One of the biggest challenges your smaller business partners are facing is how and what to advertise in the face of a rapidly changing market. for instance, a large chunk of co-op funds is being used on traditional rather than digital tactics by smaller businesses.
It can feel stressful and unfamiliar to your smaller business partners to make the shift away from traditional methods. It’s for this reason that it’s crucial to create a co-op program for your smaller business partners that makes it easy to step outside of traditional methods.
Here are three strategies you can use to better refocus your company’s co-op program to better meet the needs of your small business partners.
- Outline your co-op guidelines to make them clear. One reason why businesses often leave their co op marketing funds on the table is that the distributor’s co op marketing guidelines are too difficult to understand. Your guidelines may be overcomplicated if you haven’t fully defined your co-op strategy at the corporate level. Consider going through your guidelines to simplify them, make them more understandable, and outline key items for successful co-op submissions.
- Make digital tactics co-op eligible. Now is the best time to start exploring digital tactics related to your co-op program if you haven’t had the time to do it. By allowing your small business partners to use their co-op funds on the types of advertising that best works for them such as digital advertising and social media advertising your brand is more likely to succeed.
- Make sure your tactics match up with your corporate strategy. The goal of co-op marketing, both for you and your small business partners, is to increase sales. You’ll want to communicate with your partners about the marketing practices that have been working best for your company. They may be more likely to be open to co-op marketing tactics that use these marketing strategies.
Looking for a co-op agency with MRO marketing services?
Between $14 billion and $35 billion manufacturer co-op marketing funds go unclaimed every year, a fact that’s unfortunate considering the amount of money that can be saved when using them. A co-op agency can help your MRO business navigate co-op marketing so you can take full advantage of your funds.
We offer co-op marketing services, MRO consulting, and sales strategy for distributors to keep your company dressed for marketing success. To learn more about our industrial marketing services and co-op marketing, contact us today.