and catalogs them for easy searching. The key attributes an effective Collateral Library needs are:  Customer-oriented: should be designed so that customers can easily search, view, download, and order materials of interest. It should be visual, intuitive to use, and present information in a way that matches customers' diverse needs and interest levels. Comprehensive: should contain all materials that we want to make available. It should a reliable, up-to-date resource for prospective customers and repeat buyers, and for all internal sales-support people. Automated: should be based on 'one place, multiple deployment.' -- a central archive of digital and print assets, which publishes copies, as produced, to other systems, websites, applications, etc. Many-media: should manage both electronic and print materials, and let visitors choose the delivery vehicle (download, e-mail, hardcopy) of interest to them. Self-service: users, including salespeople, should be able to search the archive of materials; browse new items; see previews of items; download and email electronic materials; and order print materials -- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They should also be able to learn how to use the materials.
By creating a centralized, readily accessible library of materials, companies benefit on both the "production side" (the marketing department and its suppliers) and the "consumption side" (sales channels, email and websites) of the marketing materials process. Sales Effectiveness. The library can be tailored to meet the information needs of individual users, target accounts, market segments and business units. Salespeople benefit from ready access to up-to-date materials. An intuitive visual catalog of ready-to-use templates, cover letters, and presentations helps salespeople take advantage of the most successful programs. Marketing Productivity. A web-accessible archive of marketing materials saves time, helps assure consistent brand identity, and leverages existing electronic and print assets. Automates and streamlines routine tasks: handling literature requests, distributing product images, and notifying the field of new items. The marketing team gains real-time information about which materials are most popular, which topics are of most interest to sales agents, and where salespeople are putting programs to work. This information can be used to create new materials and programs - which can then be refined and honed in a continuous improvement process. Cost Savings. Reduces print waste by reducing "FYI copies" for new items, excess print runs, incorrect orders, and "office stockpiling." Also lets the marketing team optimize print order quantities based on real-world usage, and encourages the use of electronic materials (primarily PDF) instead of physical items - each substitution of an electronic item vs. a print item typically saves from $2 to $5 plus shipping and handling. Electronic delivery also reduces overnight delivery charges associated with urgent, out-of-process requests from sales and agents. Call Okanagan Bookworks today to find out how we can help you build your own Collatoral Library, and to see some samples of ones that are already in use. Okanagan Bookworks | books@booksokanagan.com | 250.870.2690
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