SAN JOSE, Calif. (October 18, 2022) – A third of national marketers say 40% or more of their company’s revenue comes from local business partners. Yet two-thirds of national marketers have only a moderate understanding or worse about their local partners’ business and marketing challenges and how to kickstart local demand, according to a new report by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and BrandMuscle.

This new research examines the opportunity and challenges national marketers face when improving and promoting their local partner channel marketing programs.

Download “National Brands Kickstart Local Demand” at: https://www.cmocouncil.org/thought-leadership/reports/national-brands-kickstart-local-demand

Key findings:

• 95% of national marketing leaders say it’s important (41%), very important (41%), even critically important (25%), to increase revenue through their local partner channel.


• 75% have only a moderate understanding (40%), limited understanding (29%) or no understanding (6%) of local partners, their challenges and how to optimize their performance.


• 55% say the overall effectiveness of their local partner channel marketing program is only moderately effective or worse.


• 43% say it’s very important, even critical, to improve digital marketing among local partners, yet 48% don’t even offer fund reimbursement for digital marketing tactics.

“Local partners are the last mile to purchase and have the most interaction with customers,” said Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council. “If national marketers really want to know their customers, they need to work closely with local partners, collaborate on marketing projects, share data, etc. Shoring up your local partner channel marketing program is a great place to start.”

There is a significant opportunity for national marketers to improve their local partner channel marketing programs, such as making services more easily accessible, getting more creative with funding, and providing marketing training, content and digital marketing tactics that are meaningful at the local level.

“The opportunity to grow revenue incrementally through local partners should be a priority for marketing leaders,” said Kyle Coughlin, VP of Marketing and Demand Generation at BrandMuscle. "Given the amount of revenue already being generated through local channels, optimizing and enabling partners to better align with marketing objectives and drive a positive ROI will help both the brand and partners succeed. Partners are often the last touchpoint before a sale. By helping them be better marketers, they become more active brand advocates in the path to purchase, which is a win-win for everyone.

Methodology

The report is based on a survey of over 140 marketing leaders across B2C and B2B industries. Additionally, we conducted in-depth interviews with executives at SHARP Home Appliances, Caterpillar, Gap, Invesco, Nationwide, BNY Mellon Wealth Management, KloudGin and MisfitsGaming.

About CMO Council

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council is the only global network of executives specifically dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building among senior corporate marketing leaders and brand decision-makers across a wide range of global industries. The CMO Council's 16,000-plus members control approximately $1 trillion in aggregated annual marketing expenditures and run complex, distributed marketing and sales operations worldwide. In total, the CMO Council and its strategic interest communities include more than 65,000 global executives in more than 110 countries covering multiple industries, segments and markets. For more information, visit www.cmocouncil.org.

About BrandMuscle

BrandMuscle is the leader in integrated local and channel marketing, serving over 175 of the world’s top brands, with 750 professionals in five offices globally. BrandMuscle provides marketers and their channel partners with the solutions, insights, and expertise to deliver an exceptional and consistent local brand experience. The BrandMuscle Intelligent Local Marketing Platform simplifies and scales digital and physical marketing execution, enabling brands to acquire and retain the best customers, build loyalty, grow revenue, and maximize ROI. For more information about BrandMuscle visit https://www.brandmuscle.com/ or call (866) 464-4342.

Media Contact:

Kevin Sugarman

ksugarman@cmocouncil.org