OneAffiniti has announced the result of its 2018 Pulse of the Channel survey.
Only 23 percent of partners have accessed a brand-provided marketing platform on a monthly basis in the past year, with many partners saying they simply don’t have enough time to engage with a marketing platform.
More than half of partners said that they didn’t use the platform because it was too time-consuming or they lacked the resources to put it into action. Fourteen percent of partners said they did not see value in the marketing platform.
The survey also shows that many channel partners are interested in receiving more marketing support from brands, particularly as an incentive. The results suggest there is plenty of room for brands to help partners use marketing platforms more effectively and efficiently.
Here are the reasons why channel partners are not using brand-provided marketing platforms:
- Lack of time: 38%
- Lack of resources/bandwidth: 18%
- Don’t see enough value: 14%
- Difficult to use: 10%
- Other: 20%
“The lack of utilization indicates that the marketing support available to partners does not align with the majority of channel partners’ needs,” said OneAffiniti founder and CEO, Joel Montgomery. “And yet, the desire and demand for marketing support among partners clearly exists. Brands and their marketing partners need to do more to help partners achieve their marketing goals.”
If partners aren’t using the marketing resources provided to them by brands, the company says, they are unlikely to be engaged in any serious marketing at all. Fifty-two percent of partners spend less than $5,000 per year on marketing, while 10 percent spend $0.
Marketing spend:
- $0: 10%
- $0-$500 per year: 10%
- $500-$1,000 per year: 10%
- $1,000-$5,000 per year: 22%
- $5,000-$10,000 per year: 18%
- $10,000-$50,000 per year: 17%
- $50,000+ per year: 6%
- I don’t know: 6%
Furthermore, the marketing that IT channel partners are conducting is overwhelmingly non-digital. Among partners who spend less than $5,000 a year on marketing, less than a quarter are meeting the recommended digital spending target of 40%. Things are better, but not that much better among partners who spend more than $5,000 a year: 38 percent are hitting the recommended digital spending target.
Meet recommended spend on digital:
- 23% of partners – Less than $5,000 per year
- 38% of partners – More than $5,000 per year
The Pulse of the Channel survey also found that 20 percent of channel partners said they would be most likely to sell a brand’s products if they were provided partner marketing services or marketing training. The most popular incentive is cash, with 36 percent of partners reporting they would be most likely to sell a company’s products if provided with cash incentives.
While partners signaled that there are a variety of incentives that would make them more likely to sell, here is what they said would be most likely to motivate them.
Incentives:
- Monetary rewards: 36%
- Partner marketing services/training: 20%
- Invites to brand events: 16%
- Brand purchasing credits: 14%
- Partner recognition (awards/certificates): 11%
