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March 10, 2007
The Importance Of Merchandising Your Channel Marketing Program
If you're title is "Channel Marketing Manager" or "Director, Channel Programs" or some similar version, I have some advice..."Get Your Consumer Hat On."
Many B2B channel marketing programs would benefit from a dose of "consumer-think." It takes real energy to gain adoption for new marketing programs among channel partners bombarded with messaging from multiple suppliers. That means programs need to, first and foremost, be relevant and valuable to the channel...not just be pumping up the volume on self-serving manufacturer-talk. But, even a well-conceived program requires serious merchandising to get the attention of over-burdened partners. Forgetting to "market" your valuable "marketing program" is one of the surest ways to doom the program to failure.
Here is an example. We have a client...a tools wholesaler located in Oklahoma. Now, Oklahoma, tools and wholesaling do not sound like they lead to creative marketing. But these folks are good...really good.
They contracted a set of interns to call thousands of channel partners to update their profiles and gather e-mail address to kick-off an electronic communications program. They observed channel partners abandoning orders for customized flyers and said: "Can we target these people with a special offer?" They looked at people who had ordered marketing programs and said: "Can we give them an incentive to order again?" If you are in consumer markets, you're thinking "what's the big deal?" But, if you are in B2B channels, this IS a big deal.
This client's team is thinking like marketers or merchandisers -- when they launch a program, they focus on ensuring its success instead of just setting it on its way! They're being analytical. They're being creative. That is very different from the "throw stuff at the walls and see what sticks" approach that so many manufacturers take with new marketing campaigns. Too often, companies fall prey to the desire to introduce "something new" instead of ensuring the sustained success of concepts they already lauanched. This leads to fragemented mindshare in the channel and even more confusion.
In the perfect world, all channel partners would be dedicated, single-supplier drones tethered to your messaging. GET REAL. Successful channel partners are high-performance sales organizations with little marketing skill, but lots of manufacturers vying for their loyalty. To get noticed, you need to get your consumer mindset turned on.
Posted by jcioban at March 10, 2007 9:06 AM
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