When consumers are deciding which brands to buy from in a brick-and-mortar context, we know one of the key factors is simply proximity. And that’s especially true when it comes to manufactured goods, as buyers are likely to make purchasing decisions based on what’s available in their local hardware or home goods stores.
That means that, for manufacturing companies whose products are distributed in stores across the country, a strong local marketing game is critical to commercial success. But on the flip side, research has shown that
one of the biggest manufacturing marketing struggles is creating and distributing content that truly meets the audience’s needs. While the national marketing team drives the overall brand messaging, quality and consistency, it’s up to local vendors, dealers, distributors and sales representatives to execute marketing campaigns that engage local audiences, turning potential buyers into lifetime, loyal customers.
But when these “marketers” are spread across the country, how can the national team ensure consistency, manage spend and oversee local campaigns without micromanaging local reps?
The answer: a single-source solution that streamlines print marketing efforts and empowers local marketing teams to create, execute and analyze effective campaigns for their own audiences — with minimal oversight from corporate.
At OneTouchPoint, we give companies the tools, services and support they need to turn every local distributor into a lead marketer.
Centralized, Customizable Assets at Local Distributors’ Fingertips
Once the corporate marketing team has created a variety of sleek, eye-catching assets that are sure to catch potential buyers’ eyes, where do those assets go?
When collateral is locked away on the computers at headquarters, it becomes the corporate team’s responsibility to send local reps the most updated version of the assets they need, anytime they need them. This additional back and forth leads to delays and frustrations on both sides — not to mention the risk that local reps will forego the extra steps and use old collateral or create their own, diluting the brand the national team has worked so hard to cultivate.
With OneTouchPoint, companies have an online, centralized repository for the latest collateral — approved by corporate and customizable for every distributor’s particular audience. That means, when it’s time to spin up a new campaign, local marketers have the assets they need at their fingertips, and corporate can rest assured their painstaking brand strategy is safe.
Streamlined Printing and Shipping: Any Size, Any Quantity
Once collateral is customized and ready to print, local marketers working in a decentralized system have two options: send an order request to headquarters for the corporate team to submit on their behalf, or submit the order themselves to a printer of their own choosing.
Like requests for decentralized collateral, the former option simply adds another ball to the corporate team’s juggling act, while the latter adds additional risk that the print quality, accuracy or efficiency won’t be up to brand standards.
But what if local marketers had direct access to a corporate-approved printer? With OneTouchPoint, they do. Distributors, vendors or anyone else in charge of placing print orders can order the collateral they need, in any size — from flyers and brochures to floor sticks, banners and other grand format signage — and any quantity. We’ll print the materials at one of our seven facilities across the country and ship them directly where they need to go, ensuring consistent quality and world-class accuracy and efficiency.
Sophisticated Budget and Inventory Insights
How does the minimized corporate oversight impact visibility into local marketing spend, inventory and ROI? OneTouchPoint’s reporting actually improves the national team’s insights into what’s happening, what’s working and what’s not, with access to real-time production status and inventory levels, expense tracking at every account level and integrations with other third-party platforms that enable teams to see all their critical data in one place.
Budget allocation and management are simpler than ever, with both distributors and HQ able to see how much of the allocated budget each local marketer has spent and a streamlined chargeback system making it easy for HQ to ensure the local teams — and not the corporate office — are responsible for any overages.
Likewise, HQ has access to details on which campaigns and which collateral are most effective, empowering corporate marketers to make educated decisions about where to invest their limited time and resources.
When a brand is still small, it may be simple enough for corporate to hold every local rep’s hand on every marketing initiative. But as the company grows, that kind of one-on-one oversight becomes impossible. So, the more empowered those local marketing teams are to independently create and execute top-notch marketing strategies, the better. These locally driven campaigns — managed in conjunction with a centralized provider like OneTouchPoint — will more effectively attract and retain local customers and protect the brand’s integrity, without any micromanaging from corporate.
Download our tip sheet to learn more about how national manufacturing brands can empower local marketers. Then, when you’re ready, contact us to learn more, or request a quote on your next project.