Q: Would a smaller company benefit more from having numerous marketing channels or should it just have one or two?

Vladimir Gendelman, founder and CEO,

Company folders

A: Multichannel marketing can increase your sales through the ability to reach different segments and meet the different needs of various buyers. The question is whether you should optimize multiple channels over time, and how many channels you can effectively manage.

Channels can be either direct or indirect. Direct channels are those where your company sells to the end user and gives you complete control over what the client sees for sales and support. Examples include selling through personal contact, a paper-based catalog with a web link or a phone number, or a digital catalog online of finished color sample products. Research shows an increase in average revenue per sale using these sources.

Indirect channels are those where you support a wholesaler, retailer or reseller with materials, web pages, catalogs and displays. You can reach many more potential customers, optimizing your overall revenue, but you reduce your revenue per item as you discount to the partner and lose the direct contact with your customers' needs.

When working with resellers, you may want to work with partners that reflect your values of customer service, pass on information to you from the customer, carry only your brand for the particular product set and do not conflict with one another. The partners need to reflect your brand quality.

You may want to vary your discounts based on the amount of business they do with you, giving smaller discounts to low-volume resellers, increasing the discounts as volumes increase and setting a minimum revenue target with each reseller.

There is no magic number of resellers with whom to work, but do limit the amount to those that bring you the most business for the time you spend with them. How large is the reseller? What is its business potential for your products and what type of services will it provide for the customer? How much time will it spend representing your products?

Deciding your growth targets may help you decide how many marketing channels are appropriate for your business.

Kathy Jenson is an adjunct professor of marketing at the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business.