Date: April 12, 2023
Author: Christopher Spann
When it comes to providing an exceptional partner experience, the first three “Cs” of StructuredWeb’s “5 Cs,” which includes Create, Connect and Communicate, are all basically prep work for what comes next: Convert. That’s because creating great content, then effectively connecting and communicating with partners results in channel partners’ ability to do what vendors ultimately want them to do…convert leads into sales.
Converting more leads is a direct result of creating an enhanced experience for partners. If vendors can’t breakthrough by providing a better experience, then how could they ever expect their channel partners to come through for them.
Vendors can help channel partners convert more leads and enhance the partner experience by providing them with the necessary tools and resources. Here are a few ways:
- Collaborate on lead generation strategies: When strategies align, overall partners experience improves by orders of magnitude. Vendors should collaborate with their channel partners and involve sharing knowledge, data and best practices to ensure that both parties are working together to generate high-quality leads.
- Provide training and support: Supporting channel partners in their knowledge journey should include offering the right mix of customized marketing tools and technologies so they can stay engaged and up-to-date.
- Offer co-marketing opportunities: When channel marketing becomes a group-effort the results are impactful and partner experience improves. Providing opportunities to enhance brand awareness and generate new leads through co-marketing is a difference-maker.
- Provide access to marketing materials: Channel partners can’t properly convert leads unless they have proper access to the marketing materials they need, including videos, brochures, whitepapers and more. Furthermore, housing all of these on one, easy-to-use platform takes this engagement to the next level.
- Offer incentives: Partner experience is all about giving them a reason to engage and convert. Without incentives that partners really want, behavioral change isn’t possible. Channel incentives such as MDF, Spiffs, rebates and rewards encourage channel partners to focus on lead conversation while simultaneously elevating their experience.
There’s a better way to Convert:
Through-Channel Marketing Automation (TCMA) platforms are fuel for the conversion engine. TCMA platforms can enhance the overall partner experience by providing a single platform for managing all channel marketing efforts (and all the 5 Cs) – help partners convert leads into sales. The key to the success of TCMA is its automation.
TCMA platforms allow partners to automate their marketing efforts, which can save time and improve efficiency. From pre-built campaigns with co-branding opportunities, to offering a multi-channel approach to lead conversion, TCMA platforms sift through the noise – allowing channel partners to get exactly what they need, when they need it in order to sell.
As we’ll discuss in next week’s blog about the fifth and final C, “Calculate,” the secret sauce to superior TCMA platforms is the ability to make sense of data. Analytics and reporting is a must-have and a no-brainer. Channel partners need to data and reporting that’s seamless, easy to access and immediately available. TCMA platforms provide analytics and reporting tools to track campaign performance and ROI – helping partners identify areas for improvement to optimize their efforts and increase sales.
Automating the lead conversion from start to finish streamlines a process that was previously disjointed and often frustrating for both vendors and their channel partners. By tracking sources, behavior and lead status in real-time, partners can better identify high-quality leads and complete the conversion that is required of them.
