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Customizable (online) marketing
Networking through the Internet and social media
Working across locations
Decentralized companies Are companies of a brand that operate independently at various locations. The best way to visualize this is using a sales landscape — in the middle is the head office, which makes all general decisions for the brand and passes them on to local entrepreneurs.
Each additional building on the map leads through road connections to such a local sales or sales partner, who usually has relatively great freedom in managing its location. Nevertheless, there are regulations that are passed on by the head office to every decentralized location, which means that, despite the spatial spread, a uniform corporate image emerges.
Centralized or decentralized marketing
The question of whether a company or organization has a centralized or decentralized marketing structure The right one depends largely on how the company is generally structured. In Companies with a high degree of centralization Decision-making powers are usually held by central corporate management. This provides the important guidelines for products, management and responsibilities. This makes it easy to control and coordinate the individual activities, but decisions that only affect parts of the company can take a very long time.
In addition, through the expansion of a large headquarters, Decision-makers lost proximity to customers and the company runs the risk of making decisions that are out of touch with reality. Die decentralized corporate structure on the other hand, offers many independent business units that make their own strategic decisions The head office only plays a coordinating role. Strong decentralization therefore enables rapid adjustments to the local market and higher motivation of sales and sales partners, as they are given more responsibility.
However, it can occasionally happen that decision-making powers are not clearly distributed. This distinction is also applied to marketing. In decentralized marketing, the centrally organized marketing department only plays a trend-setting role In the end, the competence lies primarily at the local level.
Decentralized marketing is relevant for all companies that are organized decentrally but still receive guidelines for their local marketing from headquarters. industries, where this is mostly the case:
Since all of these industries and corporate structures depend on being represented at many different locations, but still want to appear as a uniform brand, it is very important to conduct centrally managed but locally adapted decentralized marketing.
Why is decentralized marketing becoming increasingly important?
As a result of ever-increasing digitization, the expansion of online and globalization, the world in general is becoming increasingly interconnected and connected. The Internet not only makes friendships across different regions or continents possible, but the corporate and working world is also adapting to this trend.
Work from anywhere and projects that operate across the various locations of a company are becoming more and more part of everyday life. This is also the case in marketing. Thanks to increasingly cheaper online marketing, many different channels and platforms can be used.
In addition, many companies are no longer just represented at a single location, but are becoming more and more decentralised on. However, these individual local partners should still have a uniform marketing strategy realize. To make this possible, they too need constant exchange and good networking.
Together or individually?
Especially with decentralized companies, there is often the question of the extent to which marketing campaigns can be adapted locally in order to still leave a uniform brand presence. Should all locations pull together or should everyone fight for themselves? The brand itself should, of course, be known nationally and create a clear brand image. However, products and services are usually purchased locally. The customer must therefore also be able to find the local sales partner (especially online).
In this dilemma, companies must decide for themselves to what extent they give their various locations a free hand. General decisions, such as running your own account on social networks (or other online services), must be met by headquarters. For example, some major brands such as Apple or BMW only operate a corporate account, others let their sales partners decide for themselves whether they want to use this platform for themselves. The head office also provides guidelines for the correct use of the corporate design. Through this compliance and the right mediocrity between centrally managed and individual, you can benefit in particular from decentralized marketing.
What are the challenges?
Requirements in decentralized marketing are changing, particularly as a result of digitization ever faster and processes are therefore becoming faster, more networked and more technical. The target groups associated with marketing in general and the individual campaigns be addressed, are becoming more and more demanding and more enlightened than before.
This means that marketing must also be more innovative, direct and target group-oriented. In addition to this pressure from outside, companies and local partners are also a enormous cost pressure exposed from within. More and more campaigns should be carried out, which ideally cost less and less.
All this is to be achieved in the decentralized structure at local level. Here they have However, some of them do not have sound marketing knowledge. This and the international associations of large companies make it increasingly difficult to deliver efficient, decentralized marketing.
In addition, in retrospect, the question of general Measurability of marketing success open.
- Target groups are more enlightened and demanding
- High cost pressure
- Little marketing expertise at local level
- Lack of measurability
- Faster time-to-market
- Uniform brand presence