However, there is no central association or repository focused specifically on the discipline of Channel Marketing. This is surprising given the number and caliber of organizations that practice channel marketing.  It begs the question, where does one find useful and real world expertise on developing an effective channel marketing campaign?

Whether your company uses the term channel marketing or not, you are more than likely engaged in some form of it for your business.

Defining Channel Marketing
We think of Channel Marketing as talking through the people who talk to your customers. On the long road from creation to consumption, there are numerous channels comprised of intermediaries and influencers that play an integral role in the success of all businesses. Channel Marketing is the strategic process of establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with various channels and influencers, and supporting them—or gaining their support—through strategic marketing programs and tools. CMOs, marketing directors and managers, and mid-size and small business owners who capitalize on the formation of marketing strategies around these channels are headed in the right direction.

Three Steps to Channel Marketing
Whether you utilize an internal marketing department to explore channel marketing or employ the expertise of an experienced marketing firm, we believe there are three critical steps to getting your channel marketing campaign off the ground.

Step 1: Define your channels. The first step in a successful channel marketing campaign is to define your current distribution channels. While it may sound simple, doing it properly takes time and expertise. A complete, meaningful definition may require a detailed profiling and segmentation of your current customers, or an in-depth investigation of your competitors’ marketing channels. The idea is that through an intensive regimen of marketing and database technologies, you can identify key prospect lists within those channels that have the best potential to influence the end users of your products or services.

Step 2: Develop your channels. Next you need to perform extensive research to help you determine which of your channels have the greatest potential to impact your bottom line. Proper development of your channels will help you enhance their overall effectiveness and enable you to react more quickly to new opportunities. In a nutshell, you’ll sell more and spend less. Once you know which channels hold the most promise, you can determine the best allocation of your resources for maximum return on investment (ROI).

Step 3: Discover new channels. In channel marketing, as in life, change is the only constant. That’s why it’s imperative to continually explore new channel opportunities.

Talk Through the People that Talk to your Customers
We’ve done hundreds of channel marketing campaigns for a variety of companies. Several of these examples are germane to certain industries, such as the commercial building products industry or insurance/financial institutions or security services industry, but regardless of the industry the basic channel marketing tenants remains the same.

By talking through the people who talk to your customers, channel marketing done right can motivate and capture mind-share with the influencers, specifiers, and sometimes also distributors or dealers, all of which have different roles in the process that gets your products and services to market. If you make your brand, product or service unforgettable in a positive way throughout the channel, there are many fewer chances that sales to the end-customer can become derailed. Often times carefully planned campaigns to influencers can help you sell more and spend less trying to influence end users.

Do you know what channels affect your end user’s decision making? What strategies are you using to reach your influencers?

Bruce Downing
Vice President of Integrated Marketing
Pipitone Group

Whether you have the autonomy or not to overhaul your marketing planning process, consider these two steps and 9 tips designed to increase marketing budgets, move your company into new marketing areas, and engage your team.

Break your two week marketing planning prep period into two parts:
1. Gather and Gauge
2. Greet and Engage

Here are some tips to consider under each step:

Gather and Gauge

1) Locate and re-read last year’s marketing plan. Determine if last year’s plan format should change. Hint: If the plan has not been updated and re-circulated in the past year, you may need a more team-friendly plan format. Too many marketing plans consist of endless multiples of PowerPoint slides. We’ve found that creating a one-page roadmap (that is regularly updated and distributed) helps keep the team and plan aligned. Click here to read about a one-page to IntelliStep™ plan from Pipitone Group. This one-page format will roadmap internal communications, channel marketing, customer acquisition, customer retention, awareness and measurement steps. The IntelliStep Plan uses pictures to represent major plan initiatives and shows how they are integrated and how they relate to your timeline.

2) Simplify overall results for easy sharing.  You only have two weeks to prepare. Narrow results to a set of meaningful numbers. For B2B planning report at minimum:
Revenue change
     –Simplify and report change in revenue by product line or by service
        offering versus year ago.
Estimate market share change relative to competitors.

Consider the layers of analysis that could be added to the above and make provisions to have new results be part of next year’s measurement and evaluation planning. Consider how you might add new measurements on customer acquisition, or customer retention. Determine if you need and can get syndicated sales data to learn your true market share changes relative to competition. Could proprietary research help you? In next year’s plan you may want to consider using social media to conduct inexpensive market research. 

3) Revisit the marketing campaigns that contributed to successful product/service revenue increases. In the areas where you were successful, look at your company’s and your competitor’s messaging and boil down to what worked. Pull out the marketing initiatives that you believe might still be effective next year. Separate them into brand building and business building activities.

Further evaluate the successful campaigns. Is your company’s current umbrella positioning still relevant and meaningful? Do your product or service advantages still hold up? Do you have or can you create an “irresistible” offer?
Finally for next year’s plan, decide what the successful components or new ideas would be most effective in further developing existing, or in developing new channels.

4) Prepare a preliminary wish list of marketing initiatives you would like to have next year.

5) Shorten the list.

6) Set meetings for step two.

Greet and Engage

7) Meet with core stakeholders. Get a solid hour each with the key sales, marketing, management and if possible a core customer or two. Ask what can our company offer that is better than what our competitors can offer? What would constitute an irresistible offer? What is on your marketing wish list?

Share a bit of your learning where it is applicable. Ensure that the stakeholder and other team representatives will attend your marketing mindstorming session.

8) Invite the team to a marketing mindstorming session. Use your findings and the results of your interviews to create an outline for the session. If possible handwrite the outline and key findings on large flipcharts.  Use the early ideas on the chart as a base, and let the team add dimension and/or eliminate waste. The internal communication that happens between your stakeholders here should be “priceless”. 

9)  Finally, build a usable, sharable plan that maximizes potential to succeed (refer again to tip #1).

1. 1. Get a jump on next year’s planning:
   • Conduct inexpensive market research. While busy executives may be taking a much deserved break from their email inboxes, they may still frequently visit their Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts as a way to keep their finger on the pulse while out of the office. Consider leveraging social media efforts to conduct market research. Perhaps develop a poll or pose Q&A on the social site you use to gather intelligence for your fall or next year’s planning.
   • Revisit your database(s).  Sure, your sales team can be Johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to responding to “hot” leads, but what about those prospects that you just can’t close right now? Why not build a program to nurture “warm-leads”? Slower months serve as a perfect time to review your databases for up to date contact information without duplication to ensure that it is in good shape for your lead generation and follow-up campaigns. 
   • Measure marketing plan effectiveness. Now is the perfect time to assess what has worked over the past six months and what strategies can be tweaked for the remainder of the year. Answer, “Which marketing initiatives are providing a measurable return?” Ask, “Can we make adjustments to use more of the initiatives that worked?” 
2. 2. Reach out to current clients and prospects:
   • Check in with current clients. Maybe you can step in to help while many full-time employees are out on vacation.
   • Plan to start early and finish late on certain days. Many business decision makers may be working extra hours to compensate for upcoming vacations or recovering from vacation time taken. You just might be able to get through to these decision makers early or late, avoiding screeners and gatekeepers.
3. 3. Spend a little time with family and friends:
   • If you’ve put in the overtime when times were extremely busy, take an early leave on a few nights and reconnect with family and friends. Rejuvenate. Get ready for the next crunch.

What are your plans for keeping your marketing efforts moving in the right direction in the next few months? Has summer 2009 posed additional challenges to your marketing strategies given the economy?

Influencing those who have the power to influence purchasing decisions is a powerful means of ensuring the success of a product or brand. Cultivating persuasive dialog with the network of intermediaries that have the power to shape purchasing decisions can be initiated through a variety of marketing mediums including print, television, web and social or emerging media. Wal-Mart’s use of Mommy-Bloggers is a good example of how to influence the influencer or use channel marketing strategies to reach and engage a target audience.

Walmart.com’s Elevenmoms program and the social community built around them, fosters conversations from moms, to moms, about saving money and living better — Wal-Mart’s mantra.

Women, moreover, working mothers are Wal-Mart’s most profitable customer segment. And according to a survey on she-conomy.com:

• 36.2 million women actively participate in the blogosphere every week, either writing blogs or reading and commenting on them.
• HALF of the women surveyed say that blogs influence their purchasing decisions.

By harnessing the power of women’s’ participation in the blogosphere, Wal-Mart was able to develop an effective channel marketing strategy that influenced a persuasive demographic.

We question, are you identifying the right channels/influencers who influence the purchase decisions of your end users? What tools or methods are you using to reach these influencers?

Marketers looking to grow their brand ambassador portfolio should take note of Wal-Mart’s influencer marketing strategy via Elevenmoms.

Perhaps consider implementing and tracking unique URLs on print advertisements to measure print’s influence in driving online activity. Or consider how a print campaign can influence social media behavior. Starbucks has recently implemented a print campaign in select cities and is challenging people to hunt for the ads, take a photo of it and post it to Twitter to gain exposure for their brand.

To find success in the evolving world of marketing may depend on how well marketers can combine the new with the old. Are you finding ways to leverage offline activities to drive customers online? Do you think traditional marketing still plays an important role in the marketing mix?

We’re interested in your thoughts on this topic. Are you listening to how people are engaging with your brand through social media? Are you then applying what you learn to your email campaigns? Do you see an opportunity within your organization to bridge the gap between email and social?

Nielsen said “member communities” are now at 67 percent participation while email is at 65 percent.

The study found that of internet users throughout the world, two-thirds visited a social networking site last year. Of those Palo Alto Calif.-based Facebook is the leader, with visits every month by 3 of every 10 Internet users, the Nielsen study reports.

In fact, Facebook had a 168 percent increase in users, the study said, while Mountain View, Calif.-based LinkedIn had a 137 percent increase.

The biggest growth spurt for Facebook has been in the category of users from 35 to 49 years of age.