Each year, brands allocate millions to co-op marketing programs designed to support their local retailers. The goal? To drive awareness, increase traffic, and boost sales at the local level. Yet year after year, a large substantial portion of these budgets go untouched.

Why? Because traditional co-op marketing programs rely far too heavily on retailers to take action—and that’s a flawed assumption.

The Unrealistic Expectations of Traditional Co-Op Programs

In most models, the brand makes funds available and sets guidelines, then asks retailers to:

• Create and run their own ads
• Post consistently on social media
• Track results and submit reimbursement claims

That’s a tall order—especially for retailers who wear multiple hats and are focused on running their day-to-day operations. Most don’t have dedicated marketing personnel, let alone the time or expertise to execute campaigns, analyze results, and stay brand-compliant.

The result? Co-op dollars go unused. Retailers don’t get the support they need. And your brand misses out on valuable visibility and local engagement—despite having a healthy marketing budget in place.

The Problem: A Broken Co-Op Model

There’s no doubt that the intention behind co-op marketing is sound. It’s meant to empower your dealer network, build brand presence at the local level, and ultimately drive more sales. But when success depends on retailers acting as full-time marketers, the system breaks down.

Retailers frequently:

• Lack the time to prioritize marketing execution
• Struggle with brand compliance when creating their own assets
• Miss deadlines for submitting proof of performance and reimbursement

This leads to fragmented efforts, missed opportunities, and a poor return on your co-op investment. You might have dealers who want to participate—but simply can’t follow through due to the complexity and time commitment.

The Solution: Automated Brand-to-Local Marketing

ThumbStopper offers a smarter, frictionless way to execute co-op marketing—by automating organic content syndication and paid advertising directly to your retailers’ social media pages.

And here’s the best part: it doesn’t require extra effort from either your retailers or your internal marketing team.

With ThumbStopper:

• Retailers don’t lift a finger. They don’t have to log in, create content, or manage budgets.
• Brands don’t take on more work. Our onboarding process is quick and easy, and we manage execution from start to finish.
• You maintain complete control. Messaging, timing, targeting, and branding remain entirely in your hands.
• AI-powered automation personalizes content at scale while ensuring compliance across the network.
• Paid and boosted ads run directly from each retailer’s social handle—creating a hyper-local presence—but are fully funded, optimized, and reported on by your brand.

The Measurable Impact: Co-Op Dollars That Actually Work

When execution is automated, participation skyrockets. ThumbStopper enables brands to maximize their co-op spend by delivering organic social content and ads that retailers no longer need to worry about managing themselves.

Brands benefit from:

• Consistent local visibility across hundreds (or thousands) of retailer pages
• Authentic engagement from customers who trust local voices over national messages
• Higher ROI from paid campaigns, with CPMs consistently under $2

Meanwhile, retailers enjoy:

• A professional, active social presence
• Increased traffic and brand support
• Zero stress or lift—freeing them to focus on what they do best: running their business

Time to Modernize Your Co-Op Strategy

If your current co-op program leaves you wondering who participated, chasing down claims, or questioning its actual impact, it’s time for a better approach. With ThumbStopper, you transform co-op from an underutilized line item into a reliable, high-performing growth engine.

Our platform makes co-op marketing:

• Simple – No training or complex tools required
• Scalable – Easily deploy content across thousands of retailer pages
• Effective – With transparent reporting and real-time insights

Let’s Put Your Co-Op Budget to Work—Automatically

Don’t let another co-op cycle pass with low activation and wasted potential. With ThumbStopper, you eliminate friction, empower your retail network, and take full advantage of the budget you’ve already allocated.

Ready to see how it works? Schedule a demo today to discover how ThumbStopper delivers real results—without requiring lift from your retailers or internal team.