Dealer support in marketing

Many larger but also regional companies now rely on various sales channels and a large network of regional dealers. This channel strategy tries to find the ideal distribution channel for each product and service to the target group. This often results in a mixture of classic direct sales, by the company or the brand itself, as well as a strong dealer involvement. In order to make the communication of the company to the customers uniform and goal-oriented, it is important to offer suitable dealer support and to establish a common marketing strategy. This is the only way that external dealers can be ideally involved in all brand communication.

Provide marketing materials and campaigns

The most important and most obvious area of ​​dealer support is to strengthen the marketing and to provide the dealer with the right marketing materials and necessary information. Ideally, retailers are given the opportunity to design their own advertising materials as part of the intended campaigns and adapt them to the local target group, or to order pre-made materials such as promotional gifts directly from a shop. In order to communicate uniformly despite individuality and local differences, templates along the corporate design offer the necessary freedom. It is particularly important to offer various materials and to enable retailers not only to advertise on site in their shop or through printed brochures and flyers, but also to integrate them digitally and using new advertising measures. The use of social media and the creation of websites and landing pages are an important part of this. In particular, the online presence of a product or company should ideally be carried out consistently and stringently despite different retailers. To make this possible, it helps retailers to provide high-quality media, such as images, graphics or information about the product, and to develop campaign plans together with the retailers.

Use communication to cultivate relationships

In order to implement them successfully, communication is the key to success. In particular, the exchange between the dealers and the brands, or the headquarters, help to strengthen this relationship. Through regular exchanges, the headquarters receives the most up-to-date feedback on previous dealer support and can intervene directly in the event of problems. The dealers can also directly express requests and suggestions for future marketing and cooperation in order to provide the most individual support possible. In addition to contacting the head office, it is also helpful to offer the dealers a network or an exchange platform. This allows best practices to be shared, and retailers can learn and benefit from one another or form advertising communities. To further strengthen cooperation, training courses and joint planning phases can strengthen know-how and cohesion. In general, it is worth investing in dealer support and the relationship with the individual partners*, since they embody the direct interface to the customer.

Financial support

This investment can not only run in terms of maintaining relationships, but also through financial support. In the marketing area in particular, it is possible to support retailers with free advertising materials or advertising grants. Ideally, these financial aids are linked to sales or success and not only serve as support, but also as motivation to generate a lot of sales. The support is most successful when it is individually adapted to individual retailers and different incentives and rewards can be awarded.

Implementation and software support

In order to make this collaboration as easy as possible, it helps the retailers to offer a platform on which they can find all the information and templates they need and can contact the head office directly. The complete cooperation with the dealers is organized on this platform and all content can be called up without a long search. In general, dealer support - in terms of content or finances - always leads to better, more targeted channel marketing and increased sales of your own products.