10 Channel Marketing Ideas

And by “channel marketing” we mean ideas that will impact the channel and how companies go to market, be they manufacturers or distributors.

Rather than look into a crystal ball for industry trends, which inevitably revolve around product, key customer markets, consolidation and the need for improved profitability we thought we could better serve you by considering the maze that it now takes to generate sales, and growth, on a consistent basis.

1. Engaging via multiple media with increased frequency drives sales
   • “e” is no longer eMarketing. “E” is an electronic communication medium that provides flexibility, versatility, personalization and targeting capabilities and is cost-efficient. To be most effective it needs to be a medium that is integrated into a strategy. It’s no longer one or the other … growth companies use e, p, and v capture customer engagement. Mobile and websites matter, but if no one knows what you have, do you have it? Does it mean anything to them?
2. Branding & promoting your USP throughout your ecosystem
   • Understanding, living and promoting your brand is critical to standing out from the competition. If you don’t invest here, it’s difficult to be remembered…or thought of. One question to ask yourself if you are a distributor, “What percent of sales do we budget for our own marketing / branding? (non-manufacturer funding)?”  And if you are a manufacturer, ask “What is our message to the channel or does the channel consider “us” a commodity?” (remember, most products are commodities as someone else carries essentially the same thing.)
3. Defining your market access strategy
   • Companies with growth goals need defined initiatives to either diversify their revenue streams (geographic, customer segments, channels, etc) or to “double down” and broaden their product offering to core customers. Whether to focus or broaden, the issue is “share of spend”. And if you’re thinking of selling, having a plan can increase your valuation. Researching your market, conducting research on your business, gathering internal input and soliciting outside perspectives all go into developing a strategy that drives tomorrow’s growth.
4. Customer segmentation drives engagement, sales and profits
   • Yes, not all customers are created equal. Understanding how they interact with you, what their needs are and how to best serve / communicate to them will drive sales & improve profitability. This goes for both distributors and manufacturers!
5.  Demand creators outperfom
   • Is your company, and salespeople, schooled in demand creation or are they still in the mode of order facilitation (and the best know when to do which!)? The days of relationship selling and order management as a strategy are over unless you are a “lifestyle” distributor (which is okay.) Knowing, and marketing, the difference differentiates you in your marketplace and to your suppliers.
6. Multi-channel marketing delivers sales
   • Bricks, clicks, rings, in-field, mobile, alliances, vending, etc  … they all represent sales. Defining your “outlets” can impact your sales opportunities. Remember the golden rule … “he who has it rules.” How, and should you, engage?
7. Customer insights drive channels to market
   • The customer decides their channel of choice. The question becomes, how do you determine their channels (and preferred methodologies) so you can capture your unfair share?
8. Marketing for talent
   • Hiring the competition’s people is last year. This year, HR will ask Marketing for help … how to better position roles, how to present the company and for ideas on how to reach prospective employees. While the tried and true can still work, casting a wider net can generate higher yield (and yes, you’ll need to teach them product.)
9. Data drives decisions
   • A commonality for growth-oriented companies will be the usage of data to drive sales and marketing decisions. Data will assist marketing, product category management (supplier selection), inventory mix, pricing, service offering and more. And it’s a different decision-making mindset.
10. It starts with the customer … the person
• Yes, this one is obvious, however, they key in 2014 is for companies to know individuals within these companies, key people whom they don’t sell to (but could or who influence the business) and to develop an email database so that you can communicate with them. Distributors need systems to communicate with customers; manufacturers need systems to effectively communicate with distributors and with end-users. Consider this “CRM Lite”.