Distributor Marketing Success Depends on Leapfrog Skills

The key to distributor marketing may well lie in how well you understand each link and your ability to leapfrog over the next player in order to stimulate demand.

Distributor Marketing – 4 Ways to Leapfrog Buyers to Stimulate Demand and Grow Sales

The key to success for supply chain members like distributors may well reside outside of product distribution and logistics, and inside the arena of demand creation. Here are four ways to leapfrog to the next level by creating demand for your buyers, and in the process, for your own business.

Most retailers and B2B service providers only need to concern themselves with marketing to the individuals most likely to purchase from them directly. For manufacturers and distributors in the supply chain, it’s often necessary to leapfrog past the next player in the supply chain and consider the needs of those that buy directly from their buyers in order to grow.

Distributor Marketing - 4 Ways to Leapfrog Buyers to Stimulate Demand and Grow Sales

Supply chain professionals in manufacturing and distribution companies realize quickly that in order to sell more to their own buyers, they may need to leapfrog past the next member of the supply chain in order to create demand for their own buyers, which in turn creates demand for them.

Distributor Marketing - 4 Ways to Leapfrog Buyers to Stimulate Demand and Grow Sales

Creating demand among individuals who are your buyers’ buyers – or even, in the case of a manufacturer → distributor → retailer model, the buyer’s buyers’ buyers – requires a multi-layered approach when it comes to the overall distributor marketing plan and strategies needed to grow.

4 Distributor Marketing Ideas Help Create Demand for Distributors and Manufacturers

Ultimately, the key to distributor marketing success for every member of the supply chain from those who supply raw materials for manufacturers to manufacturing, distribution, logistics and retailers themselves lies in understanding how to create demand among end-use consumers and taking a multi-layered approach when laying out a marketing plan.

1. Get to Know Your Buyer’s Buyers

Leapfrog your own target markets and buyer personas. As a manufacturer, distributor or another member of the supply chain, your buyer profiles must be multi-layered. For each “ideal buyer type” business, you should also develop buyer personas that represent their ideal buyer types and target audiences.

2. Identify your Buyer’s Buyers Biggest Challenges and Pain Points

Leapfrog your buyer’s challenges and pain points. Now that you have identified target markets and buyer personas most likely to purchase from your buyers and create the sell-through they need to repurchase from your organization, you also need to identify the challenges they face and the points of pain they need solved (that can be satisfied with the products your buyers sell).

3. Understand and Support Buyer’s Organizational Needs and Wants

Leapfrog your own organizational goals. You must understand and support the organizational goals of your buyers if you want to grow your business. This may come in the form of offering advice, consultation or even by providing direct support to resolve an organizational challenge or construct a strategy to helps them achieve a particular goal.

4. Develop Distributor Marketing Strategies to Speak to Buyers at Every Level, Including End-Use Consumers

Leapfrog marketing tactics to reach your buyer’s buyers. Selling in the supply chain often comes down to supporting the sell-through for your buyers. This may entail providing marketing materials such as marketing copy, images, scripts or even direct mail, advertising or email templates your buyers can use to market products to their own buyers. Creating sell-through may even require that you market products and create brand awareness on behalf of your buyers with members of their target markets using your website, blog and social networks or direct advertising and marketing tactics.

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