Sales collateral is having a reckoning.
What used to be a brochure handed out in-branch or a PDF attached to an email is now a key conversion tool—and its effectiveness depends entirely on how well it adapts to the changing customer journey.
That journey looks different depending on your audience. In B2B finance, buyers are cautious, committee-based, and largely self-directed—Gartner reports 6 to 10 stakeholders involved in most purchase decisions, with only 17% of time spent with a sales rep.
Meanwhile, in B2C, the purchase path is social, mobile, and fast-moving. Over 50% of Gen Z and nearly half of Millennials now discover financial products via social before search (GWI, 2024). Trust is low, expectations are high, and attention spans are measured in scrolls.
To be effective, collateral must evolve from generic handouts into targeted, engaging content that’s designed to be shared, skimmed, and trusted—whether it’s surfacing in a Slack thread or a TikTok feed.
Let’s break down what that evolution looks like in three key areas: writing, design, and delivery.
Writing: Speak to roles, moments, and motivations
B2B: Writing for the committee. B2B collateral must stand on its own. Buyers often don’t talk to a sales rep until they’re well into the funnel, so your content has to anticipate objections, answer technical questions, and align with different priorities across roles. A generic product overview won’t cut it.
What works:
- Create versions for different decision-maker roles (CFO, ops, compliance).
- Include benchmarks, case studies, and ROI language to support internal buy-in.
- Use headlines and subheads to mirror real buyer questions (“How long does onboarding take?”).
B2C: Writing for the skeptical scroller. In consumer finance, the audience is busy, impatient, and wary. Collateral must earn trust fast, and that starts with simplifying your message. Drop the insider terms and speak like a human.
What works:
- Use plain language and short sentences that get to the point fast.
- Highlight benefits over features (“Save automatically every time you spend” > “Behavioral microsavings function”).
- Include customer voice and real-world language pulled from reviews, not brand guidelines.
Design: From static to scroll-stopping
B2B: Design for digital-first collaboration, Forget the heavy PDF. In a world of Slack threads and shared drives, collateral should be easy to navigate, modular, and sharable.
What works:
- Build interactive tools, like ROI calculators or clickable demos.
- Create modular slides or one-pagers that can be mixed and matched by reps or shared independently.
- Incorporate data visualization—charts, benchmarks, process flows—so information can be absorbed in seconds.
B2C: Design for mobile-native attention. The B2C buyer lives on their phone. If your collateral doesn’t work in-feed, in-DM, or in motion, it’s invisible. Traditional sales decks don’t belong on Instagram.
What works:
- Prioritize video-first formats like reels, explainers, or voiceover walkthroughs.
- Design carousel posts, swipe guides, and side-by-side comparisons for native use on social platforms.
- Use authentic imagery and user content over polished stock visuals—people trust people.
Delivery: Right content, right channel, right moment
B2B: Collateral as part of the workflow. Buyers aren’t waiting for a sales email. They’re sourcing their own materials—and sharing them internally. Make sure your collateral meets them where they’re already making decisions.
What works:
- Host materials on a microsite or digital portal with easy sharing links.
- Use version tracking so your team isn’t circulating outdated PDFs.
- Embed collateral in outreach cadences, proposal tools, or even AI-powered assistants that respond to buyer queries in real-time.
B2C: Collateral as content. Here, sales materials double as marketing. If it doesn’t look like native content on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts, it’s unlikely to land.
What works:
- Distribute short-form content on the platforms where your audience lives—not just email.
- Create variations by channel (e.g., a vertical format for TikTok, a square post for Instagram, a 15-second version for YouTube pre-roll).
- Pair every asset with a clear, frictionless next step: click, swipe, book, or chat.
Build for how people actually buy
The age of one-size-fits-all PDFs is over. Whether you’re selling portfolio services to a multi-person investment committee or promoting an instant savings app to a Gen Z customer, your collateral has to match how people learn, share, and decide.
Every piece of collateral is a chance to either deepen trust or lose attention. For financial brands, it’s no longer enough to be compliant—you have to be compelling. The most effective firms are treating sales materials not as an afterthought, but as a key part of the customer journey.
That means:
- Writing with empathy and purpose
- Designing for clarity, context, and device
- Delivering content through the real-world channels where your buyers live
And if it doesn’t meet that bar? It won’t just be ignored—it won’t even be seen. Collateral is a moment of truth. Well-written, well-designed, and well-delivered collateral doesn’t just support the sale—it makes the customer feel seen, heard, and ready to say yes.
