Blog Layout
How to Create Better Sales Materials
CSSI Staff Post – May 27, 2020
In this constantly changing environment, businesses must find ways to remain relevant and top of mind to their clients. The status quo isn’t good enough—you need to look for ways to add value to remain viable, and your sales materials can play a key role here. Sales collateral likely serves as your point of contact with many clients. These pieces provide a tangible reference point to your products and services, benefits and key points of differentiation. They’re also a great place to provide contact information and a call to action.
But as operators have overhauled their go-to-market strategies to cope with the pandemic, so have businesses had to overhaul their sales strategies, including print and digital materials.
Tips and Tools for Creating Your Best Sales Materials
We know that engagement and demonstration are key drivers in decision-making. What if you could visually show a demonstration when you can’t be there in person? What if you could see a product in use, food in a build, the ease of use, the benefits as witnessed rather than explained? What if you could truly experience a product without being in the same room? From websites and presentation tools to apps and beyond, highly visual, engaging materials are indispensable when doing business in a post-pandemic world.
When executed with best-in-class tactics, the following simple tools can help tell your story and make your case for a sale.
Product Photography
Up-to-date and relevant photography is a key tool in showcasing the value and relevance of your products. Innovation in recipe development and plating of food items can speak volumes when showcasing the value of your products.
Like your old high school photos, food photography can very easily become dated and laugh-worthy. Take the lead from current food trends to make your product relevant and important. To build interest and sales, make the viewer look at your product and say, “I didn’t know you could do that with (x product)” or show them an ingredient from a different perspective.
Videography
No longer a “nice-to-have,” videos are a necessity in consumer engagement. Building a video library is as key to success as a full line of printed sales collateral. With in-person meetings few and far between, a video demonstration is a valuable component to product sales.
A few highly impactful formats include:
- Demonstration-style videos:
Showcase your product in use. How does it behave? How can it be used in unique and creative ways? What is the outcome and how do you wish you could smell the screen? This can be accomplished through simple “hands and pans” video demonstrations to full chef-on-camera videos. With the right chef talent, these videos be an engaging way to add humor, personality, a sense of realness and an “inside-track” on chef insights and perspectives.
- Storytelling: Your product may have a broader, more engaging backstory to tell. Sometimes getting out of the kitchen is the best way to make your case. Sometimes you just need a drone shot flying over a field to show the realness of your product. A backstory is best created through a personal lens: the experience, the work that goes into making something. These can be verbal, but sometimes a visual story is just as poignant.
- Animation: When you have an abstract concept, thought or just need a way to stand out, sometimes an animated story is the perfect way to break through communication noise. Humor, charm or an explanation of a more complex thought can be accomplished through an entirely animated format.
Many times, two or more of these formats are combined to achieve the best result.
Why are assets like video and photography crucial moving forward?
As the world continues to evolve, the most breakthrough presentation tools will help set you apart. While we can’t all be in the same place at the same time, the ability to “demonstrate” will be key to extended engagement and relevance.
Once assets are created, they are another piece in your arsenal of brand engagement tools and can be shared across various media: presentations, websites, social media channels and beyond.
How can CSSI help?
CSSI can provide you with the tools you need to move your business forward. Our creative capabilities include but are not limited to:
- Photography
- Videography
- Animation
- 360º Photography
- Infographics
- Interactive presentations
From recipe concept photos to chef demonstration videos, animated stories and graphics to recipes built and recorded in an immersive 360º format, we can work with you to develop the best tools for your specific needs.
Tim Gant
VP, Creative Director
March 1st, 2023 We’re thrilled to introduce the newest addition to our culinary family: Chef Steve Madonna. Formally trained in both Italy and the United States, as well as having worked for Wolfgang Puck, Chef Steve brings an extensive set of connections and culinary knowledge to our already stacked chef roster. Featured in this month’s issue is one of Chef Steve’s favorite recipes for making memories at home with your loved ones.
October 19, 2022 Pumpkin pie is a nostalgic menu item and my personal favorite when it comes to fall and winter menus, as it goes hand in hand with a traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas feast. We elevate the nostalgia by turning this must-have holiday dish into a clarified cocktail that leaves your taste buds as curious as your eyes. We get adventurous as we replace expected visual elements with an ice-cold glass of clarified liquors infused with pumpkin pie. This cocktail defies all visual expectations, while leaving your sense of smell and taste immersed in a seasonally nostalgic experience.
October 19, 2022 Canada is well known for many things. Hockey, snow, maple syrup, and a few other stereotypical but somewhat accurate concepts may immediately come to mind. What you may not know, though, is how invested we are in the snacks that we consume. Compared to the U.S., sure, we are no match for the quantity and variety offered in the land of the free, home of the snacks. However, what we know in our hearts is that Canada has a long-standing, tried-and-true, flawed, yet beloved top-notch snack game. I’m talking about comfort foods that have become so integrated and so established that they are classified as cult-favourites—and no, I did not spell favourites incorrectly. You are about to see a lot more of the letter “U” in this article. Sorry! The great Canadian snack game is easy enough to understand. You think of a flavour and either slap it on a potato or pair it with chocolate. Snacking has always been a huge part of Canadian food culture, but it is only going up from here. To put it lightly, the past few years have been tough on everyone around the world, and Canadians have chosen to increase their spending on snacks by 67% as an indulgence or, personally, as a coping mechanism. In no way, shape, or form am I claiming to be a culinary expert somehow employed in the field of Finance, but I have eaten a lot in my life and right now, I’m the best and/or only Canadian guide you’ve got. Let’s get into the details:
Created by Olive + Ash.
Managed by Olive Street Design. 