Co-Op Marketing Funds – Why Local Partners Say they Don’t Use Them By Jared Shusterman

Co-op marketing and MDF programs have historically struggled with under-utilization. By some estimates, over 50% of funds available to channel partners go unused.

With the economy in its current state, one would think channel partner programs would spike – especially when funding is involved. So how come local channel partners aren’t leaning more on their brand partners to take advantage of co-op marketing & advertising spend?

Here are the top reasons partners give:

Unfamiliarity / Unaware
Complexity / Manual Processes / Administrative Burden
Long delay in reimbursement resulting in the local partner being out-of-pocket
Restrictive rules to participate

Many local partners also have their choice of brands and what markets to participate in. The larger the number of programs, the more difficult it is for them to manage. Especially when this is not the local partners’ core focus, its important for a Co-op funds process and program to follow a few simple rules.

In the next post, we’ll talk about what these are and how they can improve success – and we’ll update this post with the link.