Successful companies grow faster, because they market better. This is no news, but why so many fail to get out there? Typically, about 11 percent of enterprises’ expenses go on marketing. The figures vary between industries. Studies of SMB software companies, bear out that those companies with strong marketing programs grow some five times faster than those without.
However, most small companies (including many channel partners) invest nowhere near this much in their marketing – not even as much as 1 percent in many cases – so they grow slower and their partners sell less of their product(s) than they ought.
So, why not market more? Here are some of the problems:
Today’s marketing is complicated. Dozens of channels for reaching customers today compared with a generation ago: websites, email, social media, search ads, syndicated content – the list goes on. Also awkward terminology, especially with newer technologies like automation, attribution and predictive analytics.
Marketing just isn’t in their blood. The expert in his field that built up his company from nothing picked up what knowledge he needed along the way. He sees marketing as a cost, not an investment.
Successful channels don’t last. Marketing channels can often run out with costs per lead rising rapidly as other marketers latch onto them.
Frequently, companies with channel programs can get underfed by those of their partners who don’t market enough. This situation can be turned around, though.
Enabling Channel Partners
There might be a plethora of supportive programs for channel partners. However, surprisingly few of these are for expanding or bettering their marketing. This is a chance companies shouldn’t pass up on.
A successful partner marketing enablement program needs two strands:
Teaching: the advantages of marketing, customer insights, vendor’s methods of using it for growth and how channel partners can mobilise this in their own programs.
Support: like everything in business, all the theory and planning counts for nothing without reliable, highest standard execution.
The basic steps for building a solid foundation for such a marketing program are:
Make full use of the marketing assets you’ve got. So… get your sales and marketing teams working together in sync; vamp up your website; intensify your email programs. This is cheap, easy to do and, best of all, quick to yield results.
Target those who are looking to buy now. Typically, customers will buy a firm’s product(s) every few months or even years, so the market for any product is usually relatively small. You need to dig out those who are ready to buy now. Search ads, third-party intent data… tools like this are essential for uncovering them.
Build your community by using programs to build abiding brand awareness like display ads, blogs and social media. Their effects are slow but long-term.
If, like many, you’ve tried that final stage and given up, after no noticeable results, this article should direct you towards faster returns using what you’ve already got. However, this isn’t some magic cure. Even the first stage takes time. The nearest to a panacea is to outsource your marketing. The proof it works has been around you for years: prioritization of marketing by companies and their partners can lead to marked increases in channel revenue.
