Many manufacturers that have a large dealer network to sell product also have a large list of questions about those dealers. Not the least of which is just how Internet savvy the dealer network is. It goes beyond just having a website though. After all it is 2010 and everyone has a website, right? Well, except for that 40% of small businesses that still don’t actually have a site but who’s counting right?

With the continuing acceleration of more and more business being tied to the online experience of a brand and its channel partners it should be a serious consideration for all manufacturers to do an assessment of their dealer network with regard to their ability to market online.

Google is rapidly expanding its local and mobile search capabilities in preparation for the smartphone ubiquity that is coming in the very near future. It will be imperative for manufacturers to ensure that their dealers are playing the Internet marketing game to the nth degree.

So how do you assess these dealers and their Internet marketing acumen? Simply look at what they are doing currently on their site with promotions and see just how ‘modern’ their web presence looks. These will be two big hints as to just how good or bad these dealers are at the Internet marketing game.

After that it would be a smart thing to do a simple survey which explores some of the following areas:

• E-mail marketing – Do they currently engage in the activity. If so how often and who do they use to accomplish this? Also, are they promoting your brand with these efforts?

• Paid search marketing – Are they currently running paid search (PPC) campaigns? What are they spending? Are they buying keywords that include your brand?

• Social media marketing – Are there any real attempts by your dealers to market your brand through social media?

• Competition – Are any of your dealers also selling your competition’s offering? If so do you have the primary or secondary position in their minds?

• Potential – What percentage of your dealer network really has the capabilities to grasp the Internet marketing concepts that will help your brand sell more product?

These seem to be basic questions from a manufacturer’s point of view but you would be surprised at just how unsophisticated the vast majority of SMB’s are regarding marketing in general and Internet marketing in particular.

So are you going to take the time to truly understand what your dealers do or don’t know about Internet marketing? And are you going to put together programs that will enable them to ell more of your product and look to your brand as the one that helps them succeed?

So what are your plans for your dealers and have you considered talking to them to really learn what they need?

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.