In the manufacturing industry, one of marketing’s greatest asset are the sales channels, on the ground, in local markets, who are responsible for representing, sharing and selling a brand’s products or services.

But how can you break through the noise of the sales room floor? The consumer shopping experience is very different today, and sales channels represent several different brands all at once – including competing brands.

This shift in the shopping experience – where brands are competing across dozens of channels for what seems like a smaller piece of the pie – calls for a shift in marketing. A key component of a better brand experience is to build it from the bottom up, in addition to pushing messages and campaigns down from corporate. Create avenues to gather insight and perspective from local stores, sales channels, partners and consumers.

This shift in marketing and branding doesn’t need be a seismic one. Chances are, you’re already doing parts and pieces of it. You listen to consumers through social media, focus groups, customer service and countless other channels. You may even offer opportunities for sales channels to share their insight as well, such as emails, surveys or informal meetings.

Pulling those pieces together and working to incorporate consumers, sales channels and partners into marketing campaigns earlier, rather than later, makes the difference in a bottom-up approach to marketing and branding versus pushing messages down and out.

At Vya, we work daily with clients trying to be more impactful to their company. Often, they’re just caught up in the daily grind of checking items off their to-do lists. Marketers are tasked with doing more every day, often with fewer resources. But, that squeeze shouldn’t stop marketing teams from working effectively with local sales teams to create a new, powerful customer experience.

Here are three ways to make this bottom up branding approach a reality in your organization (without adding to your already long to-do list).

1. Build a brand experience for third party sales channels.
   • Stand for something distinct.
   • Listen to sales channels and consumers.
   • Be easy to work with.

2. Deliver consistent and compelling brand drivers for consumers.
   • Stand out in store with a distinct shopping experience through digital and traditional signage.
   • Do more than the digital status quo.
   • Stay focused and strategic.

3. Streamline and automate key marketing tasks such as:
   • Approval process.
   • Local marketing budget management, including co-op, MDF and others.
   • Personalization/localization of marketing materials.
   • Print ordering.
   • Implementation of marketing campaigns.

We so deeply believe this approach can help move organizations forward that we’ve dedicated an entire white paper to it. You can read, in detail, how to build a better brand from the bottom-up for a better customer and sales channel experience.

Did you enjoy this article? Read more manufacturing-related resources on solving common corporate marketing challenges.