By Michael E. Donner Vice President, Marketing Services & TDAgency Tech Data Corporation

While marketing authors and gurus sometimes have differing opinions, they typically agreeon one thing: marketing is critical to maintaining sales momentum and building brand equity, particularly in challenging times. In fact, those companies that continue to market through economic downturns are the ones who gain the most when recovery arrives. And, despite continuing high unemployment, most experts expect 2011 to be a year of economic growth with the consensus being a 3 to 4 percent increase over 2010. So what does that mean for the channel?

While marketing may have been on the back burner during the past few years, recent conversations with resellers and vendors indicate that many will ramp up their marketing activities and spend in 2011. Now is the time to put your strategy and tactics in place for the year, so you can capitalize on the opportunities presented by a recovering economy. If not, you risk losing business and ultimately market share to your competitors that are actively marketing.

Experience has shown that the most effective programs take an integrated approach to marketing. This combines many different tactics—perhaps advertising, public relations, Web,
e-marketing, direct marketing and social media—into a comprehensive campaign to raise awareness, generate demand and change perceptions—or whatever your goals may be. The key to success is developing clear, consistent messaging across all mediums. Your campaign will really begin to gain traction when prospects are continually exposed to a unified message across multiple tactics. Importantly, this integrated approach lowers your risk of failure because not everything rests upon the success of one tactic.

Time and again, resellers tell us the area they struggle with the most is marketing. They know they need to do it, but in many cases, they don’t have the time, resources or know-how.
As a solution, many resellers will hire an outside agency; however, this is not always a guarantee of success. Many agencies specialize in one specific tactic. For example, if you go to an advertising agency and explain your business objectives or challenges, they will probably tell you that an advertising campaign is your answer, just as a public relations firm will most likely tell you a PR campaign is what you need. In contrast, an integrated marketing agency—one that can provide a complete portfolio of solutions—is better positioned to advise you on what tactics will work best for your specific needs. It may be advertising and/or PR, or it may be something completely different.

Of course finding an integrated marketing firm is not easy. And even if you do, many have limited (or no) experience creating business-tobusiness campaigns or promoting sometimes very complex high-tech products. Fewer still have any experience with channel marketing and the unique challenges that it entails.

This is what led to the creation of Tech Data’s own TDAgency more than 10 years ago. Since then, this full-service advertising and marketing agency has grown to more than 75 professionals, and operates as a true integrated marketing agency. It offers resellers and vendors a comprehensive portfolio of services, including strategic program planning, branding, message development and content creation, graphic design, e-marketing, telemarketing, social media, PR, event planning, video and webinar development, and more.

While traditional agencies may offer similar services, being a part of Tech Data provides TDAgency with many unique benefits. For example, Tech Data sells nearly $88 million worth of technology products each day. As a result, we know which products are selling and who is buying. We live and breathe IT, and understand the business inside and out. Whether you are a vendor or reseller, it’s easier and more cost effective to take advantage of our services than it is to work with a local agency that could require weeks of costly consulting just to come up to speed.

Occupying this distinct position in the channel also provides a unique opportunity to analyze our sales trends, study marketing data and consult with hundreds of vendor partners. Tapping this vast knowledge base removes much of the guesswork from developing campaigns; we can accurately segment which markets, geographies, verticals and customers/end users to target. This ensures laser-focused campaigns and provides maximum return on investment.

A growing economy presents many new opportunities for growth, and you can capitalize on them with the right marketing programs. And, with vendors providing Marketing Development Funds for resellers to use, there is no excuse for keeping marketing on the back burner any longer.

About the Author
Tech Data Vice President, Marketing Services & TDAgency Michael E. Donner leads the company’s full-service advertising, public relations, marketing and sales support agency for Tech Data’s vendor partners and IT reseller customers. He joined Tech Data in 2010 and has more than 20 years of marketing, sales and demandgeneration experience in the technology, supply chain, outsourcing, e-business and manufacturing industries.