What is content strategy? The business-driven, user-focused process of defining, planning and managing content to meet specific goals, often over a long period of time.
Advertising is just pretty pictures in magazines. World leaders need perspective, insight and solutions as they tackle the global challenges of the 21st Century, not pretty pictures. Media or events targeted at world leaders can be resourced - not by 'ad sales', but by marketing content partnerships to solution-providers and thought-leaders. My Partnership Marketing methodology has secured nearly £50 million in sponsorship revenue, and helped to fund dozens of publications, events and websites.
Partner marketing is a specialization within the overall discipline of marketing, focused on communicating value to, with, through, and for partners.
Partners are companies outside of your organization. They might be distributors, resellers, agents, alliance partners, or many other types of third-party companies. Understand that each of these companies deal with the same types of problems every other business faces: not enough time, people, or money to solve all the problems that are in front of them. As a partner marketer you are in a unique position to help them.
Many organizations engage partners as a route to market, for addressing a need, or an opportunity they cannot satisfy alone.
For example, if you don’t have the resources to manage dozens or hundreds of resellers directly, you can choose to establish a distribution partner. You can pay for the service they provide, typically by sharing the margin you would have kept for yourself in a direct sales model. The distributor can help make up for the expense, with the growth and scale they offer.
Just because someone agrees to be your partner, it doesn’t mean they’re going to proactively bring your product or service to the market. Sometimes they need some stimulation and that’s where partner marketing can help.
https://www.lafabbricadellarealta.com/entertainment-marketing-plan-template/
Don't start from scratch, base your marketing efforts on a proven template.
Everything you need to know about Partnership MarketingPartnercademy
To see the presentation in full, go to our highly acclaimed Udemy course here:
https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-guide-to-partnership-marketing-course/?referralCode=0382E1D96A178437476F
Or further your Partnerships & Affiliate Marketing career with the Partnercademy Masterclass course...
https://partnercademy.thinkific.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------
This presentation covers everything you need to know about Partnership Marketing - when two or more companies partner up to market each other to their customers.
Business are starting to realise that teaming-up with like-minded brands is one the finest ways of attracting new customers. Spotify, Paypal, Airbnb and American Express are all getting in on the act and taking advantage of Partnership Marketing techniques.
What is content strategy? The business-driven, user-focused process of defining, planning and managing content to meet specific goals, often over a long period of time.
Advertising is just pretty pictures in magazines. World leaders need perspective, insight and solutions as they tackle the global challenges of the 21st Century, not pretty pictures. Media or events targeted at world leaders can be resourced - not by 'ad sales', but by marketing content partnerships to solution-providers and thought-leaders. My Partnership Marketing methodology has secured nearly £50 million in sponsorship revenue, and helped to fund dozens of publications, events and websites.
Partner marketing is a specialization within the overall discipline of marketing, focused on communicating value to, with, through, and for partners.
Partners are companies outside of your organization. They might be distributors, resellers, agents, alliance partners, or many other types of third-party companies. Understand that each of these companies deal with the same types of problems every other business faces: not enough time, people, or money to solve all the problems that are in front of them. As a partner marketer you are in a unique position to help them.
Many organizations engage partners as a route to market, for addressing a need, or an opportunity they cannot satisfy alone.
For example, if you don’t have the resources to manage dozens or hundreds of resellers directly, you can choose to establish a distribution partner. You can pay for the service they provide, typically by sharing the margin you would have kept for yourself in a direct sales model. The distributor can help make up for the expense, with the growth and scale they offer.
Just because someone agrees to be your partner, it doesn’t mean they’re going to proactively bring your product or service to the market. Sometimes they need some stimulation and that’s where partner marketing can help.
https://www.lafabbricadellarealta.com/entertainment-marketing-plan-template/
Don't start from scratch, base your marketing efforts on a proven template.
Everything you need to know about Partnership MarketingPartnercademy
To see the presentation in full, go to our highly acclaimed Udemy course here:
https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-guide-to-partnership-marketing-course/?referralCode=0382E1D96A178437476F
Or further your Partnerships & Affiliate Marketing career with the Partnercademy Masterclass course...
https://partnercademy.thinkific.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------
This presentation covers everything you need to know about Partnership Marketing - when two or more companies partner up to market each other to their customers.
Business are starting to realise that teaming-up with like-minded brands is one the finest ways of attracting new customers. Spotify, Paypal, Airbnb and American Express are all getting in on the act and taking advantage of Partnership Marketing techniques.
From the webinar presented by Matcha, learn the strategies and tactics for better performing Facebook ad strategy. Learn how to deliver better content, audience targeting, and more.
Margaret Dawson defines integrated marketing and the required components of an integrated marketing plan. You can use this template to set up your marketing program for success. From performing a market analysis and SWOT to establishing the right strategies and objectives to establishing the right metrics - and then putting an action plan together based on all of that.
B2B Marketing Communications Plan (template) v2Scott Armstrong
BrainRider has been getting requests for help with marketing communications planning so we decided to share a simple, practical plan template. This knowledge marketing template includes decision stage analysis and content planning to work with demand generation strategies. This is a preliminary version. We plan to add a best practice walk-through but please contact us if you want us to share best practices. And of course we love your comments and shares.
Cheers
The BrainRider Team.
"sharing what we know is what we do"
BNC Direct-to-consumer Webinar - November 2015 - Brian O'LearyBookNet Canada
Brian O'Leary, principal of Magellan Media Consulting, presents eight methods book publishers can use to leverage content marketing for successful ROI, along with the tools to implement a successful content marketing strategy at your publishing house. In this free one-hour webinar, he describes the models most beneficial to publishers, ways to attract and retain an audience, and how to monetize the process.
An original research report on the use of channel marketing automation software by a global audience.
To download the full report, visit www.StateofInboundChannelMarketing.com.
Welcome to the 11th Annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report. You may notice this year’s report feels different than past years and that’s by design. A year like no other required an approach like no other.
As in past years, we fielded the survey during the summer. We asked many of the same questions as last year but added new ones to see how content marketers were faring several months into the pandemic.
Although the data did not reveal drastic reductions in content marketing resources, many respondents shared in the fill-in comments their challenges of having to do more with less. Others shared their concerns about trying to reach audiences in an overcrowded virtual world.
Nevertheless, one thing stood out: Content marketers are resilient. Most have met the challenges of the pandemic head-on: They’re adapting quickly—and they believe in the value their content provides.
Marketing And Its Future Metrics Proposal PowerPoint Presentation SlidesSlideTeam
If your company needs to submit a Marketing And Its Future Metrics Proposal PowerPoint Presentation Slides.Our researchers have analyzed thousands of proposals on this topic for effectiveness and conversion. Just download our template, add your company data and submit to your client for a positive response. http://bit.ly/2Serrsm
Creating a Strategic Marketing Communications PlanDeborah Spector
Don't blink - you might miss something! This is how it feels to live in our nanosecond culture, where everything is changing at an accelerated pace. Our nanosecond culture has changed nonprofit marketing communications forever. The controllable flow of information through easily identified channels is disappearing. This makes your strategic marketing communications plan even more valuable to rise above the noise to put your organization in the spotlight!
This presentation will assist marina managers and owners create an effective strategic marketing plan.
However, it can be used as a model for creating a marketing plan for any product or service.
You know that partner relationships are the bedrock of a successful channel sales model. However, sometimes partner relationship management can seem like an icy road where you skid at every step.
Watch this presentation to discover ways to boost partner engagement.
How to Manage a Successful Commercial Co-Venture (ccv) CampaignGage Marketing Group
Promotional Guidance + Commercial Co-Venture (CCV) Campaigns: an overview on Best Practices, including addressing legal compliance on contest vs. sweepstakes, by Gage partner and Chief Growth Officer, Mark Kurtz.
The world’s premier brands come to Gage for marketing that matters. We help clients grow sales, profits and market share. We spur consumers, customers and partners to take action. We’re the technology-savvy, strategically-driven – and results-obsessed – marketing agency.
From the webinar presented by Matcha, learn the strategies and tactics for better performing Facebook ad strategy. Learn how to deliver better content, audience targeting, and more.
Margaret Dawson defines integrated marketing and the required components of an integrated marketing plan. You can use this template to set up your marketing program for success. From performing a market analysis and SWOT to establishing the right strategies and objectives to establishing the right metrics - and then putting an action plan together based on all of that.
B2B Marketing Communications Plan (template) v2Scott Armstrong
BrainRider has been getting requests for help with marketing communications planning so we decided to share a simple, practical plan template. This knowledge marketing template includes decision stage analysis and content planning to work with demand generation strategies. This is a preliminary version. We plan to add a best practice walk-through but please contact us if you want us to share best practices. And of course we love your comments and shares.
Cheers
The BrainRider Team.
"sharing what we know is what we do"
BNC Direct-to-consumer Webinar - November 2015 - Brian O'LearyBookNet Canada
Brian O'Leary, principal of Magellan Media Consulting, presents eight methods book publishers can use to leverage content marketing for successful ROI, along with the tools to implement a successful content marketing strategy at your publishing house. In this free one-hour webinar, he describes the models most beneficial to publishers, ways to attract and retain an audience, and how to monetize the process.
An original research report on the use of channel marketing automation software by a global audience.
To download the full report, visit www.StateofInboundChannelMarketing.com.
Welcome to the 11th Annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report. You may notice this year’s report feels different than past years and that’s by design. A year like no other required an approach like no other.
As in past years, we fielded the survey during the summer. We asked many of the same questions as last year but added new ones to see how content marketers were faring several months into the pandemic.
Although the data did not reveal drastic reductions in content marketing resources, many respondents shared in the fill-in comments their challenges of having to do more with less. Others shared their concerns about trying to reach audiences in an overcrowded virtual world.
Nevertheless, one thing stood out: Content marketers are resilient. Most have met the challenges of the pandemic head-on: They’re adapting quickly—and they believe in the value their content provides.
Marketing And Its Future Metrics Proposal PowerPoint Presentation SlidesSlideTeam
If your company needs to submit a Marketing And Its Future Metrics Proposal PowerPoint Presentation Slides.Our researchers have analyzed thousands of proposals on this topic for effectiveness and conversion. Just download our template, add your company data and submit to your client for a positive response. http://bit.ly/2Serrsm
Creating a Strategic Marketing Communications PlanDeborah Spector
Don't blink - you might miss something! This is how it feels to live in our nanosecond culture, where everything is changing at an accelerated pace. Our nanosecond culture has changed nonprofit marketing communications forever. The controllable flow of information through easily identified channels is disappearing. This makes your strategic marketing communications plan even more valuable to rise above the noise to put your organization in the spotlight!
This presentation will assist marina managers and owners create an effective strategic marketing plan.
However, it can be used as a model for creating a marketing plan for any product or service.
You know that partner relationships are the bedrock of a successful channel sales model. However, sometimes partner relationship management can seem like an icy road where you skid at every step.
Watch this presentation to discover ways to boost partner engagement.
How to Manage a Successful Commercial Co-Venture (ccv) CampaignGage Marketing Group
Promotional Guidance + Commercial Co-Venture (CCV) Campaigns: an overview on Best Practices, including addressing legal compliance on contest vs. sweepstakes, by Gage partner and Chief Growth Officer, Mark Kurtz.
The world’s premier brands come to Gage for marketing that matters. We help clients grow sales, profits and market share. We spur consumers, customers and partners to take action. We’re the technology-savvy, strategically-driven – and results-obsessed – marketing agency.
This presentation is our introduction to Clarity Imaging Technologies, Inc., our product line offering of our exclusive PageMax toners, and a brief description of our service capabilities.
Gage has worked with Microsoft’s SMB division to establish and grow a social media marketing engine to reach and serve both B2B customers and reseller partners. This presentation was initially given at the 2011 Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association Summit.
It outsourcing a incompreensível atitude dos provedores tradicionaisAlfredo Saad
Muitas dessas organizações, hoje “aprisionadas” em contratos de ITO de longa duração, anseiam por repensar suas estratégias de sourcing e por planejar a transição para um novo cenário que garanta a consecução dos objetivos de negócio almejados. Para essas organizações é vital o suporte de um parceiro confiável que as auxilie na avaliação do seu caso específico e na criação do modelo de sourcing mais adequado.
E quem, mais do que o atual provedor, com seu profundo conhecimento dos negócios dos atuais clientes, adquirido provavelmente ao longo de décadas de relacionamento, inclusive como provedor de serviços de IT outsourcing “tradicional” (ITO), poderia ser melhor advisor nesse cenário ?
Contrato de terceirização de ti em crise qmk o que fazer agora ou, melhor, o ...Alfredo Saad
Você já vivenciou uma crise num contrato de terceirização de TI ? O que fazer quando ele ocorre ? Mais ainda, o que poderia ter sido feito para que ele não tivesse ocorrido?
MarketingSalesMedia je první titul v České republice určený primárně pro zadavatele reklamy s řízenou distribucí, která pokrývá klíčových 4600 odběratelů na Českém trhu. Hlavním cílem MarketingSalesMedia je pomáhat zadavatelům reklamy s klíčovým požadavkem majitelů firem – prodávat. Redakční tým, který má zkušenosti a dobře vybudované kontakty v maloobchodní síti a mezi zadavateli reklamy je zárukou relevantního obsahu.
The channel sales model is a great way to scale up your business. But, that doesn't mean channel sales is easy. It comes with its own set of challenges. Download this whitepaper to learn more about the 7 steps to smoother channel management.
The problem with channel sales model is that businesses may have unrealistic expectations. As a result, they are surprised when the results from each new partner are a disappointment.In this whitepaper, we discuss these unrealistic expectations.
If you’re looking to increase channel partner sales, a B2B loyalty program gives you the competitive edge to motivate distributors and gain insight into end-user behavior. You can throw up any old online loyalty program, hoping it increases sales. But B2B loyalty programs – and this is important – are only as good as the technology that powers it.
Top 11 Dealer Incentive Program Ideas for 2023.pdfRewardPort
A dealer incentive program encourages your channel partners, distributors, and resellers to adopt specific behaviours. The program should reward them with worthwhile incentives for acting as per the need of the business from time to time.
Depending on your market, channel partners can take on a variety of forms and come from a variety of industries. They may be distributors, resellers, independent retailers, affiliates, or even value-added service providers. Consider using channel partner software to make locating them simpler.
In essence, anyone who markets your brand but does not actively support your company can be a partner. Through channel partner programmes, you can most effectively make sure that they are elevating your brand above the competition.
Rewiring marketing: a practice based approachBrowne & Mohan
Many marketing managers are not aware if they are leveraging marketing efforts correctly or getting the returns that they anticipated. Often people believe transforming marketing is all about creating some digital assets. Marketing transformation is not piece meal improvement. The primary purpose of a marketing transformation is to increase the ROI of marketing your company. In this white paper, Browne & Mohan consultants share a practice based approach to marketing transformation.
Incentives: The Secret Ingredient of a Successful Channel Enablement StrategySeth Jacobsen
When it comes to enabling your sales channels, it’s important to have partners you can count on to help you move your products effectively and efficiently.
But how do you design and implement a channel strategy that will get their buy in and enable them to succeed? It’s all a matter of asking the right questions.
Over the past couple of decades, two major channel management automation platforms have attracted widespread attention: partner relationship management (PRM) automation and partner marketing management (PMM) automation. However, the most important area in channel automation—an area that has been neglected and remains a major opportunity—is partner sales enablement or partner sales management. If you are considering an investment in channel automation, you should look at partner sales enablement automation first.
How to Stop Random Acts of Channel Marketing, Using Platform Technology (Chan...Gage Marketing Group
Have your channel partners or distributors used the wrong logo, an outdated brochure or highlighted a product that no longer exists? Learn the best practices for channel management using channel marketing technology.
For more than 24 years, Minneapolis-based marketing agency Gage has created marketing and technological solutions for some of the world's best known brands to prevent random acts of marketing. If you are losing sleep over random marketing, check out this recent presentation from Gage's Mark Kurtz, who was a featured speaker at the June 2016 Channel Chiefs Conference Series. Contact us at hello (at) gage.com with any questions--tell us how we can help.
How can you adequately mitigate risk and regulatory concerns while ensuring your employees understand the policy? What about outlining workflow and escalation processes that are understandable and thorough? What do the best in class companies do when multiple employees are using social media on behalf of the brand? Join us for some highlights, lowlights, brand examples and fantastic discussion around social media policies & procedures. We promise, it won’t be boring.
Overview of Google+ Pages for Business, what brands should be thinking about now in deciding whether to build a Google+ presence, and what's involved in getting one started.
http://on.fb.me/startstar
Startup or Star Wars® Character? It can be tough to tell the name of an emerging media startup from that of a Star Wars character - let alone know whether (or how) to use these tools to solve marketing challenges. How good at it are you? Take the 25-question quiz, then share and compare your results with your social network.
1. WHITE PAPER
WHEN MARKETING
GOES ROGUE:
How platforms empower your channel partners and
prevent random acts of marketing
by Mark Iverson
Gage VP, CRO Business Development
BRINGING ENGAGEMENT TO LIFE
2. 2
Expand the loyalty of your channel through training,
professional development and marketing automation
Every channel marketing chief or director of indirect sales has
experienced it. An outdated brochure that won’t go away.
An email blast with an outdated logo—or worse—featuring a
product that no longer exists. Let’s face it: when you’re working
with your channel’s sales force, it’s possible that their marketing
can go a little rogue.
Every organization that sells through indirect methods wants an
effective way to manage sales and marketing to audiences with
differing goals. (They have differing goals than you because,
by definition of a channel, they are not directly owned by you.)
Without exception, every customer Gage has worked with over
the past 25 years has a platform in place in one form or another,
whether this be a simple spreadsheet or a multi-million dollar
solution which has taken years to fine tune.
WHEN MARKETING GOES ROGUE
However, the need is to have a balance between enterprise-
level scalability and the flexibility to accommodate specific
business requirements, and a platform that is robust enough
to provide enterprise level flexibility to drive training, sales and
marketing resources.
Luckily, this is the 21st century. There are technology-enabled
frameworks and platforms to ensure that your brand stays
on message, current and legally compliant with every sale.
This paper will outline three model strategies that some of the
world’s leading brands use to stamp out random marketing,
and also fan the flame to empower and excite a salesforce with
marketing that drives engagement and advocacy.
The three top-line elements your channel strategy must include
to thwart random acts of marketing and empower your channel:
easy to use marketing resources, engaging channel training
programs, and strong loyalty-building incentive programs. Let’s
look at each of these elements in turn.
3. 3
WHEN MARKETING GOES ROGUE
I. EASY TO USE MARKETING RESOURCES
Chris is a channel marketing and indirect sales director at
a major international cruise line. While working closely on
marketing plans with a fleet of travel agents from throughout
Europe and the United States, a work backlog began to grow,
requiring either additional staff or cuts in service. With so much
to produce based on lines of service and destinations—and too
much to ship out to smaller agency shops—he also found that
costs were accretive with a duplication of effort from sending
identical resources and becoming harder to scale. The calls
for print on demand, banner ads, web page descriptions and
emails were engulfing him and many of his staff. To right the
ship, he overhauled his channel program and launched a new
technology solution to float the market resources to his channel
with an easily accessed platform. Now his brokers could order
the brochures, digital assets and content they needed to remain
competitive without making direct service requests, leaving him
time to act more strategically.
Creating marketing assets requires a disciplined approach
and a thorough plan, but the time required both for delivery
and management can be reduced by employing a
consolidated resource/platform. Imagine
marketing materials drop shipping to
partners, served up as easily
as online shopping.
Always be looking
for ways to lower
the barriers for your
partners, and reduce
the workload for yourself
at the same time.
Channel partners will sell what is easiest to sell. If the
partner thinks you’re making things too complicated, that can
lead to some renegade marketing. Simplifying the process for
retrieval of supporting marketing materials, for example, is one
way a coherent technology platform can reduce the efforts your
partners need to make.
4. 4
WHEN MARKETING GOES ROGUE
Channel partners do not always have marketing staff,
especially SMBs. Without a dedicated marketing team that
knows the brand and campaign plan, “going rogue” is the
symptom of a knowledge gap. Assuming tribal knowledge
within your channel around creative, reporting, ad channels,
or any other aspect of marketing, can limit your opportunity to
best serve their needs. If you have time and access, research
your partners’ departmental depth. If you’re unable to find a
marketing counterpart, they will depend on your expertise.
The better you can make you channel partners look,
the more they will sell for you. Can you help position
your partners as trusted resellers/VARs or retailers to their
customers? The credibility you’ve gained as a brand can
benefit your entire sales channel, and help them stay loyal to
you, as well as implementing your strategy. Can you advocate
for your channel partners in the same way you’re asking them
to advocate for you? Set an example. Use social media,
to help them tell their story, even if it isn’t directly related to
your product. Field marketing guidance and advice is also a
consultative benefit too many channel chiefs overlook.
The first ground rule of a channel relationship, of course, is
that both you and the channel partner want to make a profit
through the sale of your product. However, it’s important to
understand that, while you both want profitability, the ways
you pursue that goal are in direct conflict.
You, as the supplier, look to drive down YOUR cost of sales
by leveraging the resources (personnel, floor space, etc.)
of the channel partner. Meanwhile, the channel partner is
looking to you to minimize the cost of ramp up and reduce
THEIR cost of sales.
Under the circumstances, the only solution is to create
a joint venture relationship that takes into account the
resources both companies can bring to bear in order to
make the relationship successful. This means that YOU
need to invest resources in training, marketing and
sales support. Likewise, the channel must commit
resources to training and actively promote the solution.
Each channel relationship is therefore a strategic
investment. You don’t want to recruit too many of them.
Instead, you want the ones that you DO recruit to be as
effective as possible.
Geoffrey James
How Can I Motivate My Channel Partners? Link to article:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-can-i-motivate-my-
channel-partners/
Twitter: @Sales_Source
5. 5
Easy to use doesn’t mean easy to ignore. A concluding
thought on the reasons to make your resources as accessible
as possible: partners are always tempted to veer off. Here’s a
scenario with just three variables:
1. You are about to launch a new product bound to disrupt
an existing market. You currently manage channel
partners in 15 countries, however, this product will only
be available to partners in five out of those 15 countries
for the first few months.
The variable here? Placement.
2. Each channel partner has a different incentive structure
base on sales volume and resource commitments.
The variable here? Pricing.
3. To top it off, the channel manager in each region wants
to run a unique campaign to address their specific
market.
The variable here? Promotion.
WHEN MARKETING GOES ROGUE
This may be marketing 101, however, the last thing you’re
eager to do is manage 15 sub-campaigns. This cartoon by Tom
Fishburne captures what we see in channel marketing initiatives
every day.
Building loyalty to your brand requires building trust in your
channel program. Removing barriers to acceptance of your
campaign ease of use is critical to empowering the channel and
stopping random acts of marketing.
6. 6
II. CHANNEL TRAINING PROGRAMS
Fiona is a channel chief for a global B2C software and devices
supplier. Her channel partners include retail chains in 30
countries, and thorough research had revealed that if customers
weren’t already decided on a purchase of her brand’s
products when they entered the store, they were likely to buy
competitors’ tablets and productivity software. Experiments with
the retail show floor and placement had some effect, but further
study made it clear that the enthusiasm of the retail sales staff
for competing products had a huge impact. This led to Fiona
developing a business team to evangelize and educate retail
sales professionals.
Beyond simply providing bullet points which could be read off
of the placard in front of her brand’s products, she directed
the team to implement a worldwide campaign, built on an
online platform, for generating excitement and passion for
what their products could do for customers. Features, benefits,
and technical details were all still central to the message, but
wrapped within a presentation dynamic that recognized the
unique interaction challenges that retail workers experience with
WHEN MARKETING GOES ROGUE
shoppers browsing the floor. The lines of business relevant to
her brand created content, evangelists maintained community
relationships and, over time, the knowledge gap and the
enthusiasm gap were closed. This empowered retail sales pros
to grow the brand’s in-store sales by 17 percent in one year.
An innovative, integrated and well-managed reward component
is just one tactic for preventing random/rogue behavior
via your channel marketing platform. As it gets easier for
customers to transact through online e-commerce, customer
experience needs to continually improve while adding value
to communications between the Channel and customers.
Improving the customer experience requires well-trained,
knowledgeable, positive partner staff: inside and outside sales
people need more than product details. They need clear,
consistent, disciplined guidance on the benefits of your offering
and a reason to be enthusiastic. Random acts of training along
with random acts of marketing create confusion, not only in the
minds of the customer, but also in the minds of the sales rep—
and the confused mind always says “no.” Empower them to
say “yes.”
7. 7
WHEN MARKETING GOES ROGUE
Platforms must provide value to all participants, to grow.
Don’t architect a platform that only serves the needs of one
product range, or one side of the business, such as the inside
sales force. Think comprehensively: the high priority area may
have dependencies in what you perceive to be a lower priority
line of business.
Choose one that enables and empowers all the stakeholders
within a partner. What does this entail? For one thing, taking
the time to really understand the personas within your
channel partner and the personas of their customers—
distinct motivations, distinct expectations.
Instead of providing a 60-minute webinar on effective
sales techniques that will never be consumed (yet alone
comprehended), consider providing training content to your
channel partners in the form of three- to four- minute segments
(videos, for example) that can be encountered in real-time, or
on-demand. (Google refers to this “snackable content” trend as
a micro-moment).
Gage refers to this as the “storytelling experience” to engaging
with your brand, or the “meta” experience. The manner and
form of the content, as well as the delivery method, can be as
relevant to the content being delivered. Think about it: even a
great movie is hard to enjoy in a bad theater. And a great book
is hard to enjoy in an unreadable font. Make the investment to
provide an entertaining, easily absorbed training content set,
and deliver it in an easy to consume manner.
Ease of sharing valuable training. Platforms must be able to
provide relevant training material to the most relevant audience
in real-time.
Platforms that unify your campaign efforts allow you to share
and target training/content to your partner-specific audience to
drive true behavioral change, advocacy and long-term loyalty.
Make the investment to
provide an entertaining, easily
absorbed training content set
8. 8
WHEN MARKETING GOES ROGUE
Only by serving needs based on the key attributes of your
audience at the individual level will you be able to drive content
and promotions (incentives) more effectively. This is a mandatory
item for any channel platform you pick.
Creating training that is engaging often includes Gamification
options. Training, from an employee perspective, can often feel
like one more burden, and one more distraction. How can you
engage, grow mindshare, add reward incentives and mental
triggers to keep them self-motivated? How can you empower
your partners’ staffs? Activate a training platform that uses
multiple reward systems, intrinsic and extrinsic, as an integral
part of its offering.
Yes, money can be a huge motivator for driving sales behavior.
However, economics research shows that for driving long-term
engagement and advocacy, financial incentives are not always
sufficient. Some individuals are driven by recognition from their
peers. Others want exclusive access to unique content or
experiences. If you can incorporate teams into your channel
programs, the chances of “finite variability” are lessened and
your channel program continues to capture attention. (For a
more in-depth discussion on the power of variable rewards,
refer to Chapter Four of “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming
Products” by Nir Eyal.)
Channel training leads to increased sales and advocacy.
Whether it’s a B2B buyer or a consumer in a store, an informed
sales representative will always instill more confidence than
someone who isn’t sure about the facts. Think of all the effort
and expense that brands expend to get someone to know
about their product, to be aware of the problem and the
proposed solution set, which lead to your indirect sales force
facing a prospective customer.
9. 9
WHEN MARKETING GOES ROGUE
Don’t lose the value invested in that journey by tripping at the
finish line. Ensure your channel partners are thoroughly edified.
Randomly conducted research or DIY training by an eager
sales rep may be admirable, but it can lead to inaccuracies and
eventual confusion on the part of your potential customer.
Research has proven time and again: an effective training
program boosts channel sales professional productivity.
Continuous training can give 50 percent higher net sales per
employee. Tie up the loose end of marketing campaigns—be
sure your sales force can close the deal.
III. CHANNEL INCENTIVES AND REWARDS
Sarah is a channel marketing manager for a large paper
products manufacturer in the Midwest. Her brand faces
enormous shelf-space competition, mostly from lower-quality
(cheaper) brands, and she’s done the research to determine
that newer partner marketing managers have less name
recognition and feel less loyalty for her company’s well-known
brand name than prior generations. Knowing that margins were
thin and that prior pricing incentives hadn’t moved the needle
adequately, she spent time with channel partner representatives
on the phone building relationships, and getting surprising
insights about their customers. With the information she
obtained, she created an incentive program using intangible
rewards, such as a blog post interviews along with social
mentions of marketing managers and sales reps, writing
recommendations for their LinkedIn profiles—all of which are
intended to boost the reputation and standing of the marketing
professionals with whom she was working. Her rewards
platform helped her manage the difficult task of categorizing,
assessing, prioritizing, and managing communications with
these channel partners.
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You may have too many channel partners for a high-touch
program, such as the one Sarah undertook, to be workable.
The point is that incentive programs often need a creative
implementation with a clear technological management
workflow to be operable.
A correctly-structured incentive programs shifts support to
your brand over your competition. Incentives/rewards have
a high influence on channel professionals’ willingness to sell
your products and services. How can your brand create ”True
Loyalty” in the Channel?
This requires a combination of rewards that support both
short- and long-term behaviors and are relevant to a variety
of motivations. (We’re thinking beyond a rebate program,
which too many partner programs pursue, or another sort of
incentive based strictly on sales.) This has the potential to open
up several project paths and workflows to avoid the perils of
rogue marketing—again, technology can be your friend. Find a
platform that helps you manage and direct the effort.
Here are some incentive/rewards guidelines for your channel
programs:
Reward program essentials. For channel marketing
professionals, there’s a basic understanding: you need to gain
incremental volume within a contained reward budget. The
approach for rewards must be engaging, yet flexible enough to
deal with your unique situation and company structure. In order
to ensure a high participation level, tracked data, such as sales,
must be captured in a non-intrusive way as close to real-time
feedback and reporting as possible. When it’s not possible:
we’ve actually managed programs where channel sales is
recorded, but not reported for up to 90 days. To overcome this,
we established an algorithm to distribute sales figures based on
historical data to track the channel program—as close to real-
time as possible.
How can your brand create
True Loyalty in the Channel?
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Above all, the incentive offered must be perceived to be worth
the effort. This is the same as any optimization regime applied
to marketing or content: user feedback, A/B testing, research,
can help you determine what incentives drive behavior and
which ones are easy to ignore. Look for reward platforms with
that feature.
Simple, simple, simple. Your program must be easy to
understand, requiring minimal effort in order to participate. To
accomplish this, put robust systems in place behind the scenes.
Automate processes, and provide user-friendly tools and
features to make participation effortless.
WHEN MARKETING GOES ROGUE
For example, if you are asking channel partners to register
through an e-mail message, append a unique CRM tracking-
code to e-mail links, and pre-populate details in the registration
form. The key benefits to this simple action? One, you’ve
provided a simple and elegant user experience. Two, you either
confirm or provide an easy way to update key fields—location,
company name, and company designation. (“Reseller and
Channel, LLC”, “R and C, LLC”, “RC” may all be the same
organization, but ended up being entered into the partner
database as three different entries, a common error).
Basic structure. A common structure is to provide reward
members with points for purchases of eligible product, either by
SKU or invoice dollar volume. If tracking by SKU, experiment!
Your program could vary point offers to help drive specific
product purchases.
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For example: you could offer higher points for items with greater
margin, or offer bonus points for discontinued items that
need to be liquidated. Another possibility is award lower point
values for best sellers to create balance. Wherever you can
add variability to the engagement by overlaying time-sensitive
promotions, such as BOGOs, rebates and contests, integrate
a communications plan with targeted and meaningful emails
carefully scheduled.
Company, individual and champions. Ideally, rewards at the
individual level produce more memorable impact. Thus, your
data should include “sales per individual.” This can often be
challenging, if not impossible. If this is the case, look to reward
the office instead, and encourage the earned rewards to “trickle
down” to those who’ve made the greatest impact. For example,
if sales can only be tracked by office, then target or nominate
1
Nicole attends an event
and discovers the
REWARDS program.
2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9
Nicole knows that bigger prizes
are more common for companies
with higher sales volume. She
orders promo materials to generate
enthusiasm and motivate her team to
take them to the next level.
Nicole enters her team into
a sweepstakes for a chance
to win even bigger rewards.
They don’t win.
She gets recruited as a
Champion, enrolls her
company in the program,
and registers her team.
Encouraged by Nicole and
motivated by rewards, Hugh
sends an email alert to drum
up business and earn points.
After three big sales, Hugh
checks his profile. He realizes
he has earned points for the
email, as well as the sales.
Hugh checks the REWARD
site and sees that he has
enough points for a Nab It
item; he nabs it just in time.
To supplement his growing point
total, Hugh takes training courses
and signs up for the next
REWARD event.
When flush with points, Hugh
bids on an Xbox — and wins.
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one key individual inside the company and identify them as a
company “Champion” who will manage the company’s reward
points and redemptions. This is the individual who will enroll,
and with whom you will communicate, as the main point of
contact. If offices have others in the organization who influence
the purchase decision, encourage the Champion to share
rewards to motivate these influencers as well.
Reward structure challenges. Your relationship with your
partner’s customer presents a data challenge: not all channel
partners are willing to share sensitive sales data. If that data is
shared, it is likely at the channel partner level rather than the
channel sales professional level.
To add even more complexity, your incentive program is
competing against numerous other incentives and promotions
offered by your competitors, and other channel partners, and
adherence to a budget for maximized results.
Summary on approaches. In comparison with training and
marketing resources, the reward line item in any given channel
program is typically the greatest ongoing expense. Incentives
have an accrued cost, along with the work output costs for
management and execution.
The goal with rewards, then, is to optimize for the greatest
member motivation for the least cost. Ensure that you have
offers which are enticing enough to change behavior … without
spending more than needed to reach that impact. Look for your
partner to assist with financial models to help determine the
correct award budget. A correctly structured channel reward
program prevents random acts of marketing, and can save you
a significant amount of money in the immediate and long term.
As you start to increase the performance of your channel
through easy-to-use marketing tools, micro-moment training
and a structured reward program, the fun part for channel
partners is reaping their rewards: the loyalty and relationship
which emanate from that helps keep them from going rogue.
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The following is a brief discussion on the pros and cons for
some common approaches, from the basics to the more
complex:
Online catalogs. This is probably one of the easiest and most
common forms for rewarding channel partners. In essence, a
variety of items are categorized and assigned point values and
if the partner has enough points, they are able to redeem the
item. Members have a large variety of items to choose from and
can redeem at any time. This is the easiest of all redemptions to
understand (and probably the most common). The downside is
that this approach requires significant point liability management
and it can be difficult to control your reward budget. On-
going maintenance is needed to ensure items are current and
available—and as most online catalogs go with a cash-card
redemption, the rewards may not have as much significance as
something that is physically shipped.
Auctions. A structure very similar to popular consumer auction
sites, partners can leverage points to bid on items. Auctions are
gaining popularity for one key reason: these types of rewards
allow precise control over your budget. There can be limited
or no point liability management. Points technically have no
value, although they have perceived value to channel partners.
The integration of offers, and a gamification component, spurs
competition and an emotional drive. A key point here is to
ensure that offerings are never stale; update frequently. Because
of the nature of an auction, you will see high activity to your site.
On the downside, items expire; points can only redeem when
an item is offered. As this is chance-based, there can be no
guarantee the item a member wants will be the item they’re able
to win.
A time-tested strategy for auctions is to complement a
traditional points redemption plan with experiential items
(experiences money just can’t buy). For example: exclusive
backstage access with a prominent keynote speaker at your
company channel partner event. Loyalty to your campaign plan
to obtain a unique experience: a great way to reign in random
acts of marketing.
Sweepstake promotion with points. Partners can use their
point to buy chances to win a number of weekly/monthly prizes.
All partners—even partners with few points—can participate,
with the opportunity to earn prizes. You can also tout high-value
prizes, garnering excitement for minimal cost. From a financial
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perspective, you acquire a precise reward budget. The obvious
downside is that this is chance-based; with no guarantee to
win, there are those who ignore the opportunity.
Intermittent rewards/flash offers/“Nab It”. This approach
is based on the psychological truth that anticipation of a unique
offer can be as motivating as actually winning a prize. Retailers
such as Amazon or Costco use a treasure hunt approach to
driving traffic (foot or web). The mechanics are straightforward:
a randomly timed offer is sent by email announcing a limited
quantity of high-interest items, offered at value pricing—when
they are gone, they’re gone. You can control the exact budget
of your offer. The downside: you have no guarantee for a win,
and a relatively small number of channel partners can win.
The “if you build it, they will come” approach to having your
channel partners engage you’re your portal is a fallacy. The
biggest challenge you will have is driving active engagement.
Using intermittent rewards creates significant traffic to your
channel site as well as excitement about the program—and
engaged partners don’t go rogue.
Segmentation. Because channel partners can be very small to
very large, we recommend segmenting members into like-sized
groups once a volume of points have been earned. The reward
platforms/website will be dynamic with certain content exposed
based on the segment the partner falls into once purchase
data is known. This allows you to segment the message
appropriately both online and via email, providing personalized
and relevant offers and messaging.
There are numerous options you can integrate into your existing
channel programs: align the business objectives with the long-
term behavior you want to reinforce, such as adherence to a
channel marketing strategy. As you have probably experienced,
the best programs combine a variety of the techniques and
approaches listed above.
The case for preventing randomness by employing Platforms.
As mentioned above, very few organizations are starting from
scratch when it comes to managing their channel initiatives.
Best practices revolve around identifying simple behaviors that
can be rewarded in some form. For example, with a channel
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platform in place, you can start to leverage your other activities
to tie into a cohesive, ROI-based campaign to drive decades
of results.
Here are ideas for channel partner rewards which leverage
your current structure:
• Points for taking (or conducting) training
• Ordering and using marketing materials
• Conducting or producing promotions
• Attending events and tradeshows
• Recruiting other members
• Social sharing
As stated above, every organization that sells through
indirect methods wants an effective way to manage sales
and marketing to audiences with disparate goals. (They have
differing goals—they are not directly owned by you.) Without
exception, every customer Gage has worked with over the
past 25 years has a platform in place, whether this be a simple
spreadsheet to a multi-million dollar solution which has been
fine-tuned over several years.
The modern channel marketers needs a balance between
enterprise-level scalability and flexibility to accommodate
specific business requirements, as well as a platform that is
robust enough to provide enterprise-level flexibility to drive
training, sales and marketing resources.
WHEN MARKETING GOES ROGUE
Mark brings extensive experience
providing global sales, operations
management and business
development for a variety of
firms, ranging from start-up to
multinational, across financial
and technical industries. He also
serves as a board member for
local nonprofit Read Indeed and
received his Bachelor’s degree
from the University of St. Thomas.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR