As local advertising is moving from traditional to digital it’s abundantly clear that local dealers need help in understanding what to do and how to do it.
Here’s a chart from a recent article on eMarketer.com
In a few words, your dealers need help with everything digital,
Many of the national brands surveyed (51.3%) used local affiliates such as dealers, resellers, retailers and channel partners to promote or sell their products and services in local markets. Though affiliates are useful for growing brand awareness and driving consumers toward in-store purchases, national brands were less than satisfied with their affiliates’ digital marketing efforts: 47.8% of marketers said their local affiliates lacked the desired level of online visibility in their markets, and 30% felt affiliate websites were poorly optimized or outdated.
This is a problem that brand managers can’t wish away or wait until their retailers catch up. A brand that recognizes there is a void in dealer knowledge and fills that void with great digital tools will win the day for years to come.
Providing customization for newspaper ads and radio spots in your marketing portal for dealers just isn’t enough anymore. You need a local digital strategy and the tools to let retailers build landing pages, Facebook tabs, banner ads, e-promo pages and more to reach today’s consumer.
The good news is that the technology is here now that can address this issue. The real challenge is to admit that you have to change and then spend the time to think through the process. The sooner you start the better.