These distributed functions may be separate organizations, business units, departments or individuals. Both the central and local levels have sales and marketing responsibilities. The beauty of distributed marketing is that it allows both levels to work together to achieve a better ROI.
Decompose the distributed marketing platform
The central marketing department has set up its brand guidelines, processes, budgets and data; then there are those who are "on the ground". No one knows the market better than those who operate at this local level.
In order for the company to maintain control of its brand, leverage local marketing initiatives and gain visibility over those marketing activities, a distributed marketing platform like The Ramp is necessary. Here is a list of what this solution should involve to ensure brand compliance, locally relevant marketing and visibility of activities and analytics.
Creative assets
Central marketing retains control of its brand. Global marketing teams create print and digital materials, including advertisements, flyers, emails, microsites, direct mail and more, for everyone in the company. These assets can be stored, shared, personalized, co-branded, localized. The local level (whether agents, franchisees, partners, distributors, consultants, etc.) can take these marketing assets and make them relevant to their business needs.
User data
The company may choose to provide all customer data to its distributed network, or allow these partners to download their own data for use, or a combination of both. By storing the data in a distributed marketing platform and adhering 100% to the DPMR, prospects and customers don't "fall through the cracks". This can provide valuable visibility to the business.
Budget and billing
If an organisation chooses to do so, it can fully or partially fund local campaigns using cooperatives, market development funds, dedicated local marketing budgets or by allowing self-financing.
Campaign analytics
As with any marketing activity, measurement is essential. What's the point of launching a campaign if you don't have visibility into its performance? With a distributed marketing solution, corporate marketing can see how marketing activities have performed at the local level and the ROI associated with each campaign.
A concrete example of distributed marketing in action
Let's say you're a marketing specialist at a world-class hotel. You have created communication tools and campaigns that will be sent worldwide.
Let's imagine that a big concert takes place throughout the year in different cities where you have hotels.
You obviously want this audience to choose your hotel over your competitors! So you're going to create a campaign to entice guests to stay in one of your hotels.
With a distributed marketing platform, you provide all your hotel chains with the fully designed emails, mailings, banner ads that are part of this integrated marketing campaign. You then allow each hotel to tailor the assets to the specific needs of each specific area.
With distributed marketing, companies can offer branded, compliant and professional campaigns for all their hotel properties. Each hotel can then place the appropriate logos and applicable discounts. Best of all, companies can view statistics on the performance of the marketing campaign in each region, providing endless transparency and analysis.
So who needs distributed marketing?
Come to think of it, almost every organization needs a distributed marketing strategy, such as :
-Restaurants or chain stores
-Franchises
Direct sellers / multi-level marketers (MLM)
-Agencies with agents / field representatives
-Companies with partner networks
-Companies with sales representatives or marketing specialists in the field
The key is to consider your distributed network not only as a sales channel, but also as a marketing function. Leveraging the knowledge of your local relationships can make a huge difference to your business. Customers turn to the companies they recognize. Take advantage of the local level to outperform in your customer acquisition.
