Most Vendors and Manufacturers conduct quarterly business reviews (QBRs) with their partners. They may audit or score partners based on several factors such as sales, upsell and cross-sell, renewals, and co-marketing.
Within the category of co-marketing, we commonly see criteria such as the following:
· Participation in vendor marketing campaigns
· Email campaign execution and results
· Channel partner advertising activities
· Social media activity and plans
· Syndication and accuracy of vendor content on partner sites
· Access and utilization of vendor marketing collateral
Is it fair?
These might be useful indicators for large partners – the ones with marketing teams. But 90% of partners are small and medium-sized businesses, and the vast majority do not have in-house marketing resources. So, if you are a vendor or a distributor, how are you helping your SMB partners to participate at all, let alone succeed? And as for that social media plan, how many of your SMB partners even have a LinkedIn company page or a Twitter/X account? Do you know?
Are they worth the effort? You be they are.
According to Canalys Research, 44% of global technology spend – representing $2 trillion – will come from small and medium-sized businesses, and 80% of it is partner-delivered. And your SMB partners are the ones doing most of the delivering. It behooves every manufacturer and vendor to include all of their partners in their partner program. But since we already know they need assistance, how does a vendor respond in a way that scales?
Your partner portal is not enough
Your SMB partners don’t have the resources or bandwidth to visit your portal, continually receive your campaigns, load them, click on links, nor send out emails every time you ask. You probably aren’t the only vendor they are working with, so imagine if they have to do this for dozens of manufacturers.
Through-Partner Marketing Services take the burden completely off the partners while giving you, the vendor, full control. That control ensures your content is always accurate and brand-compliant. Once the partner enrolls in the partner marketing services and opts in, they’re done. They quite literally “set it and forget it.”
Vendors can determine which campaigns flow through which partners, when, and how. They can time the syndication of marketing content, social media posts, and email marketing according to their own corporate calendar. Vendors and distributors can coordinate search campaigns and have all the digital marketing elements completely integrated and automated, with leads flowing directly to partners. All that’s left for partners to do is action the leads.
The bonus for SMB partners is that through partner marketing services help their business beyond just participating in vendor marketing campaigns. Their own digital presence is immediately elevated, and they are more likely to be found as prospective customers search for solutions.
In 2020, 80% of the B2B buyer’s journey was online, and it’s not going back.
For your solutions to be found, your partners must first be found, and getting them into the digital path to purchase is good for them, and for you. A broad, healthy partner ecosystem should be your goal.
If you’d like to explore Through Partner Marketing Services, contact AscendX Digital or visit our website at ascendxdigital.com. AscendX Digital offers one of the industry’s only Through-Partner marketing as-a-service models where vendors and distributors get all of the benefits without having to purchase another marketing technology platform. Instead of spending months learning the technology and “figuring it out”, you can shorten your time to market, start small, build over time, and focus on the strategy of why you’re doing it in the first place.
Your partners will do better on their scorecards, their businesses will get a much-needed digital boost, and you will gain access to more customers through more partners, all on your own terms. Contact AscendX Digital today.