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There's no way around it - advertising is a significant expense. It's a necessary one, but does have a large impact on your budget. What if you could increase your advertising without increasing your spend? You can. It's called co-op advertising, and if you're not already taking advantage of it, you may be leaving thousands in free, unused advertising dollars on the table every single year.

A Closer Look at Cooperative Marketing

Local companies are often affiliated with a larger national brand. Those larger national brands typically sponsor cooperative marketing programs in which they subsidize up to 50% of your advertising costs. Some go much further, subsidizing 75 - 100% of the costs of your ads.

That's a massive opportunity you could be walking away from each year. One study found that co-op advertising was worth more than $50 billion annually on a nationwide basis. Thinking about it and making it happen, though, are two very different things. Luckily, there are just three basic steps involved to getting your first cooperative marketing campaign off the ground.

1. Determine What Opportunities Are Available

Almost every manufacturer has some kind of coop program, but you need to identify them to take advantage of the opportunity. You can usually find chances like these through the back end portal of your inventory or signage ordering software. A sales contact may also be able to offer you that kind of opportunity as well.

Typically, however, your advertising will have to meet certain requirements to be reimbursed for the cost. In some cases, you may need to use a template, but in others, a list of various “musts” will need to be met.

2. Show It Off

Once you've designed your ad campaign, you'll need to show it to the manufacturer to get pre-approval to run it. This step benefits you as much as it does your manufacturer, as once they approve it, you know you'll get those marketing dollars back in your pocket. Contact your sales rep to learn more about who needs to pre-approve your ad, and make certain you keep proof of that pre-approval so you can submit it during step three.

3. Grab the Cash

Once the campaign gets off the ground, it's time to submit the proof to the manufacturer to recoup your money. Usually you'll need some kind of proof of placement, delivery, billing, and pre-approval. Often you can submit these via email or your back-end portal. Once that's done, you can expect to get a check in the mail and recover what you initially paid for the ad.

Everyone wants a bigger marketing budget, so stop leaving those co-op advertising dollars on the table and start using those cooperative marketing funds to your advantage!