How to build an effective partner marketing campaign
Best practices to follow when building campaigns to drive results
Why it is important to allow time for campaigns to achieve outcomes
Building an impactful marketing campaign that successfully breaks through the noise is a challenge in itself. Considering the added complexities of creating campaigns for others, determining the right approach for developing marketing campaigns for channel partners can be daunting.
This is compounded by the need to present a compelling proposition with informative, and engaging content in multiple formats, given the competitive nature of the channel.
Focus campaign messaging on customer challenges: Accuracy is critical to ensure that messaging resonates with customers. Leverage data insights from previous campaigns in tandem with sales feedback and survey findings (if possible) to inform your messaging and the pain points it needs to address.
Keep messaging simple and avoid overly technical language: Less is more when creating channel content. Simple, accessible language that is not overly technical is essential for ensuring that customers are engaged and understand your value proposition. Leveraging a variety of content formats is also ideal for meeting the preferences of different audiences.
Build your campaigns to be multi-touch and multi-channel with lead nurturing: Creating and distributing campaigns across multiple channels not only lends variety, but it also allows for more methods of outreach for partner sales teams. Deploying multi-touch strategies with lead nurturing is also essential for building trust and stronger relationships with leads at the same time as they are qualified by their engagement.
Do not restrict lead generation windows: Given the individual nature of lead needs, pain points, and even how their buying committees are structured, lead generation may differ depending on each contact. Avoid placing time limits on lead generation and instead, consider strategies on how to motivate conversions with campaigns.
Keep on top of all potential leads to maximise conversions: Tracking lead progression is crucial for informing necessary adjustments to live campaigns, including additional resources for specific leads. This is another reason why building a library of assets for partners to utilise as needed is a powerful tactic.
Communicate regularly with partners: Maintaining an open line of communication with partners allows you to field feedback that can inform the optimisation of current and future campaigns. Encouraging this also helps to support vendor-partner alignment and better performance as a result.
Encourage cooperation between indirect and direct marketing teams: Considering the varying skill sets of each partner, making sure that indirect and direct teams cooperate by sharing insights and resources guarantees that partners have the support they need. This is particularly true for training channel partner marketing teams on the latest trends and strategies for them to leverage in campaigns.
Synchronise traditional and channel marketing campaigns where relevant: Many vendors keep their corporate (or traditional marketing) and channel campaigns very separate. However, there are usually opportunities for both to complement one another. For example, building your brand and awareness with non-channel campaigns can be of great benefit to your business and partners.
This is particularly true when vendors are able to generate opportunities that can be shared with their partners. Not only does this provide them with support, but it also serves as great motivation.
Finally, the hard work should not stop once a channel marketing campaign has been built and launched. Not only do partners require consistent support to drive outcomes, but tracking their performance and campaign results as they run is also important.
Classic strategies such as A/B testing can facilitate this process and allow you to tweak campaigns as needed to ensure you are both on the right track.
Implementing adequate follow-up for each lead is essential to secure all sales opportunities.
The Lead Management study highlights that sales teams should follow up with a lead at least 6 times before discarding them. By doing so, your chances of contacting them can increase by 70%. Keep track of leads and consider retargeting as buying patterns change—such as greater buyer scrutiny, for example.
Finally, contact leads in a timely manner. Research states that by simply reaching out to your leads within 60 minutes of generating them, your chances of converting them into customers increase by up to 7x.
Lead nurturing best practices:
Start by ensuring that leads are qualified to guide nurturing strategies, as well as avoid wasted time and resources. Indeed, Forrester research points out that businesses that can qualify and nurture their leads can generate 50% more sales opportunities at up to 33% lesser costs.
Additionally, whilst not all leads will convert, maintaining lead nurturing (with the right cadence) can help set the foundation for when they are ready to purchase in the future. Be sure to supply partners with an effective lead nurture strategy alongside campaign content in order to successfully boost sales and conversions in the long run.
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