Contributing to the marketing efforts of channel partners helps to cultivate a uniform message, a stronger brand and greater ROI from MDFs. Playing an active role in the marketing strategy, partnerships and implementation is necessary to create a healthy channel community. Each partner will have unique needs, but many of the challenges are the same.
Increasing Website Traffic
There are many ways to reach prospects these days with a new social media platform being introduced on what seems like a daily basis. Driving traffic through traditional means such as email, direct mail and teleprospecting is still important and should be used in conjunction with a content marketing strategy. With so many different options, a multi-channel marketing approach is needed to ensure partners reach their target audience.
Generating Leads
Similar to driving more traffic to their website, your partners will need to use a variety of tactics to convert their prospects into qualified leads. Personalizing campaigns to appeal to your target’s favorite methods of communication, content consumption preferences and pain points will improve the efficiency of lead generation campaigns. Creating quality content that speaks to each stage of the buyer’s journey and distributing it to your partners will take some pressure off of their marketing teams.
Diversifying Content
Prospects absorb content in a variety of different ways and preferences vary greatly even within similar business verticals. Additionally, using a diverse set of media to develop your content will keep your partner’s blog, social media pages and website from becoming stale. Written blogs, video, webinars, infographics and interactive content are all necessary pieces to a complete content marketing strategy. Repurposing content into different media can be a great time saver and allow your partners to reach those prospects that ignored your message in it's original format.
Marketing Technology
Like most lines of business, channel partner marketing has been affected greatly by technological advances. There are a number of different automation programs, social media platforms and SEO tools that need to be learned to properly manage a marketing plan. In many cases it is a good idea to outsource the management of these tools to ensure your partners are getting the most out of their marketing dollars.
Maximizing Budget
Marketing budgets are being largely consumed by digital initiatives. Automation platforms, CRM’s and paid advertising are all essential pieces to a multi-channel marketing strategy but it is important to set aside finances for traditional marketing methods as well. With many investing in digital campaigns, utilizing more traditional means such as email and direct mail will actually make your company stand out. Deciding whether to internalize marketing efforts or outsource them will require research and detailed analyzing of your partner’s resources and needs.
Content Distribution
Identifying where your target audience primarily absorbs their content is the first step in your distribution strategy. Although the majority of your potential customers may prefer a certain channel it’s important to exploit all means of content distribution. This includes social media discussion groups, industry media sites, email, direct mail and popular publications. Although you want to develop a highly refined buyer persona, your partners will need a multitude of tactics to draw them into their funnel.
Collaboration
Technology has made it easier than ever to connect with people and, as a result, cultivating a diverse network has taken on a new significance. Collaborating with companies for joint marketing campaigns and outsourcing specific tasks can increase the quality and exposure of your partner’s marketing materials. Encourage partnerships and recommend specific companies for your partners to work with.
Understanding the challenges that your partners face will help you to develop a truly effective strategy to enable their marketing efforts. Companies that nurture their channel and provide them with the necessary tools to be successful stand to gain far more than those with a hands-off approach.
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