Through-Channel Marketing Software: An Advanced Must-Have Marketing Tool

Since ages, sales and marketing professionals have been evolving themselves to meet the current requirements of the businesses in the market. The evolution started with the introduction of a Customer relationship management (CRM) software in 1990. Soon after a decade, this software got replaced with lower-priced cloud services. The marketing automation phase started growing exponentially around 2008 and is still growing at an increased speed.

Since the last decade, an entirely new type of business automation software came into existence—this software was called the through-channel marketing software. Since then, several technology providers—both small as well large have started using this software for enhanced marketing services.

What is through-channel marketing software?

Through-channel marketing software is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform which helps marketing professionals to offer services which can effectively measure the advertisement and local marketing messages through their network of the distributed marketing channels such as branches, franchises, agents, distributors, retailers, and many more. This software is nothing but a type of marketing automation tool that can be useful for both sellers who market and sell their products or services through a partner network and also for numerous resellers of the seller’s products or services. In short, this software is all about helping channel partners to generate leads by using marketing assets.

Whenever a particular brand aims to reach its target audience and wants a secondary or a third-party firm to work as a distribution network (i.e., a sales channel), the brand needs to verify whether its promotion and messages are rightly communicated by the resellers. Through-channel marketing software tool helps brands manage this task of branding, promoting, and reselling in a highly effective and affordable way. The entire purpose of this software is to help partner businesses to create brand awareness by leveraging the seller brand and correlating it with their own brand, and then boosting the demand for the products or services that are offered by the seller.

Benefits of using through-channel marketing software

Both, the brands as well as their partners benefit from the usage of a through-channel marketing software. To be specific, brands are suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and providers of products or services with a distributed channel of partners including agents, dealers, franchisees, sales representatives, retailers, or operators. These partners are physically or digitally present in local market and have a substantial influence on the brands capability to sell the products or services in their regional location.

Through-channel marketing software helps brands to cut down the gap between their corporate brand advertising efforts and the unique demands of their local partners. Usually, local business partners have very little understanding of their brand partners marketing tactics or how to locally position their advertising efforts to make the most out of their business. In the digital era, every brand needs to understand what a direct marketing team uses for promoting and advertising. Basically, the digital team uses tools for social media marketing, search engine marketing, content syndication, email marketing, event marketing, microsites, sand many more. Through-channel marketing software include not only consists of these types of direct marketing tools but they also consist of a set of partner management tools for dealing with interactions and communications with the channel partners who are reselling and advertising the brand’s products or services.

These partner management tools contain features such as campaign library, where partners can login and choose campaigns that can be swiftly co-branded and launched. It also consists of a set of marketing tools that a primary brand uses to recruit and train partners. In addition, partners are well informed and vendors are able to understand the mindset of the customers and build relationship with the customer which not only improves the internal process but also drives the partner satisfaction subsequently.

Growing demand for through-channel marketing software

The main purpose of marketing is to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. Rise in internet penetration and digitalization all across the world has provided marketing professionals the facility to target their potential customers and enhance the reach. According to report by Research Dive, the through-channel marketing software market was valued at $596.4 million in 2018 and is projected to grow with a healthy growth rate of 29.4% from 2019 to 2026. Rise in the customer reach is considered one of the major factors fueling the demand the through-channel marketing software. Currently, the total addressable market for through-channel marketing platform is massive and growing rapidly due to the benefits it offers for a business. 

On the other hand, growing use of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are paving way for the development of new opportunities in the through-channel marketing software industry. As it is the beginning of the automation era, most of the companies are focusing on AI and ML to improve their customer experience and also to operate the complaint resolution activities. Hence, all these factors are sure to boost the demand for through-channel marketing software in the upcoming years.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.