Trade marketing is a familiar term in marketing, business and advertising. Many people have heard and known about doing trade marketing, but very few really understand the essence and nature of the job. Dearest readers, let's explore with Navigos Search the concept as well as the importance and the specific scope of work of a trade marketing position!
1. What is trade marketing?
Trade marketing is the activities that take place to organize and build industry as well as brand strategies in the distribution channels through understanding and studying the behavior of buyers and customers to achieve profits and drive sales for the business.
Trade marketing is the intermediary between the sales and marketing department
If the marketing strategy is aimed at customers through media, trade marketing is aimed at consumers and sales locations. In other words, trade marketing focuses on activities at the sales location called "Win in store" activities. Although it is a relatively new profession in Vietnam, trade marketing jobs attract the attention of many dynamic and business-minded young people.
2. The importance of trade marketing
Marketing in general is carried out to draw customers' attention, build brand awareness and image through mass media, while trade marketing is a race about selling locations and product distribution channels. Finally, the role of people working in trade marketing jobs is to bring products and services to customers in the most convenient way.
In the fiercely competitive modern market, companies will face many significant disadvantages if businesses do not focus on developing trade marketing activities. Skipping developing and investing in trade marketing means putting yourself at greater risk. Here are the risks you may face:
- The competition takes place on all fronts, even if it is the most peaceful and least turbulent market. Businesses must believe in the attractiveness of the products they offer and trade marketing is the factor that makes that difference.
- Display space and sales are limited for all distribution agents and distributors of the business. Even so, trade marketing still has the ability to help your products look more attractive and prominent in the narrowest space. From there, promoting awareness and excitement when displaying goods for agents and distributors.
Therefore, it can be affirmed that a good trade marketing strategy could help the products appear on the shelves the most frequently and help with placing them in the most prominent position.
Trade marketing is very important in driving purchasing decisions
2. The portrait of trade marketing jobs
- Collect information from the market and retail locations to analyze and report changes in sales volume, purchasing trends, and update the competitor's trade marketing plan.
- Act as an intermediary between manufacturers and customers.
- Build a marketing strategy development plan based on the business brand development orientation.
- Develop and implement the program of displaying products at retail locations, hanging advertising, and brand activation program to ensure the prominent presence of the company's products compared to competitors.
- Build and maintain good relationships with customers
- Interact with sales and other departments to optimize sales results for the business.
- Monitor and evaluate POSM display activities (POSM is a collection of all items to support sales at retail locations, fairs, and exhibitions to increase brand recognition) and deploy advertising according to the proposed timeline.
- Prepare periodic reports, perform some other tasks as required by the line managers.
3. Factors determining the success of Trade Marketing profession
If the trade marketing manager is the one who plans the strategy and oversees the overall activities, the trade marketing executive is the specialist who directly implements those strategies. Regardless of the title, trade marketing jobs require personnel to possess the following factors to be more successful in their career.
Understanding sellers and buyers
Trade marketing is the person who directly interacts with the user and the intermediary that distributes the product, so you must understand the seller and the buyer. If the distributor focuses on the profit and sales targets of the product, the customer is the object of interest in the benefits and usage of the product. Therefore, personnel in charge of trade marketing must take the time to approach, learn and exploit information effectively to understand both the seller and the buyer.
Understanding sellers and buyers makes trade marketing jobs easier
Data reading and analyzing skill
Trade marketing jobs are not only related to product sales but also a series of other data related to the sales department. Strictly speaking, the working process of trade marketing is to read data reports on revenue, inventory, output,... These are the basic foundations to help them understand and recognize any unusual development from the figures. And the ability to read and understand data is an indispensable skill of people working in trade marketing jobs.
Observation and evaluation skill
For customers to focus on the product you are providing is very challenging. Therefore, trade marketing personnel must understand product characteristics and grasp the buying habits of buyers to implement the appropriate method of arranging and displaying products. And if they have good observation and evaluation skills, they will know how to make the product more prominent in the sight of customers.
Observation skills at work are formed after a long process of practice, requiring you to know how to collect, process, analyze information, make decisions, etc. In addition, to draw attention you need to use all your senses, not just your eyes, but your sense of touch.
Negotiation skill
Trade marketing jobs are multi-tasking, so people working in this field always deal with many difficulties and challenges. You will often have to strike a balance between the interests of the customer, the business, and the distributor. Therefore, negotiation skills become an effective tool to help you perform well at work.
To best practice this skill, you need to:
- Use distribution or integration tactics
- Always listen and learn to be calm
- Be creative in high-risk negotiations
- Learn more about the opponent
Read more: Golden secrets to becoming a negotiation specialist
Creativity, sensitivity, flexibility
Constant creativity is an important skill to have in every marketer. You need to constantly innovate ideas to stimulate consumers' tastes and be as unique as possible.
When shoppers stand in a store or supermarket, among countless items and product lines that are close to each other, what is the reason for them to pay attention to your products in that crowd? Trade marketers must be sharp in choosing geographical locations, effective product displays and artistic thinking to arrange reasonable and eye-catching positions to attract many customers to come see your products and decide to make a purchase.
Besides, the business operating is very complex and volatile. Therefore, business acumen is a very important factor in the field of trade marketing. The best way to help you have a sharp, flexible "sense" of doing business is to experience as many real life circumstances as possible. At the same time, willing to face all challenges and to know how to seize opportunities will help you forge a better business mindset.
Creativity and sensitivity are essential in the field of marketing
Plan and implement strategy
Trade marketing is always associated with activities at the locations of sale. Their main goal is to drive the customer's purchase decision and "close deals" at that location of sale. Building and preparing perfect plans, from small operations to large-scale operations, will help you get the job done more easily and reduce the risk of unexpected events. You can refer to some suggestions below to improve effective planning and implementation skills:
- Allocate time for each activity.
- Be prepared to set aside some time for any interruptions in your work.
- Always jot down your plans with pen and paper, helping to avoid confusion if several other plans come up.
- Set deadlines to make and execute plans and create the set rules to get things done.
- Prioritize tasks in a trade marketing plan.
- Acknowledge strengths and weaknesses to consider them during planning and implementation.
- Be willing to face challenges and difficulties.
- Execute the planned schedule.
- Prepare a backup plan and, if possible, ask for the guidance and help of an experienced person.
4. Looking for trade marketing jobs at Navigos Search?
Currently, trade marketing is a potential field and is thirsty for human resources. According to Nielsen statistics, the annual cost of trading accounts for 60% of the marketing budget with a figure of up to 100 billion USD. Therefore, trade marketing is currently expanding in many industries such as FMCG, electronics, fashion, beauty, etc. Therefore, the career opportunities are great, always ready to welcome candidates who love this field. And if you are looking to conquer the position of trade marketing, please send your CV immediately to Navigos Search - Vietnam's leading mid-level and high-level recruitment company today.
Navigos Search - The number 1 recruitment agency for mid-level and senior-level personnel in Vietnam
Navigos Search belongs to Navigos Group, which owns the largest recruitment website in Vietnam - VietnamWorks. With a huge data volume of 375,000+ high - level candidates and 5,000,000+ recruiters, registering for an account is an advantage that helps headhunters support candidates in finding jobs in all fields.
In addition, when applying for a job at the recruitment channel Navigossearch.com, you will be supported by professional consultant experts to find the most suitable employer. All of our specialists have at least 3 years of experience in the field of recruitment, are university graduates or higher and are well trained through intensive skill courses and methodical work processes will offer the best jobs and working environment.
After the candidate has been selected, our specialists continue to closely support and accompany throughout the process of "success coming after achieving the dream job".
Along with this, Navigos Search also offers a recruiting solution for mid-level and senior-level personnel with the largest database of candidates.
With more than 20 years of experience in the field of "talent hunting", Navigos Search is proud to bring millions of the best job opportunities to employees and support hundreds of thousands of businesses to get potential human resources.
Consultant experts help with a quick offer for trade marketing jobs
Contacting Navigos Search, the candidate will surely have the dream job in a hand's reach and the business will recruit the best factor. To aim for sustainable development for Vietnam, we are currently focusing on our long-term vision “Moving forwards to success after joining”. Not only do we care about the current success of businesses, we also care about their long-term success in the future.
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