Think back just a few years ago – to advertise, you had your traditional media (print, broadcast, direct, telemarketing, yellow pages) and then came the internet and everyone built websites. Now fast forward to today, tactics like web-video distributions, digital signage, social media, hyper targeted banner ads, specialized landing pages, interactive print ads, mobile marketing, SMS, E-mail marketing, SEO, and likely by the time I finish writing this blog, something even newer will emerge. Yes my friends, how you market your business is changing and evolving at light speed.

The shifts from traditional to digital media need to be part of your corporate and channel partner’s marketing strategy today. Channel managers are taking notice to the reality that traditional media has suffered significant declines for the past several years, and like it or not, digital media is an essential part of the marketing strategy – but where there is opportunity, there is also risk. Social and Digital media can be very effective when used properly, but expensive to clean-up afterwards if mishandled.

For many budget strapped dealers and partners, it’s easy to see the lure of social and digital media, but who is going to educate them on the intricacies of navigating the digital realm? How will your brand be represented by your dealers and partners? And don’t forget the all important reputation management factor! Channel partners have long depended on co-op, MDF and incentive support from manufacturers. These programs, if well designed – provide turnkey resources and tools to partners and encourage good co-marketing spend. Fortunately, this approach is still sound, you simply need to expand your toolkits to include digital media support. Don’t want to start from scratch? We can help you build a brand/program compliant turn-key service that includes training, reputation management, video distributions, digital signage, social media development, hyper targeted banner ads, landing pages, interactive print ads, mobile marketing, SMS, E-mail marketing, SEO, list acquisition. See our website for more information about TradeOne’s Digital Media Fulfillment Center.