What is Multi-location Marketing?
How do major category-leading brands with vast distributed networks of multi-location resellers maintain a competitive edge in local markets? They turn to distributed marketing software solutions designed to leverage the reach of multi-location marketing and deliver measurable results.
Before the advent of local marketing automation, multi-location marketing involved time-consuming processes and coordinating endless marketing tasks. “Brands and channel partners had to make phone calls, send emails, get price quotes, coordinate vendors, and schedule deliveries. It was very haphazard and chaotic,” said Gary Ritkes, President of SproutLoud.
Defining Multi-location Marketing Today
Today, multi-location marketing involves major brands and their channel partners using distributed marketing platforms to automate every aspect of local marketing, from inception to measuring ROI. Savvy brands understand that distributed marketing software solutions offer an opportunity to influence their multi-location resellers with funds management options, including Co-Op Marketing Funds, MDF and instant co-pay. Multi-location resellers tend to be more inclined to participate in brand-preferred digital marketing campaigns and seasonal brand-to-local promotions when it means reducing their local marketing costs. Access to Co-Op Marketing and instant co-pay, through a brand-provided distributed marketing platform enables multi-location resellers to opt into more digital marketing programs, including: social media auto-posting, local paid search, reputation management, online directory listings, local video marketing, and location-based mobile display.
Using Co-Op Marketing
to Influence Multi-location Resellers
Brands can influence their local resellers to opt for more effective, proven local marketing tactics by dialing up the percentage of Co-Op Marketing Funds tied to those tactics, so the brand pays more and their resellers pay less. They can also dissuade their multi-location partners from choosing less effective, non-preferred tactics by lowering the amount of Co-Op Marketing Funds offered by the brand.
Using Marketing Analytics to Measure
Multi-location Marketing Performance
Leading distributed marketing solutions often include marketing analytics tools that provide brands with valuable insight into local marketing performance. Today, advanced marketing analytics dashboards include industry benchmarks; performance metrics that span the brand’s entire reseller network; and detailed data that zeroes in on a specific region, partner tier, reseller or campaign. “Brands that cannot see that kind of marketing performance data in one combined dashboard are at a disadvantage, because they have to piece together information from different sources to have a complete view of local marketing performance,” Ritkes said.
Quick access to customized marketing analytics reports give brands and their resellers the insight they need to make decisions about allocating marketing spend and helping lower-performing locations increase traffic, leads and sales in local markets.
Many brands today still face challenges when it comes to multi-location marketing strategies — especially those that rely on outdated, highly manual processes or a patchwork of single-point marketing solutions.
“My No. 1 piece of advice for brands who are looking to execute local marketing through multi-location resellers is to take a more holistic, organized and automated approach,” Ritkes said. “When brands equip their local resellers with the right tools and support to be successful, it’s a win-win.”
