Be the Hero in Your Distributed Marketing Organization

By Lauren Bermudez | SproutLoud Solutions Director

It’s no secret that Local Distributed Marketing can be a major pain point for big brands. Even now with ever-changing digital tactics such as SEO programs, social media, Paid Search, and now automated traditional tactics, it can be difficult to align resources, messaging, budgets, and initiatives to offer up a suite of services for channel marketers to choose and implement. There is no silver bullet, and often times, over-coming the challenges at the local level is greater than actually finding the tools for success. So what does it take to be the hero in your distributed marketing organization? What can you do overcome the challenges and offer solutions so that you can be the Clark Kent in your organization?

1. Understand the pain points of your channel marketers. This could be in the form of a phone conversation, an incentivized survey, round-table discussion, or side-panel at a conference. Whatever it takes, speak with your channel partners to figure out what they need and want, and what they are struggling with. There is a solution waiting for every problem.
2. Make it convenient. Your partners, agents, franchisees are not marketing experts, and they shouldn’t have to be. Make brand messaging easy for them to access and order.  Find channel marketing software that can integrate via APIs with your intranet and offer online ordering and enrollments into automated marketing programs with a few clicks of the mouse. Running a business is complicated enough, marketing should be the easy part.
3. Offer co-op funds. There is nothing that provides more incentive than the word “FREE!” If your partners do not have to pay out of pocket, it gives them more reason to engage in marketing programs. Know your marketing budget or push for one that allows your local marketers to engage in a plethora of tactics that drive business into their stores and maximizes your ROI.
4. Transparency and Control. It is important for you to see what your marketers are doing, how they are utilizing funds, and what tactics have been successful. Find a software that allows you these types of analytics as well as the control to put messaging suggestions, permissions, and fund caps on marketing collateral and programs so you don’t end up with a rouge marketer who spends a quarter’s worth of funds on promotional items. Encourage integrated marketing initiatives by offering sets of fund to be used on different types of marketing pieces and programs.

Knowing your channel partner’s struggles and then giving them the tools for success while you maintain control over brand messaging, and spend, empowers both you and your local marketer to win big battles. So put on your fighting cape on start tackling the challenges. Only then will a solution present itself and when it does, you’ll be the hero.