In previous blogs focused on channel marketing, we’ve discussed what channel marketing is, why it’s beneficial, how to do it right, and even a few of the challenges it presents; along with the assertion that Channel marketing is more challenging than ‘regular’ (or traditional) marketing. However, we’ve never quite explained why channel marketing is more difficult.
Simply put, channel marketing is like traditional marketing’s teenage older sibling—it’s bigger and far more complex. The two are related—their driving forces are the same—but like two children in different stages of development, they differ in the intensity and number of challenges they present. To truly understand this analogy, you must first understand the general challenges that the two methods share.
Much like siblings share some of the same traits due to their relation, traditional and channel marketing share some of the same challenges due their relation. Both tactics face difficulties such as,
Between developing plans to establish their brand in emerging marketing channels, creating a great amount of tailored material, and searching for areas to improve upon, marketing managers in both practices have enough on their plate to make their heads spin. But, even though the two tactics share these challenges, the size and complexity of channel marketing magnifies their level of difficulty.
These may sound familiar if you’ve been following our blog for some time, but they’re worth revisiting as they are still relevant challenges that channel marketers face today, a couple of years later. Let’s dive into them a bit
The small size of channel partners allows them to create deep relationships with their customers and increase your product/service reach. That’s great, right? Well, yes and no. Advantages often come with their own disadvantages. One being that the small size of their organization also means less staff to dedicate to running effective marketing campaigns. If they can run marketing campaigns, they probably still don’t have the expertise to recognize why one promotion outperforms another. Their lack of knowledge and resources generally results in underutilization of provided marketing materials and low brand engagement.
It’s not uncommon, or even inherently damaging, for partners to produce their own materials and advertisements. In fact, their efforts will be an advantage to brand awareness and credibility. However, just as with the advantages of a small organization, this advantage also comes with it’s own disadvantage. With a large distributed network of partners all creating their own materials, the possibility of inconsistent brand and regulatory compliance increases greatly. The failure to control compliance across all distributed channels can be significantly damaging to your brand and business.
This particular challenge is influenced by the lack of expertise and resources. If your partners have the staff to run a marketing campaign but lack the technological resources to track effectiveness and report results, it’ll be difficult for you to visualize the effectiveness of their regional marketing programs. Furthermore, without the technology to compile data, you won’t benefit from data driven insights that are necessary to inform and improve future materials and activities. This leads to an arsenal of marketing materials that is overflowing and outdated because there is no process for removing outdated and ineffective materials.
Small organizations don’t generally need all the platforms and advanced technology that larger organizations utilize to manage, execute, and track their marketing campaigns. Without the same sophisticated tools, your partners may not be able to carry out some of your more involved marketing campaigns. This means that channel marketers must either create individual campaigns with each partner’s abilities in mind or provide the technology or platform for them that will allow them to execute more elaborate campaigns.
All in all, it’s plain to see why channel marketing is more difficult than traditional marketing. It may seem like an obvious fact, but truly understanding the reasons for its increased level of difficulty is important for understanding the increasing significance of Through-Channel Marketing Automation (TCMA) software. The intensification of existing marketing challenges in culmination with the unique challenges of channel marketing are some of the driving factors that are making TCMA and other Channel software an absolute necessity rather than a luxury.
To learn more about channel software and how you can begin your search for a platform that will advance with the field check our blog The Channel is advancing—make sure your channel software is too
If you’re struggling to find a solution to any of these challenges in your own channel partner program, check out our Channel Partner Guide or speak to one of our experts.