How to plan an effective trade marketing strategy?
The trade marketing planning stage is based on the concept of customer eccentricity. The goal is to make the customer at the center of business decisions.
Effective decisions are taken by managers who increasingly study consumer behavior in depth. In this way, it is possible to understand various issues related to the public, such as expectations, repulsion and needs.
Another strong point of trade marketing is the fact that managers obtain full knowledge of the marketing and media channels most used by consumers. This knowledge, in turn, lays the foundation for the industry to plan more assertive strategies, indicating a favorable result.
Strategies are designed taking into account the branding concept and respecting the way the brand aims to expose its image.
The practice of trade marketing
Some procedures can be performed in order to help the industry to achieve success with trade marketing actions. These actions determine the practice of this activity. The most common are:
product optimization
Product optimization is a trade marketing activity that must be carried out very carefully, as it aims to launch a product in the competitive market.
Thus, making the product known to the public is not an easy task. Even more difficult is creating communication that makes the merchandise seem relevant to the consumer.
At this stage, the industry must ask itself some questions: is the product new or is it an adaptation? How will the packaging be? Will points of sale be created or will there be loyalty programs?
Depending on the type of product, it is interesting to see if the consumer will be able to get a demo, tasting or even a free sample.
All actions must be very well studied and planned by the industry. It is worth mentioning that the attitude of consumers will guide trade marketing actions.
Smart price management
Trade marketing can use some procedures related to price intelligence resources in search of an efficient positioning.
These procedures are very effective, as they help managers to monitor offers made by competing stores.
Given this analysis, it is possible to understand the right time to make a readjustment in the company's profit margins and plan possible promotional offers.
Management of distribution channels
Through the management of distribution channels, the industry can choose the means and mechanisms that will determine how the product will be delivered to the final consumer.
This action requires a very well-prepared planning in order to identify the best distribution channels.
This step also includes defining a particular strategy to be used in each available channel.
The function of trade marketing in distribution channels is to carry out efficient operations and be able to avoid any type of problem regarding the product.
The search for strategies and solutions that manage to keep the goods always available at their respective points of sale must be constant.
Merchandising
In this stage, brands develop trade marketing strategies using resources such as banners, display campaigns, billboards, shelf banners, leaflets, among other forms of advertising.
Trade marketing uses these resources aiming to win new customers and convert sales.
Marketing actions are carried out considering the communication channels most used by the brand's consumers.
Strategies are planned based on the public's profile and the language used by them.
Guidelines for retail trade
Trade marketing allows marketing information to be sent to retailers.
The activity determines the sharing of research and products related to the area of activity of each professional.
It is also possible to suggest some specific products that suit the merchant's profile.
The objective is to encourage practices that increase working capital and, consequently, the volume of profitability.
Trade marketing shortens the distance between relationships, bringing the industry closer to retail.
Therefore, both sectors work together. This junction is capable of determining the success of all professionals involved.
Management of trained promoters
The management of various products is carried out and controlled by sales promoters.
These professionals are responsible for inventory management, including product replenishment.
They seek strategies to negotiate directly with merchants in order to forward products to retail stores.
In order for the objectives to be achieved, professionals undergo training frequently, in search of constant training.
Trade marketing requires that every group of employees is perfectly aligned with the expectations of the industry, the customer and the retail market.
Analysis of results
Trade marketing encourages managers and other professionals involved in the process to analyze the results of all actions.
The team must understand the positive and negative results, in order to improve the next planning steps and successfully achieve the objectives outlined.
It is normal that many strategies require constant reformulation, as stocks must meet the constant movement of the market.
Therefore, it is necessary to understand the indicators and the new needs determined by the client.
Changes and transformations must be understood as a natural process and must be part of the planning stages.
Category management
This trade marketing concept requires a careful look as it is considered a very efficient merchandising procedure.
The activity consists of organizing products by categories, taking into account the actions that were outlined in the planning and the shopper's behavior.
The practice carries out the necessary assortment in stores, based on categories such as food, hygiene, cleaning, among others.
In addition to the organization of products, this activity also determines the pangram, which can be defined as the graphic architecture for positioning the goods on the shelf.
Cross-merchandising is another fundamental procedure, as it crosses products in a way that aims to impact and attract the shopper's attention.
A well-known example concerns a market in the United States that put the diapers next to the beers.
Professionals discovered that parents went to stores in the middle of the night to buy diapers and ended up taking beers.
The cross-merchandising technique is very important and can bring satisfactory results for companies that decide to adopt it.
Digital marketing
The practice of digital marketing is one of the most important procedures in trade marketing.
It is necessary to take into account that the consumer is located in several channels. In this way, the shopper is also present in digital technologies.
After the emergence of the Corona virus pandemic, internet sales grew considerably, demonstrating a new consumer habit.
This indicates the need for trade marketing practices in the online world.
The activity makes use of inbound marketing tools in order to stimulate internet sales.
Digital sales channels can be powered with online campaigns and paid ads.
Pillars of trade marketing
Trade marketing emerged carrying a concept of independent segmentation with the objective of making a link between marketing and the commercial sector.
Since the beginning, the activity has gathered resources capable of grouping actions and needs that hover over both sectors. The pillars of trade marketing are:
Based on the pillars presented, trade marketing operates both internally and externally.
The activity needs retailers, distributors and consumers to increase distribution capacity.
These practices are essential for the industry, in the sense of being able to launch strategies to increase sales and impact the shopper.
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