What is Marketing: Part 3 - Channel Management

Sales Channels

Part 3 in the “What is marketing” series.

Channel management 

At this phase of your marketing plan, you are ready to make the product available to the consumer.
Now that you’ve identified a customer group and developed a product for them, it’s time to reach those customers through appropriate channels.  You want to preserve your brand’s positioning while expanding your business.  Your stall at the street fair is a direct channel, but it reaches a limited slice of your total potential customer segment.  You want to find more channels to your customers, and in the interest of taking your offering to where your customers are, you determine to sell your products through channel partners.

Adding channel partners

Should you immediately try to strike a deal with a volume distribution channel, like a store down at the mall?  No!  You produce one-of-a-kind fashion pieces; they don’t go on the rack with mass-produced t-shirts.  Of course, major retail outlets wouldn’t touch you at this point, because you don’t have the business infrastructure to sell through them; but you don’t want those guys anyway.  You need a high-touch sales channel; someplace that’s going to give your customers the attention they want.  You need to sell your products through a small fashion boutique or similar upscale business.  Talking to the owners and finding someone who’s willing to make a deal could require some work, but you are dedicated.

Your online sales channel

But now you’re concerned that you need a low-touch sales channel, to reach members of your target demographic who may not exhibit the behavior characteristics of patronizing trendy downtown boutiques.  To reach this segment, you will probably start by setting up accounts with Etsy and eBay.  Eventually you may decide that you want more control over the customer experience of your online sales channel than you can get when selling through Etsy or eBay; and when you reach that point, you will want to get a website of your own.  There are ways to get a website on the cheap; but you are likely to end up with a cheap-looking website.  I admit a professional bias in this regard, but my recommendation is to work with a local marketing design professional to come up with a package project to meet your business needs at a budget that you can view as a worthwhile investment in growing your business.

Next time: Inform the target market that the product is available with advertising.