Effective results through efficient technology
Using targeted digital marketing to drive local sales.
Brands encounter a major challenge when it comes to managing localized marketing through retail websites. While some are household names perpetuated through longevity and national advertising, their message isn’t always consistently communicated on a regional or local level. Industry suppliers and retailers working with hundreds or even thousands of products often don’t have the bandwidth to create and manage a website presence or digital marketing campaign for a specific brand. But, the solution to bridging that gap doesn’t have to be overly complicated or expensive.
There are digital marketing strategies and technology available to address these issues and deliver results to the brands, the distributors and the local contractors in the form of actionable data and sales leads. Digital solutions, including well designed, comprehensive and cohesive websites that include consistent, quality brand images, product information and promotions are cost effective and ultimately result in sales.
Brand communication
Let’s start at square one, with the brands. Many brands have a breakdown in communication with suppliers/distributors who are ultimately responsible for representing a wide variety of companies. They often don’t have the bandwidth to create and maintain full-scale websites or targeted marketing campaigns comprehensive of updated brand and product information. Significant deficiencies in representation of brand details, including consistency, backlinks, listing details and overall efficacy, can prohibit brands from accurately presenting the correct information to those in a position to sell the products. Using digital solutions brands can efficiently provide product listing details, including promotions and rebates, brand cohesiveness and backlinks, which in turn, help suppliers and distributors promote products on their websites and reach local contractors with accurate information.
Local contractors are focused on finding customers, then selling the product and providing the service. Today’s available technology can help them with targeting and awareness of the potential customers in their area who are actively searching for a service then help drive an informed purchase decision through a defined, customized lead generation and tracking process.
Helping the contractor
Independent contractors often don’t have a brick and mortar location or time and expertise to manage a complex website, but they are the ultimate conduit to the end consumer, so they need information on branded products as well. Ensuring uniform messaging across the board and making sure marketing campaigns include dealer locators set up specifically for an individual area so a contractor in one county won’t get leads in another county. Instead of simply providing a list of names and numbers for local contractors, a brand can drive local leads with targeted calls to action for all of its contractors in a specific region so consumers have access to more information and the brand can track the source of the lead.
It’s a simple bottom line — brands can instantly promote their products to suppliers and to local contractors. By using digital marketing tools, contractors will have a site that supports the suppliers’ sales goals and marketing campaigns. These sites drive leads to the contractors and can be organized by the brands they sell and region they service. The independent contractors now have the ability to have a national marketing campaign that drives actionable sales leads backed by big picture data while the brands control the content. And, a brand can pivot almost instantly to meet changing sales needs. If Big Brand A decides to offer a promotion for a specific heat pump, the information is immediately available on the local contractor sites so they can advocate for the product with their customers.
From the top, the brand level will sell more products. The distributors will move more products out of their warehouse so they can get more product in. The contractors will be happy because they're getting more leads. Not to sound cliché, but everybody wins.
From a brand perspective, there’s an abundant opportunity to improve exposure to suppliers and distributors and ultimately to local contractors using digital marketing and technology solutions to optimize digital marketing and ultimately product sales.
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