By Diane Krakora, CEO
Our good friends over at Averetek share data, trends and insights in their State of Inbound Channel Marketing report. Leveraging the data from their clients and their clients’ channel partners use of the Averetek channel marketing automation platform, Averetek is uniquely positioned to analyze and share what works (and what doesn’t) in channel marketing.
We found the following three insights particularly interesting – and we encourage you to download and read the full report to learn more about the state of inbound channel marketing.
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Tier 3 partners (the “bronze” level in most vendor programs) are using the Averetek channel marketing automation solution almost as much as the Tier 1 partners.
Tier 3 partners (the “bronze” level in most vendor programs) are using the Averetek channel marketing automation solution almost as much as the Tier 1 partners. This is great news! The largely unmanaged partners are adopting automation to design and execute demand generation campaigns. We are always eager to increase the engagement of these partners who aren’t generating the value (certifications, revenue, customer success) to achieve the top tiers. Executing marketing campaigns and driving demand is one way a Tier 3 partner can grow up to be a Tier 1 partner with their favorite vendors.
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Tier 3 partners are also performing more Campaign Execution activities than the Tier 1 and Tier 2 partners (nearly combined!).
Tier 3 partners are also performing more Campaign Execution activities than the Tier 1 and Tier 2 partners (nearly combined!).Campaign Execution is an activity such as a landing page, syndicated content, email or printed piece. These are co-branded and customized by partners and executed to a target list of prospects or customers. We make this point, as these are distinct from other types of activities like downloads, events or services purchased from marketing agencies.
We would expect to see (due to the data point above) Tier 3 partners using the Averetek solution more for downloading documents like playbooks, sell sheets or white papers – but we were wrong! The Tier 1 partners download more and the Tier 3 partners perform more Events and Campaigns. So not only are Tier 3 partners engaging through automation, but they are also engaging in valued added and demand generation ways.
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Of the Campaign Actions partners can execute, it is not surprising standalone email is by far the most popular. My inbox is evidence that we’ve all eagerly adopted email marketing. Creating landing pages are also a popular and effective use of marketing dollars. However what is interesting and gaining momentum is the combination of email and landing pages into an integrated campaign.
Of the Campaign Actions partners can execute, it is not surprising standalone email is by far the most popular. My inbox is evidence that we’ve all eagerly adopted email marketing. Creating landing pages are also a popular and effective use of marketing dollars. However what is interesting and gaining momentum is the combination of email and landing pages into an integrated campaign.As vendors create more campaigns that offer bundled emails and landing pages, partners seem eager to embrace the integrated tactics. Me, you and pretty much every buyer out there rarely decides to engage based on an email campaign. We all tend to want additional information before we engage in the sales process and thus tying together email campaigns and landing pages is likely to produce more results for the partners.
Are you using channel marketing automation tools? What activities have you seen your partners engage? Leave a comment below.
