Channel Marketing Simplified

For many channel partners, their entire marketing strategy is based on hosting events. Steakhouse dinners, golf outings, and sporting events account for the majority of their "marketing" activity. There are at least two ways to evaluate this approach. From an optimistic point of view, the events can be looked as a fun way to engage prospects. From a more pessimistic point of view, these events can be seen as a huge waste of money and time on an unqualified audience.

Whichever side you sit on, these events don't support scalable growth because of several fundamental flaws:

To assist with planning for next year, SiriusDecisions, a global business-to-business research and advisory firm, has published the research brief, Channel Marketing: Planning Assumptions 2019.

Attendance for monthly partner update calls is at an all-time low. And it’s no wonder. Channel partners, like everyone else, have many priorities competing for their time. Why should they spend an hour with you once a month or even once a quarter? Why not just wait for the recording? We’re all so used to Netflix binge watching and other on-demand content that there’s very little need to gather together for live experiences.

But when people do gather together, live, there’s an opportunity to share energy and that’s the number one thing you should be trying to do with your partners.