National brands with distributed sales or indirect revenue streams often need assistance with local marketing efforts. Channel partners such as franchisees, distributors, or resellers may be the best at what they do, but most aren’t trained marketers. They need guidance and resources to successfully promote products and services to customers — and to market the brand.
Through-channel marketing automation (TCMA) helps to reinforce the brand’s authority and leadership while providing simplified ways for channel partners to participate in local campaigns that can be tracked, measured, and optimized. From providing direct access to approved marketing assets, to co-op reimbursement and market development fund (MDF) program administration, here are six ways TCMA technology such as Ansira EdgeSM can boost your brand-to-local marketing efforts.
Problem No. 1: The channel partner needs a return on investment for the marketing time and effort.
Solution: Simplify the entire process with technology.
Millions of dollars of unused co-op reserves and MDFs are wasted annually because channel partners don’t know how to best align their marketing efforts with those of the national brand. Or because the process is deemed too difficult.
By investing in the TCMA technology, national brands can provide a frictionless experience that reduces time, energy, resources, frustration, and stress. The easier the process, the more likely partners will want to participate.
Problem No. 2: Channel partners don’t have access to marketing assets — or don’t know how to best use them.
Solution: Provide a partner-centric platform that serves as a repository for all brand-compliant assets.
In today’s 24/7, always-on world, you can create a web-based destination for partners. National brands should invest in a partner portal for distributing content, assets, and usage guidelines. The Ansira Edge channel engagement module makes it effortless for partners to access and use digital and traditional brand-compliant assets.
National brands should also regularly communicate with partners when new or different assets are available, how they are to be used, and explain the importance of program participation to enable consistency.
Problem No. 3: Channel partners don’t know how to participate in marketing campaigns.
Solution: Develop turnkey programs.
Provide strategic media campaigns and ongoing support to help local partners understand why they should market — and how.
Consumers have high expectations for brand interactions, and local marketing messages and tactics play a big role in creating seamless experiences. Give channel partners everything they need to be successful at the local level, especially the ability to participate in digital campaigns to reach and engage consumers during their local search and discovery process.
Problem No. 4: Channel partners don’t know how to keep track of key programs.
Solution: Show them how the technology does the hard work for them.
To drive success with advertising and promotional campaigns, national brands and local partners need to be aligned. Whether the brand wants to promote deals for the holidays, specific selling periods, or certain geographic areas, providing a transparent and upfront view of key dates, events, and promotional parameters makes it easy for partners to participate. And it amplifies the voice of the brand in the process.
With one platform, channel partners have easy access to what events and activities are coming in the short- and long-term, empowering them to plan and forecast.
Problem No. 5: Channel partners need help tracking their allocated funds.
Solution: Ensure the program includes co-op reimbursement and MDF program administration.
Maximizing trade dollars benefits everyone. Many programs today leave budget left unspent. TCMA technology that facilitates the planning, budgeting, and tracking of trade funds is a critical component to overall marketing efficiency and growth.
The Ansira Edge trade fund management module helps to manage all of the dollars involved in channel partner marketing and promotional campaigns. The technology ensures strategic program design, compliance, administration, reimbursements, sales incentive management, and more.
Problem No. 6: Channel partners don’t know if their promotions are actually working.
Solution: Analytics provide insight into all data-driven results.
By tracking campaigns, program participation, and compliance, national brands can use data (not estimations or assumptions) to determine what works and what needs to be refined. This in turn fuels year-over-year optimizations and improvements in program design that channel partners — and the national brand — benefit from.
Investing in TCMA technology is key to helping channel partners realize their fullest potential, while ensuring the brand-to-local strategy is a success.
