Get Started with Marketplace

Overview

Your portal provides email and social media marketing. There are some services that it does not offer in-house, such as event planning, broadcast advertising, and website development. These activities can still be managed in the portal using custom activities. Most such activities require help from an external provider. When your supplier makes these marketing activities available to you, they connect you with their partner providers in your area who can complete these services.

You have access to different types of funds to support these marketing efforts. You might use marketing funds to pay for meals, entertainment, social outings, sports outings, team meetings, or conferences. These engagements allow you to interact with customers and build relationships.

In this article, find everything you need to get started with Marketplace and using marketing development funds to pay for marketing services.

Get Started

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4	Step 5
Check Funds and Submit Pre-Approval Requests	Browse Campaigns with Full-Service Activities	Select and Pay for Activities	Monitor Your Order Status	Submit Reimbursement Claims

1. Check Funds and Submit Pre-Approval Requests

Check Your Funds

Your supplier provides marketing development funds (MDF) for you to use for your marketing efforts. These funds come from different budgets and are used for purposes defined by your supplier.

Before you start shopping for campaigns and marketing activities, check how much money you have in your MDF account.

1. Click in the top menu bar to open your wallet.
2. Click Funding Details to check which types of funds you have available and how much money of that type your supplier has given you.

Submit a Pre-Approval Request

If you know which campaign you want to pay for, submit a pre-approval request for funding from your supplier before you start paying for provider services.

1. Click to open your wallet.
2. Click My Transactions.
3. Click New Pre-approval.
4. Provide a name, requested amount, and notes. 
5. Click Save. The new claim now appears in your list of claim requests under My Transactions.
6. Click the name of the claim from the list.
7. Upload any necessary attachments such as receipts or invoices.
8. Add any necessary comments to further explain the request.
9. Click  Submit for Approval.

 Learn more at About MDF.

2. Browse Campaigns with Full-Service Activities

1. Navigate to Campaigns > Browse Campaigns.
2. Click Details next to a campaign you want to activate.
3. On the right of the campaign details view, find a list of marketing activities available in this campaign.
4. Review the pricing details, reimbursement rates, and funding types offered on each activity.

 Learn more at About Browse Campaigns.

3. Select and Pay for Activities

Activities with Fixed Pricing

In the details view for this campaign, review the included activities and the associated costs. On the right side of the view, activities are sorted by content types, such as mailings, web plugins, and custom activities.

All activities are selected by default. Click Select None to deselect all activities. Then, click each activity to add it to your order.

Activities with Quotes

Some activities are offered at a fixed price. Others allow you to request quotes from available providers, so you can shop around for the best price.

For example, your supplier wants you to build a new website. Your supplier offers this as a custom activity and assigns three different providers that can perform the task. You reach out to these providers and get quotes on services.

To request quotes for an activity, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Campaigns > Browse Campaigns.
2. Next to the campaign you want to activate, click Details.
3. Click the activity to select it. A border around the activity indicates it has been selected.
4. Click Continue.
5. Complete the following funding information:
   • Select a provider:
     1. Click Select the providers you would like to receive a quote from.
     2. In the popup, check the box for providers you are interested in.
     3. Click Apply.
   • Provide order details:
     1. In the Special Instructions text box, provide any extra information the providers need to quote your order.
6. Click Continue.

To check the status of a quote request, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Campaigns > My Campaigns.
2. Click the name of the campaign with the provider order. This opens the campaign details view for this campaign.
3. In this view, click the name of the activity with the provider order.
   • Activities with pending quotes say Waiting For Quotes under the activity name.
4. Click Order Details.
5. Under Order Status, check if the provider has quoted the service.
   • For a full listing of order statuses, see About Campaign Orders.

Activities with Multiple Options

Some activities include multiple options. For example, for broadcast media advertising, your supplier might offer options for different amounts of advertising time. You could select 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or 1 minute of airtime on your local radio station. These different options often come with different price points and reimbursement rates.

To activate and process activities with multiple payment options, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Campaigns > Browse Campaigns.
2. Next to the campaign you want to activate, click Details.
3. On the right, find a list of available campaigns sorted by content type.
4. Click the activity to select it. A border around the activity indicates it has been selected.
5. In the activity box, review the list of pricing options available. Click the radio button next to the option you prefer.
6. Click Continue.
7. Complete the following funding information:
   • Select a provider:
     1. From the drop-down, select the provider you want to complete the activity.
   • Select funds:
     1. From the drop-down, select the fund type you want to use.
     2. In the right-hand box, enter the amount you want to pay out of this fund. If you have a remaining balance, click Add Self Pay Option to pay the remaining balance yourself.
   • Provide order details:
     1. Enter any special instructions the provider needs to complete this activity.
8. Click Continue.

 Learn more at Manage Campaign Orders.

4. Monitor Your Order Status

Once a full-service activity is up and running, monitor its status and progress in the My Orders view.

1. Navigate to Campaigns > My Orders.
2. Next to the activity, you want to review, click View Order.
3. In this view, you can do the following:
   • Check the order status. For a full listing of possible order statuses, see About Campaign Orders.
   • Click View Order Details to check pricing, completion date, and provider contact information.
   • Click Add a comment to post a comment for your provider contact. The provider can also post comments here, such as invoices, receipts, or status updates.
   • Click Edit Partner Notifications to change who gets notified when participants in this activity are converted to leads.
   • Click Participants to see which of your contacts are associated with this activity.
   • Click Leads to see which contacts have been converted to leads.

 Learn more at About Campaign Orders.

5. Submit a Reimbursement Claim

After you pay for marketing activities, you can request reimbursement from your supplier.

1. Click to open your wallet.
2. Click My Transactions.
3. Click New Claim.
4. Provide the name, requested reimbursement amount, and any notes.
5. Click Save. The new claim now appears in your list of claim requests under My Transactions.
6. Click the name of the claim from the list.
7. Upload any necessary attachments such as receipts or invoices.
8. Add any necessary comments to further explain the request.
9. Click  Submit for Approval.

 Learn more at About MDF and About Marketing Transactions.

Related Topics

• About Marketplaces