How to build high quality channel marketing programs By Kris Blackmon When you think about all the available marketing channels to reach your audience – email, social media, webinars, blogs, media, cold calling, and so forth – it seems like every sales pipeline should be overflowing. And yet the quest for MQLs and SQLs has become more challenging. Perhaps it’s because the traditional approach to lead generation and sales is no longer delivering at the rapid clips we have come to take for granted. Potential buyers are inundated with messages, making it difficult for even the most compelling and clever campaigns to capture attention and register on their radar. That means that response rates to email, BDR outreach, LinkedIn messages, as well as other forms of cold communications are extremely low, even on a good day. Meanwhile, as quotas increase and high-pressure tactics are activated, prospects become more reluctant to engage. The cycle continues until sales teams burnout and prospect fatigue escalates. There has to be a better way, right? A step-by-step guide to doubling down on the channel According to Forrester Research, more than 70 percent of IT sales are driven through the channel. Since the channel is all about existing relationships, it only makes sense to build and nurture high-quality channel marketing programs. In turn, this leads to more engaged prospects, long-term customer relationships and more productive and energized sales reps. Yet channel success requires a strategic approach and thoughtful execution of marketing programs. The steps to building the program include: Define your key partner segments. Depending on your products and services, partners can span a variety of segments including OEMs, VARs, systems integrators, distributors, service providers, technology solution providers and agencies. Each partner type needs a tailored marketing strategy; what works for one may not work for the next. Prioritize relationships with the top partners in each segment. This is about quality over quantity, yet it doesn’t mean the sole focus should be on the top producing partners in each segment. Rather, it’s about investing in partners that understand your business, have a deep reach into your target audiences and have the bandwidth to fully support your efforts. Organize channel marketing initiatives into three categories. 1. To-channel marketing: This supports the recruitment and engagement of sales partners by highlighting the benefits of joining a solution provider’s partner program. Creative and results-driven marketing tactics are key to recruitment. After all, partners are drawn to companies that CHANNEL MANAGEMENT 40 CHANNELVISION | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2024
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