Because most customer experiences are local, brands have to align with their channel partners to ensure promotions, advertising, and marketing resonate at the local level. Providing channel partners with the right marketing tools puts them in the best position to deliver outstanding customer experiences — and ultimately drive more sales for the brand.
Here are four ways to boost brand-to-local marketing:
Show Them the Money
Although billions of dollars run through local distributed sales marketing channels every year, only about half of the funds available to local partners are actually used. Whether the brand uses a co-op program or market development fund (MDF), letting your channel partners know they have the monetary resources available gives them the green light to market to their customer bases.
Put Everything in One Place
Do your various channel partners use different platforms for marketing fund management? National brands can optimize the process by providing every partner with access to the same platform. The platform can be used to manage assets, create media plans, track marketing budgets, and verify spend.
By unifying partners with a single platform, the national brand can better manage funds, streamline communications, reimburse at a faster rate, and more accurately forecast and plan.
Communicate the Options
Let your partners know about their options for multichannel marketing, such as trade promotions, online ads, direct mail, social media buys, and point-of-sale (POS) materials. If they know there’s a solution for their need, they’ll likely be motivated to incorporate it into their marketing effort.
Marketing Made Easy
Make it simple for your partners to access and use brand-compliant marketing assets. This includes streamlining asset approvals. Put an efficient, responsive process in place to eliminate obstacles and reduce resistance. The easier it is for partners to access assets, the more likely they are to use them.
