Summary
Launched to SAP’s network of EMEA channel partners in June 2010, the SAP Social Media Partner Programmme was an industry first and a blueprint for other vendors who have since followed suit.
Through a series of educational webinars, the creation of a wealth of additional learning resources and the development of a sophisticated incentive programme measured and rewarded participation, consumption and partners’ own social media marketing activity.
At its core, the live webinar series was hosted by some of today’s leading social media authorities. They included presenters from LinkedIn, YouTube and Google. During each webinar, a number of tasks were set for partners to complete and apply their learning. By the end of 2010, the programme had been nominated internally as SAP Global ‘best practice’ and is now being hailed as the benchmark for similar programmes due to be rolled out across North and South America and Asia Pacific throughout 2011/2012. Today, the EMEA programme continues to go from strength to strength.
About SAP
SAP helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. SAP’s software empowers people and organisations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively.
SAP has over 106,000 customers. Seventy-eight per cent of its software installations worldwide are in SMEs. SAP’s solutions for SMEs are proven to better meet the needs of customers at a lower total cost of ownership.
Strategy–broader business issues the company is facing
Before the programme was conceived, SAP knew that:
• the competition was starting to use web 2.0 tactics, so they needed to catch up fast.
• their partner network would have to increase its overall contribution if SAP was to meet its ambitious growth targets.
• SME decision making was becoming increasingly motivated by key influencers in the social media space.
With the right programme and the right information and tools, social media will allow SAP and its partners to understand how target audiences react to marketing campaigns, make informed decisions about future marketing programmes, identify key influencers across SME verticals, and mould opinion.
Objectives of the initiative
• To educate SAP stakeholders and EMEA channel partners about social media marketing
• To motivate active engagement
• To drive brand awareness among key influencers
• To drive ROI
Target audience
1) SAP partner ecosystem: Marketing people (and some sales people) in value added resellers, system integrators and distributors.
2) SAP EMEA Marketing Services and Market Unit Marketing Teams
3) SAP’s network of Marketing Service Bureaus (MSB): SAP has an approved MSB programme. MSBs are marketing agencies who are accredited to provide marketing services to SAP partners
Our programme methodology was based around three key cornerstones: education, motivation and communication
Webinars
The backbone of the programme is a series of live, 60-minute webinars which include guest speakers from some of the most respected brand names in social media marketing.
How to Guides
DNX created a series of detailed ‘how to’ guides. These could be downloaded and members gained points for doing so.
Other Learning Resources
– Reviews of the latest social media tools
– Details of different vertical industry focused communities
– Glossary of social media terminology
– Links and feeds from key industry influencers blogs and SAP’s own communities
– Best practice
– SAP partner case studies.
Central to the initiative is the programme portal
Incentive – Buzz Points
Key to driving participation is the Buzz Points Incentive. Partners could earn points by completing different tasks.
Campaign Packs
Partners could purchase tailored social media marketing campaign packages from DNX via their accrued Marketing Development Fund (MDF)
If users were inactive for over a month, an automatic re-activation email was triggered.
Timescales
Launched June 2010 and ongoing. The incentives run annually and are announced each December.
Client testimonial
“The SAP EMEA Social Media programme designed and managed by DNX has been a runaway success since it launched last year. We are really excited to be offering our partners the chance to learn from the social media industry’s best known brand names and influencers and it is fantastic to see so many partners participating and actively engaging in their own social media marketing as a result.”
Hardy Poppinga, vice president of marketing, volume, ecosystem and channel, EMEA
