Through-Channel Marketing Automation (TCMA) has rapidly become the preferred technology platform for brands looking to build more profitable brand marketing relationships with their local partners. It gives brands (manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and marketing services) a greater ability to monitor and ensure that brand compliant marketing content and practices are uniformly applied across a partner network of any size. According to a CMO Council report, 95% of respondents noted that increasing revenue through their local channels is of strategic importance in the next year, with 54% deeming this very important, if not critical. An effective TCMA strategy can help you do that.
Partners (dealers, agents, franchisees, white label commerce, sales reps, and retailers) benefit because less of their time is spent worrying over marketing strategies. They know the brand and TCMA are helping them run more successful, data-driven campaigns than they could ever manage on their own. Because marketing capabilities and experience can vary from partner to partner, these platforms must be easy to use, flexible enough to be adapted to cater to local markets, and able to manage and measure a wide array of print, digital, and social media campaigns.
TCMA provides brands and their partner with solutions that deliver consistent messaging and get maximum impact and return on investment with every channel marketing dollar spent. Here are five ways TCMA is making a difference.
As a result of the ability for brands to manage market development funds (MDFs) through TCMA, both parties can optimize the cost benefits of joint marketing. Local partners get the creative assets they need to execute professional, personalized marketing campaigns. Brands maintain control and compliance with channel marketing automation that also provides strategic market development fund management to help partners control costs.
Co-investing on marketing through MDFs sends resources and support throughout networks of partners and helps them deliver consistent messaging into new or productive markets. MDFs can also reduce costs for print, digital, and in-person marketing collateral and support direct mail and email campaigns, conferences and trade shows and local advertising. For best results, brands should also provide TCMA training on marketing practices and tactics for partners. The 2022 Channel/Partner Marketing Benchmark Survey conducted by Channel Marketer Report and Demand Gen Report found that nearly 70% of brands will be allocating funds to upgrade a variety of support services and activities such as partner training, channel incentives and partner relationship management.
Brands do best when local partners do what they do best – increasing customer engagement and revenue in local markets. According to the CMO report, brands realize 50% – 80% of their company revenue from their indirect or partner channels.
Through-channel marketing automation frees local partners from many of the chores of marketing so they can focus on their daily priorities for growing their business. Brands can give them everything they need to increase customer engagement in local marketing more effectively with automated channel marketing. Strategic support gives partners the ability to craft personalized messaging that reaches and resonates with their customers while capitalizing on the brand’s reputation and experience.
The best marketing channel automation gives partners easy access to customizable templates, promotional items, and digital content to optimize customer data and craft personalized messaging. They can provide flexible graphic, written, and video content options to empower the partner to differentiate messaging to rural, urban, and geographically diverse customers.
Partners can build off already established and proven marketing tactics while adding brand-compliant local touches that are ideally suited to their customer base. They can create relevant and engaging email, direct mail, print, and digital campaigns with the right blend of local customization to create more engaging and effective messaging.
Through-channel marketing automation is only as good as it is easy to use. Brands and partners benefit when channel marketing automation platforms provide effective solutions that minimize frustrations and maximize impact through streamlined workflows and policies. The top two reasons businesses cite for using marketing automation are efficient marketing efforts (35%) and improved customer engagement (34%).
Innovative technology and intuitive business portals can make it simple for organizations at all levels of marketing expertise or experience to manage or use marketing automation platforms. In addition to smooth access to content, an effective marketing automation platform can also eliminate the complexity of monitoring campaigns and gaining insights into what is and what isn’t working.
Many local partners are small-business owners lacking the tools to understand customer data that can be used to optimize marketing campaigns. Sharing their data with brands is often difficult, resulting in an impaired ability to make informed marketing decisions.
Channel marketing automation platforms can manage that data and give brands important analytics information quickly and, in real time, to help them effectively manage a network of partners. When partners can see measurable results, their enthusiasm increases. An engaged partnership can lead to greater success and co-investment.
As more brands realize the revenue potential of channel partnerships and compete for the attention and cooperation of local partners, having innovative and effective channel marketing automation is a terrific way to attract dedicated and enthusiastic partners.
Trust Marketing.com’s channel marketing automation hub, Dot™, for creative solutions to easily manage your through-channel tactics through one easy to use portal. Dot™ gives you the tools to oversee brand compliance, to support and scale your marketing through a diversified network of partners, and build partner involvement and loyalty. You’ll be able to precisely measure results and adapt quickly to maximize ROI. Centered around technology; powered by people, never has connecting the dots of your channel partner marketing campaigns been this easy.
Posted in Digital | Posted on 04/04/2023