Posted by Megan Moyer
Making the most of your marketing budget is a feat everyone tries to pull off each year. One way to maximize your marketing dollars is to collaborate with your supply chain partners.
Suppliers are sometimes unaware that they can do this, or just haven’t reached out to their distributor partners to join forces on marketing and promotion opportunities. Wholesalers can just as easily miss this step in their marketing planning process.
The mutual benefits should be worth the effort. You both can extend your marketing dollars and hopefully – with the right formula for price, promotion, placement, and product – bump sales. If you don’t find success on the first partnering attempt, don’t give up. There might be different ingredients you can try, or better timing. You know all the factors that can weigh in on whether a campaign is either effective or ineffective. If you’ve got a solid relationship and are both willing and able to keep trying until you find the sweet spot – with a set limit on how much you can afford to invest in these efforts on an annual basis – keep going. Start small and build on it. You may be able to test regionally before going nationwide. Or try different media channels to see if one is reaching your target audience more reliably than another.
The best way to maneuver through these opportunities is to be mindful of managing expectations and remain respectful of each other’s efforts. Communicate clearly and frequently. If you can manage one or more face-to-face meetings a year to plan and/or discuss results, all the better.
Once these efforts are going smoothly, bring retailers into the planning discussions and decision-making to build on your success.