Otter Tail (OTTR) Channel Management Marketing / MBA Resources

Introduction to Channel Management

What is the Importance of Channel Management for Otter Tail

Channel Management enables the consumers to efficiently – discover the products of Otter Tail in Electric Utilities, research the products and services, and buy products on multiple platforms. Covid 19 lockdowns and social distancing norms have taken the demand of e-commerce and effective channel management to unprecedented levels. It has brought forward the evolution in not only the e-commerce industry but also in the financial technology industry, payment industry, entertainment industry, and online touchpoints.

Effective and efficient channel management can help Otter Tail to avail opportunities in Electric Utilities industry by – better consumer targeting, identifying consumer purchase behavior, demand forecasting, identifying opportunities , and most importantly timely delivery of the products and services.

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Channel Management and Distribution in Electric Utilities

The rapid growth in the e-commerce industry has led to consumers using multiple channels to discover products and services, compare prices, research the features, and buy using various financial options available on multiple e-commerce platforms and channels. According to a survey conducted by Channel Advisors –

33% of the consumers found products via social media posts on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter , and Facebook . The percentages of young consumers discovering products through social media posts are relatively very high compared to the other consumer segments.

37% of the consumers are discovering products and services by browsing the specific brand or company retail website.

25% of the consumers in United States first know about the product through advertisements on streaming services and other platforms. Given the potential of advertising on the streaming platform, it may be quite possible that Netflix is willing to explore the advertising opportunities in collaboration with Microsoft on its platform after years of resisting the idea.

43% of the consumers in United States of America are discovering products through browsing on various market places

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Otter Tail biggest challenges around Channel Management

Otter Tail needs to have a strategy to meet its customers on various above touchpoints otherwise it will risk losing its customers to competitors in the Electric Utilities industry. The Utilities sector in United States is highly competitive and it requires highly efficient channel management to meet the demands of customers such as – low price shipping, effective return management, drop shipping partners, highly effective logistics platform, integrated product update mechanisms across various marketplace platforms etc.

Some of the challenges that Otter Tail can face in channel management are –

Optimizing content to enable direct consumers on its website

– Inward marketing is the most immersive form of marketing but to utilize it Otter Tail needs to have a robust content optimization strategy. Secondly it needs to integrate its content management strategy with its overall advertising and marketing strategy. Optimization of marketing efforts can lead to higher ROI and better consumer expecations management.

Channel partners and data sharing

– Data has become the critical source of competitive advantage in the current business environment. Otter Tail data strategy in the Electric Utilities needs to robust measures that can enable it to share data with multiple marketplaces and channel partners without compromising its competitive advantage. Recent case studies of Amazon use of suppliers’ data to introduce its private labels have highlighted the dangers of dependence on marketplaces.

Social media marketing

– Prior to the social media, organizations only had to deal with wider media only during the quarterly call, but now each organization such as Otter Tail needs to have a vibrant and relevant social media marketing strategy.

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Effective Channel Management Strategies

Some of the effective channel management strategies for Otter Tail in the Electric Utilities industry are –

Product – Channel Fit

– E-commerce provides a highly dynamic enviorment where data can be tracked in realtime. This can enable Otter Tail to build a product channel fit, given the capabilities, capacities, and potential of the organization and channel partners. For example multiple marketplace can help the Otter Tail to push its entry level products while a brand specific in-house online strategy can help it to sell high value products.

Pricing algorithms and automation

– Highly effective channel management strategy today requires a dynamic pricing infrastructure, that can enable the company to do personalize marketing and pricing.

Optimizing advertising and marketing efforts

– Effective channel management can help Otter Tail to optimize its marketing and advertising efforts in the Electric Utilities industry.

Social media presence

– Tesla has shown how an effective social media strategy can trump billions of dollars spent in advertising and marketing efforts. With its highly effective social media strategy, Tesla has been able to clearly communicate its vision, mission, and product-related events directly to the consumers.

Data sharing strategy

– Otter Tail can use entry level products on marketplace to gather data about consumer usage. Secondly it can keep the core products away from marketplace so that it can guard the data. This is a highly effective strategy in products where the maximum source of revenue is post sale services and maintenance.

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Conclusion

Channel management strategy helps in increasing customer satisfaction rate, net promoter score, reducing inventory quantities and costs, efficient order management, protecting confidential data, providing more touchpoints to the consumers, and increasing the overall Return on Investment. Simple channel management strategy in Electric Utilities industry can no longer stand out among the competitive landscape. Otter Tail needs to have highly effective channel management strategy that includes potential to do sophisticated dynamic pricing infrastructure, repricing algorithms, product data optimization, shipping partners’ fulfillment data tracking, and analytics to highlight real time discrepancies in the operations.

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SWOT Analysis / SWOT Matrix of Otter Tail

PESTEL / PEST / STEP Analysis of Otter Tail

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