REPORT

When local businesses stumble, a national brand’s revenue tumbles. A third of national marketers say 40% or more of their company’s revenue comes from local business partners, yet less than 30% of small businesses have fully recovered from the pandemic. Do the math, and you’ll see a lot of lost revenue.

As a national marketer, you need to drum up local demand for a fragmented channel of distributors, wholesalers, big box retailers, mom-and-pop stores, branches, dealers, agents, franchisees, field offices, resellers and merchants. That’s a lot to ask, but it’s also your job. More than four out of five marketing leaders say they’re responsible for growing revenue and managing performance of local partners.

This study by the Chief Marketing Officer Council, in partnership with BrandMuscle, takes a close look at what it takes to get local businesses up to speed, from making local partner channel marketing programs more effective to bringing digital marketing tactics to the local level to providing marketing training and content that generate local demand.

Our findings are 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.