2016’s Hottest Sales & Marketing Predictions for the Channel
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Every year, the brightest minds in sales and marketing predict the trends that will flourish over the course of the next 12-18 months. 2013 was the year of “real-time” marketing and the fading out of “campaigns." In 2014, sales leaders predicted that the tide would change from “always be selling” to “always be coaching … delighting … transparent … helping.” And 2015 was all about mobile — mobile search, mobile optimization, mobile conversions, and mobile ubiquity. While these sales and marketing insights are extremely valuable, as channel sales and marketing leaders you know that the business operations of supporting, growing and championing a channel can add another layer of complexity to the sales and marketing initiatives that exist within your organization. In this 30-minute webinar, the Allbound team explores some of 2016’s hottest sales and marketing predictions and translate what these predictions mean to your channel ecosystem.
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2016’s Hottest Sales & Marketing Predictions for the Channel
- 1. WEBINAR 2016’s Hottest Sales & Marketing Predictions for the Channel @goallbound #NeverSellAlone
- 2. Jen Spencer Director of Sales & Marketing jspencer@allbound.com @jenspencer Hey! It’s nice to meet you. • Smarketer • FRIENDS fanatic • Generally speaking, does not trust birds
- 3. Hey! It’s nice to meet you. • Loves using #hashtags, memes, gifs and emojis to communicate • Relationship builder • Good vibes promoter Jessica Sanchez Director of Content Services jsanchez@allbound.com @AllboundJessica
- 4. Hey! It’s nice to meet you. • Likes vanilla ice cream • Has never been more excited than he is right now • Agrees with Jen on the birds Matt Hensler Director of Customer Success mhensler@allbound.com @matthensler
- 5. Today’s Agenda • Interactive Content Marketing • Social Selling • Video • Human to Human Marketing • Customer Success • Q&A
- 6. #NeverSellAlone 2013 the year of “real-time” marketing and the fading out of “campaigns."
- 7. 2014 Always be • coaching • delighting • transparent • helping
- 10. Anything from a quiz to a complex app #NeverSellAlone
- 11. #NeverSellAlone Companies building the most effective journeys master four interconnected capabilities: • automation • proactive personalization • contextual interaction, and • journey innovation - Harvard Business Review
- 12. • ROI calculator • Interactive magazine • Quiz #NeverSellAlone
- 13. Put yourself in your channel partner's shoes. Address their challenges. #NeverSellAlone
- 15. Use social selling to transforming your operations from an inward focus to a customer focus. #NeverSellAlone
- 16. Share content from other leaders in the field #NeverSellAlone
- 17. Social selling is about helping others through their decision making process #NeverSellAlone
- 18. Empower Channel Resellers to become thought leaders and experts #NeverSellAlone
- 20. #NeverSellAlone A 30 second informational video about your products or services can give your channel partners the support they need to sell.
- 24. #FlipMyFunnel #NeverSellAlone Try viewing both your existing and prospective channel partners as your customers.
- 25. #NeverSellAlone
- 26. #NeverSellAlone 1. Scout the Right Sponsors
- 27. #NeverSellAlone 2. Sponsor to Bring Your Brand to Life
- 29. #NeverSellAlone 4. Splurge on the Steak Dinner
- 30. 5. Engage and Delight Your Current Channel Partners #NeverSellAlone
- 32. #NeverSellAlone • Culture of success • Understand your customer • Personalize your service • Communicate and collaborate
- 34. #NeverSellAlone 2. Deliver service where and when I need it.
- 35. #NeverSellAlone 3. Solve my problem quickly.
- 37. For information about Allbound, visit www.allbound.com or call us at 480.685.5474
Editor's Notes
- JEN Thanks for joining Allbound for our webinar, “2016’s Hottest Sales and Marketing Predictions for the Channel.” We’re excited to share some great content with you over the next 30 minutes, but first let’s take care of some quick housekeeping. We are recording this webinar, so if you need to step away, or during the webinar you think of a friend or colleague who might also enjoy this content, you’ll have a recording delivered right to your inbox tomorrow. Our marketing team will also be live tweeting throughout the webinar, so you can contribute to the conversation by following @goallbound on Twitter.
- JEN Hi my name’s Jen Spencer, and I’m the Director of Sales and Marketing here at Allbound. Since we’re going to spend the next 30 or so minutes together, I figure you might want to know a little bit about me. First of all, I’m a legitimate Smarketer. Sales, marketing – I do it both. So, there’s no issue with sales and marketing alignment here with Allbound. In fact the only alignment issue I think I have is with my back. Ouch. Second, I’m a Friends fanatic – you know, the TV show? I can pretty much find a way to incorporate a Friends storyline into any scenario. Finally -- and this is a little embarrassing -- generally speaking, I don’t trust birds. They’re super shifty. And, their beaks are wicked sharp.
- JESS
- MATT
- JEN Now, for our agenda. So, today we’re talking about some of 2016’s hottest sales and marketing predictions, and what these predictions mean to your channel ecosystem. There are 5 in particular we’ll address. Interactive Content Marketing Social Selling Video Human to Human Marketing Customer Success Also, as time allows, we’ll close with Q&A, so jot those questions down, or plug them right into the question portal of your control panel. As time allows, we’ll tackle as many as we can live during the session, and we’ll be sure to answer each and every question directly should we hit our 30 minute mark.
- JEN As you all know, every year, the brightest minds in sales and marketing predict the trends that will flourish over the course of the next 12-18 months. 2013 was the year of “real-time” marketing and the fading out of “campaigns."
- JEN Then in 2014, sales leaders predicted that the tide would change from “always be selling” to “always be coaching … delighting … transparent … helping.”
- JEN And then 2015 …. Last year was all about mobile — mobile search, mobile optimization, mobile conversions …. mobile ubiquity. While these sales and marketing insights are extremely valuable, as channel sales and marketing leaders you know that the business operations of supporting, growing and championing a channel can add another layer of complexity to the sales and marketing initiatives that exist within your organization. So today, we’re talking about how your channel organization can be prepared for what are on trend to be the newest, effective sales and marketing strategies for 2016.
- JEN Interactive content marketing is quickly becoming a major marketing buzzword for 2016. Let’s look at what interactive content marketing is and how it can help grow your channel ecosystem.
- JEN Like a lot of new buzzwords, you'll hear the words “interactive content marketing” thrown around at team meetings — but what exactly does it mean, and what role, if any, will it play in your channel marketing pipeline? Simply put, interactive content marketing can be anything from a quiz to a complex app designed to provide the end user with a meaningful experience with your brand.
- JEN I was recently reading an article in the Harvard Business Review that points out, in an era where the consumer largely controls the buying process, interactive content marketing helps keep companies top of mind. Specifically the article says “Companies building the most effective journeys master four interconnected capabilities: automation, proactive personalization, contextual interaction, and journey innovation. Each of these makes journeys “stickier”—more likely to draw in and permanently capture customers.” -- And side note – tomorrow when we email you this recording, we’ll also include a link to this HBR article. Back to interactive content marketing. OK, Great! This is the path to what we want, right? To create brand evangelists in both our partners and customers.
- JEN So, translated to the channel marketing environment, interactive content marketing gives you the opportunity to engage your partners more meaningfully than ever before. You already use content marketing strategies to spur channel sales. Blogs, white papers, case studies and training videos all play an important role in getting your channel partners up to speed on your product. But your channel sales reps may not always have the time to digest highly-detailed technical papers. In fact, they'll often have to contend with multiple products from different suppliers, or customers who don't have time for the long sales pitch. Handing them an interactive supplement to distinguish your product, delivering salient facts and sales strategies on the quick, can be the silver bullet, especially if it's well-designed. Some potential pieces of interactive content marketing to consider for your channel partners might be …. - A calculator that will help channel partners calculate a customer's potential ROI for purchasing your product - Interactive magazines And Quizzes that pinpoint roadblocks in the channel sales funnel and provide solutions These are just a few examples of helpful interactive content.
- JEN Don’t forget that interactive content marketing is INTERACTIVE – meaning it’s a two way street. But you know, it doesn’t need to be complicated. Something as straightforward as an interactive case study can be a worthwhile investment. A frequent challenge your channel partners face is positioning your product to address a customer's particular need. Why not provide them with an interactive page of case studies, covering the most common use examples? Put yourself in your channel partner's shoes. Address their challenges. And, organically build feedback systems into your interactive content marketing applications, and use that collected data to identify priority areas for improvement in your channel sales funnel. Remember, you're not selling directly to the customer. Your interactive content marketing efforts should aim at giving your channel partners a simple and engaging way to become ambassadors for your brand.
- JESS While social media is quite possibly one of the most often used marketing tools, it is also often overlooked as a sales tool, especially for the channel. Even if your marketing practices are sound, consumers are likely to turn to social media to do their final research before choosing a company to work with, and your team and your channel team, needs to be present, engaged and responsive on social media to ensure your company stays top of mind.
- JESS So what is social selling? Social selling is the process of developing relationships as part of the sales process. It is not just about starting the sales process using social platforms, but it is about sales people building a strong personal brand, and understanding the role of content and how it can be used to tell an emotional and powerful story. By using social selling with your channel teams, you are transforming your operations from an inward focus to a customer focus.
- JESS Sharing your content, opinions, and voices through social media is no longer an option. It is necessary to stay relevant…no questions. But sharing content from other leaders in the field will display a more well rounded opinion, and show prospective clients that you're staying on top of the latest industry news and educating the community through content sharing. The goal here is to educate, this will brand you as a trusted thought leader.
- JESS Continuing on with that same thought, to be truly successful in social selling, both internal and channel sales teams need to build a strong personal brand. This starts with putting an official end to the self-promotional content being posted on the web. Social selling is about helping others through their decision making process and growing strong social connections to continue to grow and scale your social selling program over time.
- JESS By providing your approved content to your channel teams to share through social media, you enable them to share your content, which builds their personal brand and exponentially increases the reach of your content. Even if you only have 10 channel sales reps sharing your blogs, think of how many people that could reach! This approach will not only solidify your team's expertise in the industry, but it will enable a platform for more discussion on social media, giving your channel teams even more of an opportunity to interact with others. As your channel sales team becomes more active on the various social networks, they will become thought leaders and experts to those individuals and companies seeking your products and services. This is a win-win situation for your company, your channel teams, and your relationships with your current and potential customers.
- JESS As we touched on at the start of this webinar, for channel marketers, last year was all about optimizing for mobile. The year before, the focus was on coaching channel partners to better achieve sales success. With each passing year, new trends are identified and new lessons learned. For 2016, the name of the game is video.
- JESS With the barrier to entry for video production diminishing day by day, and with Youtube and Facebook video viewership numbers exploding, you should begin putting videos front and center in your channel marketing efforts. Something as simple and budget-friendly as a 30 second informational video about your products or services can give your channel partners the support they need to sell your products or services.
- JESS You’re probably thinking, I don’t have that kind of money! Isn’t video going to cost me an arm and a leg? No. Video production now scales very well in relation to company size and budget. The affordability of cameras, gear and software has generated a revolution in the video production industry. A small team can, for example, shoot and edit a sleek 30-second promotional video for a little over $3,500 — around what it costs to buy new laptops for a small office. You've probably shelled out more for professional white papers. If you think of such an investment in terms of ROI, the proposition gets very attractive. With one concise and engaging video, you can quickly equip your channel partners to better bring your products to market.
- JESS Ok, so the price is right, but is video actually effective? Ask Salman Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, a ubiquitous online learning resource that makes heavy use of video to teach anyone about, essentially anything. It's been estimated that Khan Academy's ROI — if defined as the contributions its students will make when they enter the workforce — would be about 1,000% Academic research also bears this out. Studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between knowledge acquisition and visual cues usually associated with video. All of this isn't to say that you should neglect conventional training aids for your channel partners. The more information your channel partners have access to, including white papers and detailed product descriptions, the better equipped they'll be to sell your products with confidence. But video can and should become a valuable supplement to those tools.
- MATT Video works well because it’s visual, and sometimes has human elements to it, and interactive marketing is sticky because the individual has to actually engage and interact, so it makes perfect sense that in this age of automation where marketers and sellers are trying to do more with less time and less money, that there is a renaissance happening with live events.
- MATT Human-to-human marketing (H2H) is making a comeback because people are totally overwhelmed with digital messages and are now craving live, face-to-face interactions with like-minded peers, and this is manifesting itself in the form of events. To get the most out of H2H marketing, try taking an account-based marketing approach with your channel partners. This means viewing both your existing and prospective channel partners as your customers. From there, think about how you can identify them, target them, engage them in an environment where they are most comfortable, and turn them into advocates of your product or service. They own the customer experience for your end-user, so it’s important to show them some love. This is also known as the #FlipMyFunnel model created by our friends at Terminus.
- MATT Top 5 ways channel marketers can make the most of industry events in 2016
- MATT The expo hall is an often overlooked area of an event. However, this could be the most valuable component of a conference for a channel marketer or sales professional. Industry conferences attract vendors who sell to your buyer persona. If those attendees are your end-users, there’s a high likelihood of an opportunity to forge a relationship with your target partners in the sponsor area. Plan ahead and try to set up meetings in advance. This is the best way to ensure you get the facetime you need to fully understand what the vendor has to offer and determine if they might be a fit for your offering.
- MATT Whether you are just getting started with a channel program or have been dedicated to indirect sales for a while now, sponsoring industry events is a great way to forge relationships with new channel partners and also spend time with existing ones. The benefit of doing this instead of simply attending the conference is branding. Brand presence can help you stand out among the noise of a crowded conference and show that you are a company potential partners want to work with.
- MATT I’m sure this probably sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s worth including. Sessions can often bring emerging trends in your industry to light. Hearing what is on the minds of your target audience helps you to discover new distribution channels you might not have previously considered. Another key benefit is with messaging. Learning how people are positioning similar products can help you guide your channel partners in using the correct messaging. JEN So, I’ve been attending a number of industry events lately, and I keep thinking – how valuable would it be for marketers to attend these events with a partner? In all likelihood, you’re going to be attending some of the same events. So, sync up – make plans to attend a session together and debrief over coffee or cocktails later that day. This is a much better approach to, say, building out a marketing campaign or an incentive in a silo – when you truly partner together, think of how much more successful your engagement could be.
- MATT Have you ever heard of the steak dinner phenomenon? Find a nice restaurant within walking distance of the conference venue and invite a mix of existing partners and high-value partners. Giving a prospective partner the opportunity to engage with an existing partner helps build trust in your business, which could help build lasting relationships on both sides. The great part is, you can employ this strategy even if you don’t sponsor the event.
- MATT Customer experience in channel marketing has a significant impact on your bottom line. In this case, your customer is your channel partner. This is a great time to say thank you to those channel partners who are driving the most revenue for your business. Dropping a small gift by their booth or taking them for a quick coffee break is a great way to show appreciation for all the work they are doing to sell your product. It is also a wonderful opportunity to set up meetings with those partners who might not be so active. Perhaps you have released some new features since you last spoke with them. Setting a meeting to demo the latest release might be just what they need to get selling again.
- MATT Our last topic of the day, customer success, shouldn’t be news; customer experience is a top priority for businesses and technology leaders. At the end of the day, channel success relies heavily on your ability to deliver a near seamless experience for the prospects and customers shared by you and your partners.
- MATT How can you help your partners make their customers successful? Make it part of your culture – from the top down. Learn your partner's mission and vision for the company. And, have them learn yours. Be relentless in knowing and understanding exactly what will make your customers feel successful. Make every customer feel unique – because they are. And communicate regularly about their changing business needs, how your product or service is succeeding (or falling short) in solving them, and any adjustments or industry best practices that might help. Benchmark, evaluate and revise your contributions through communication and collaboration. According to the 2015 State of Service Report from Salesforce, customers have three simple expectations:
- MATT Know me. The personnel in your company who interact with customers on a regular basis need to know how your product solutions are uniquely applied for the customers they are interacting with at any given moment. When a customer does “raise their hand” for help or guidance, there is an understanding of the business problem the customer is trying to solve with your product. Structuring service and support within the context of the customer’s use case will help ensure they get the help they need.
- MATT Deliver service where and when I need it. A quality customer experience isn't about just being accessible via the channels you choose. Instead, customers expect service to be available through the channels they use. Customers need to successfully be able to access guidance they need to be successful with your product whether they are live in person, on the phone, on your website, or their mobile device.
- MATT Solve my problem quickly. Customers are people who have lives outside of your product. When they need help, they want resolution in that moment, and to be able to move on with their own jobs and lives. Be wary of asking them to perform extra steps, such as a satisfaction survey, that prolong their service experience.
- JEN Now we’d like to open the webinar up to questions from our attendees. If you have a question, please go ahead and enter it in the question field of the webinar control panel. We produce a lot of content for our internal sales team, but is this same content also good for the channel partners? Or, are there easy ways of making it fit their needs without reinventing the wheel?