Every brand we talk to has this problem: Their retailers are marketing their brand in a rogue fashion. Whether it’s a retailer changing a soda brand’s can color from red to green to match their logo color, or publishing content about outdated products on their Facebook page, independent retailers are frequently engaging in ways that are outside of the brand’s guidelines.
The problem is that it’s very hard to control retailers and their marketing practices in the online world. Most of the time, independent retailers are not equipped with marketing tools to properly highlight the brands they sell. A lot of the time, we hear from retailers that they are “starving for content,” but they don’t have the resources promote something that looks clean and properly reflects their local brand and inventory.
These retailers are also fiercely independent. They want to control their own online channels, and they don’t want to play by someone else’s rules. However, while there will always be the percentage of retailers who never participate in a brand’s marketing initiatives, a significant portion of retailers are open to changing their marketing methods if they are given tools that promote local customization.
A prospective client recently told me that his independent retailers are his “biggest asset and largest liability.” He is struggling with ways to control them and properly leverage them, but he certainly can’t ignore them. Gartner Research says that by 2015, companies that focus on integrated processes for local marketing enablement will increase revenue from 15%-20%. We at Promoboxx believe that if you find ways to localize your national marketing initiatives in a way that embraces your local retailers, you will strengthen the relationship with your retailers and your company will ultimately be more successful.
