Have you ever wondered how your favorite ice cream brand ends up in the freezer aisle at your grocery store? This is the result of trade marketing—the strategies companies use to increase product visibility, demand, and sales by collaborating with retailers and wholesalers. It’s how Casper mattresses ended up on shelves at Costco, and it’s why so many Barnes & Noble stores have a Starbucks attached.
Learn what trade marketing is, why it’s important for business growth, and how to create a trade marketing strategy that converts.
What is trade marketing?
Trade marketing is a strategy focused on increasing demand for products at the retailer, wholesaler, or distributor level rather than directly to consumers. Enhancing trade marketing efforts involves using tactics such as in-store promotions, trade shows, and effective point-of-sale displays to encourage retailers to stock and promote products.
Best trade marketing strategies
- Trade shows
- Trade promotions
- Retailer partnerships
- Strong branding
- Digital marketing
- Category expansion
Here are some ways to implement trade marketing strategies:
Trade shows
Trade shows are a great place to network with supply-chain and retail managers. They provide a forum for trade marketers to explore new distribution opportunities while showcasing products. The best part about trade shows is everyone is there to network, and distributors, retailers, and wholesalers are open to new partnerships.
Trade promotions
No one can deny the appeal of a great deal. Brainstorm promotions you could present to potential distributors and retailers that would entice them to carry your product—strategies like volume discounts, promotional pricing, or bundled offers. This gives the retailers bigger profit margins on your products, making them more likely to promote them.
Retailer partnerships
This is fundamental to a great trade marketing strategy. Building strong, collaborative relationships with retailers and supply chain partners can be the difference between them choosing you over a competitor. A strong retail partnership means you and your distributors are committed to working toward a shared goal.
This could mean collaborating on merchandising strategies, exclusive packaging, data sharing, and regular communication and feedback.
Strong branding
Brand equity—the value customers place on your brand—is an important factor that determines whether partners choose and stick with you over the competition.
A strong brand image goes beyond a clever logo and slogan. Consider your target audience, brand positioning, messaging, and even customer feedback. Is your packaging appealing? Does your product communicate value? Is your brand recognizable? Does it elicit an emotional connection that enhances customer loyalty? These are all factors retailers take into account when making decisions.
Digital marketing
Digital marketing helps you reach and engage end consumers, retailers, distributors, and wholesalers, keeping you top of mind for potential partnerships. Some B2B digital marketing strategies include:
- Creating dedicated website pages for trade marketing partners
- Email marketing, such as a newsletter for retail partners
- Co-branded online advertising to drive consumers to your partner stores
- Content sharing on social media
Category expansion
Category expansion gives you an opportunity to showcase a range of products within a particular category. For example, period care and sexual wellness brand LOLA offers a range of plastic applicator tampons, cardboard applicator tampons, and non-applicator tampons in its tampon product category. This lets it market all three products when pitching tampons to distributors, which offers an advantage over a competitor that might pitch only one product.
How to create a successful trade marketing strategy
- Conduct market research
- Set clear objectives
- Develop a unique value proposition
- Establish pricing and promotion details
- Prepare a pitch deck, sell sheet, and price list
The following five steps can help your trade marketing team develop a successful strategy.
1. Conduct market research
Treat this stage both as a B2B and a business-to-consumer (B2C) project.
At the B2C stage, research your end customers and identify their pain points, retail preferences, and behaviors. You want to understand your target market inside and out, including trends and opportunities. How do your target consumers spend their time? Where do they like to shop? What problems will your product solve for them? How will your product integrate into their lives?
Next, identify your main rivals and analyze their strengths, weaknesses, and trade marketing tools and strategies. Here are some questions to ask:
- Who is their target audience?
- How is their brand positioned?
- Is their online presence working?
- What are their trade marketing strategies?
- What do customer reviews reveal?
At the B2B stage, identify key players in your desired distribution channels and analyze their goals, challenges, and preferences. Here are some questions to ask:
- What are your potential trade marketing partners’ demographic targets?
- What are their bestselling products or categories?
- Do they collaborate with brands for joint marketing initiatives?
- What are their current challenges?
- What are their goals?
This will help you to find your competitive advantage and speak directly to your potential partners’ goals when pitching.
2. Set clear objectives
The next step is to clearly define your trade marketing strategy objectives. Align these with broader business goals. These objectives could include increasing market share, improving product visibility, or strengthening relationships with key partners. Consider the SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time-bound) framework when setting goals. Then, establish key performance indicators (KPIs) that directly align with your objectives.
For example, if your objective is to increase market share by 15% in the next six months, the KPIs could be:
- Current market share
- Number of retail partners
- Revenue per distributor order
- Sales volume
3. Develop a unique value proposition
Develop a unique value proposition (UVP) for consumers and partners and clearly articulate what sets your brand and products apart from competitors.
For consumers, the UVP could focus on unique product features, pricing, or quality.
For partners, highlight the benefits they will gain by collaborating with your brand. This might include higher profit margins, increased total cart size, or access to exclusive products.
4. Establish pricing and promotion details
The key is setting a price that is both high enough to maximize profit and low enough to attract buyers. It must also stack up favorably against your competition. When deciding on a pricing strategy, factor in wholesale or bulk deals, or promotional incentives like buy one, get one free and other discounts, or free samples. Other considerations include:
- Product positioning
- Your target audience’s buying behavior and budget
- Trade partner margins
5. Prepare a pitch deck, sell sheet, and price list
Create a compelling pitch deck for potential trade partners. A well-crafted pitch deck should capture the attention of trade partners, build trust, and encourage them to enter into a mutually beneficial trade marketing partnership.
Your trade marketing pitch deck should include:
- An introduction to your company and your story
- A snapshot of the industry, growth opportunities, and needs that your product addresses
- Your product range and any unique features that set them apart from the competition
- Your target market, buyer personas, and consumer insights
- Current distribution channels and where your potential trade partner will fit in
- Quantifiable benefits your trade partner will receive from a collaboration with you and how your partnership aligns with their goals
- Collaborative marketing opportunities and merchandising support
- Pricing structure and sales projections
- Positive customer reviews, or other successful collaborations
Your sell sheet should be a visually appealing page or two that provides key information about your products. It should include:
- Essential information like features, benefits, pricing, and contact information
- High-quality photos and graphics
- Compelling copy
- A clear call to action (CTA)
Your price list should make it easy for a decision-maker to choose which products to carry by including the following:
- Product names and descriptions
- Pricing details and bulk discounts
- Shipping and handling charges
- Promotions
- Payment terms and minimum order quantities (MOQs)
Trade marketing FAQ
What is the difference between trade marketing and conventional marketing?
Trade marketing targets retailers, wholesalers, and product distributors to buy products in bulk and stock them, while conventional brand marketing tends to target end consumers.
Who uses trade marketing?
Any manufacturer or brand that creates consumer packaged goods can use trade marketing to sell their products to retailers, wholesalers, and distributors.
Is trade marketing the same as B2B?
Yes, trade marketing is a form of B2B (business-to-business) marketing because your business is marketing and selling products to another business.
How do I start trade marketing?
To start trade marketing, conduct thorough market research to gain an understanding of your target audience and competitors. Then, identify potential trade partners and strategies you want to pursue, develop a unique value proposition (UVP), create a comprehensive pitch deck, and approach potential trade partners.
