Today’s customers expect to interact with brands in a wide variety of channels, both online and off, and their expectations for these interactions are higher than ever. According to research from Salesforce, 75 percent of customers look for consistent experiences across every channel, and if they don’t get it, 73 percent are likely to switch brands.
But as the demands for omnichannel marketing grow, sprawling branding initiatives can lead to sprawling budgets and, if companies aren’t careful, diminished brand quality. So how can an organization that wants to engage with customers across an ever-growing number of channels do so without losing control of costs or consistency? How can it keep a sharp eye on customer experiences without adding extra checkpoints and friction that slow down deployment of marketing campaigns?
The key is to implement a centralized marketing solution that keeps your brand in lockstep with your business. Let’s look at a few of the ways centralizing your marketing efforts will empower your organization to execute flawless marketing programs at scale.
Protect Your Brand Reputation
Your brand is the foundation of your customer interactions, but when different teams, like field teams, local partners and distributors, are all working with marketing materials, it’s critical to find a way to ensure your brand message and experience stays consistent from source to source — and all without restricting their ability to launch effective, localized campaigns.
A centralized marketing technology solution can act as a brand management hub for approved marketing assets that allows users to customize text and images (according to brand standards) for their specific audiences and order or download the collateral they need. And all without risking brand quality or taking up the national marketing team’s time and resources.
Improve Marketing Performance
Research shows that customers’ experience with your brand impacts both their decision to purchase and how much they’re willing to pay, and Salesforce has found that 67 percent of customers are willing to pay a premium for exceptional brand experience, while 62 percent will share their bad experiences with others.
And your printed marketing collateral — from presentation docs from local sales reps to direct mail to the banners hanging in your partners’ stores — is a significant player in your overall brand experience. So it’s important that, no matter what kind of collateral a potential buyer receives, or from whom they receive it, the messaging, print quality and delivery are all top notch, every time.
By investing in a centralized digital asset and marketing execution management platform, also called a marketing automation platform, you can ensure consistently high-quality brand experiences in communications from headquarters, local partners and other representatives.
Arm Your Teams for Success
The majority of local marketing campaigns — from business partners, franchisees and local vendors — are executed without assistance or oversight from the national marketing team. And that means that every local partner are their own CMO (among the many other hats he wears). These teammates are the agents of the brand, and they need the skills and resources to deliver winning marketing campaigns on a limited budget, and without significant input from the national arm.
Digital centralized marketing automation platforms that enable these partners to customize, order and distribute high-quality brand assets enable what Gartner has called “freedom within a framework,” turning every local brand rep into a top-notch marketing executive — and enabling the central marketing team to be sure funds are being used effectively and local partners are getting the support they need.
Accelerate Time to Revenue
Even in today’s digital age, 91 percent of customers still make purchases locally, which means it’s important for local marketing campaigns to be firing on all cylinders. When local reps and partners have to create their own marketing assets, jump through corporate hoops to get them approved and then produce them on their own, the delayed time-to-market results in serious missed revenue opportunities.
But research has shown that companies deploying centralized marketing platforms to empower local partners to launch seamless marketing campaigns have reduced their time spent assembling and customizing local marketing materials by 25 percent. And considering companies with distributed sales forces spend an average of 40 percent of their time on custom marketing materials, centralized access to templated content can give them back up to 3.25 months of productive time per year.
Capture Economies of Scale
When an organization can quickly and accurately assess marketing spend across multiple dimensions — item, store, region, partner and more — it’s easy to not only ensure MDF and co-op funds are being properly used but to capture economies of scale through just-in-time delivery. When you know exactly how much material you need, you can leverage POD services to minimize production, storage and shipping costs, saving both money and warehouse space.
If you suspect it’s time for your organization to do the same, we invite you learn more about the benefits of centralized marketing, then contact us today to find out whether OneTouchPoint is the right marketing partner for your brand.