Channel marketing can a technical and complex discipline, and that can be off-putting for brands and marketers alike when there are more simple and sexy routes to market. But as we found out in our latest B2B Marketing Leaders virtual roundtable, in the wake of Covid19, channel marketing might be seeing something of a renaissance
Channel marketing has often been seen as the Cinderella of B2B marketing – a niche within a niche, which is really important to those marketers involved in it, but quite technical, political and geeky to those outside of it.
But as we know, Covid19 has shaken up all our preconceptions and forced B2B brands to re-evaluate routes to market, and explore opportunities which they may have dismissed or even abandoned previously. So how is channel marketing faring in 2020? That was what we sought to discover in our latest B2B Marketing Leaders virtual roundtable – which was sponsored by Kingpin Communications.
As ever, we had a great turnout of marketers from vendors from diverse range of industry sectors, and at dramatically different levels of channel marketing maturity. Some were highly committed to channel marketing, and had a very efficient and sophisticated marketing machine servicing this community. Others were much earlier in the maturity curve, but were typically seeking to accelerate fast. It was a fascinating discussion – here are some of the key things that I learned.
1. Struggling to be strategic
Every B2B firm working through the channel is striving and struggling to be as strategic as possible – but often find they get sucked back into tactical thinking and activities. This has been a perennial problem, but has increased in the wake of Covid.
2. Not all channel partners are the same
The sheer size of the reseller/distributor audience means it’s very mixed – with some very sophisticated operators at one end and others at the other end of the spectrum.
3. Covid has exacerbated partner polarity
Some resellers or distributors have done very well out of Covid, and found business is booming. Others are really struggling, and some have fallen by the wayside. Some vendors have a big focus on competency, seeking to identify and prioritise the best partners. Short term blips in performance may cloud decision making.
4. Channel first
The most enthusiastic and sophisticated vendors focused on channel marketing describe themselves as ‘channel first’. This means that they not only rely on the channel as the primary (or only) route to market, but that they align their entire business around enabling that, and are geared towards embracing, understanding and enabling the channel. This nirvana isn’t necessarily open to everyone, and those brand using channel alongside other routes to market often find it side-lined or de-prioritised, which means it slips down the pecking order, as do results.
5. Fewer, better relationships?
Partnership and an account-focused model looks increasingly relevant in the future, with both vendors and resellers/distributors complaining about prioritisation within the mindset of their partners, and the importance of airtime when they are in a crowded partner environment.
6. Honing in on ROI
Covid has resulted in more scrutiny of spend from marketing and corporate management, and that in turn has resulted in better activity, which delivers a higher quality results.
7. Back to the future with face-to-face events?
Channel marketers are generally looking forward to getting back to doing physical events – channel partners like them. But even the biggest proponents don’t think it will go back exactly as it was before. During lockdown, they have learned a great deal about how to use digital better, and integrated campaigns using hybrid events look likely to be the future.
8. Stop funding, start helping
Marketing is just one aspect of excellent channel relationships – resellers and distributors want more than marketing funds to enable them to succeed. That includes things like increased credit terms and training. Marketing needs to be part of a holistic relationship. The future of channel marketing is likely to hinge on marketing enablement, where vendor marketing teams build more substantial deeper relationships with partners, rather than just throwing money over the wall. This entails helping them to be better marketers, providing appropriate resources and training. Sometimes it’s not even about providing money, more like practical help.
9. Pull down the funding barriers
Where money is provided, its key to make it accessible. Without meaning to, vendors often create so many loops to jump through that the money is effectively inaccessible. Google and Salesforce are recognised as offering best practice in access to funding.
10. Great content is useless if not accessible
Just as salespeople complain about lack of access to quality content, it’s just the same for marketers in channel partners.
Given the constraints that marketers are facing today, including an indefinite bar on face-to-face events, inbox-overload and buyers increasingly hard to reach, channel appears to offer an increasingly attractive route to market – particularly for B2B brands seeking to increase scale or reach. But as channel marketing experts have always known, there are no shortcuts to get it right: it requires time and investment to identify, enable and activate channel partners.
About the B2B Marketing Leaders programme
B2B Marketing is running regular roundtables to help CMOs, marketing directors, VPs and other B2B Marketing Leaders to navigate the coronavirus crisis and prepare for what comes next. For more information on the programme go to our website.
If you’d like to join one of these sessions, email [email protected]
