Channel Marketing

Through-channel marketing (TCM) has become a hot topic in the technology sector in recent years and for good reason. In 2019, Forrester uncovered that TCM delivered 7x higher conversion rates than conventional direct marketing. As a result, vendors and service providers are increasingly focused on how they can engage their channel in their marketing programmes and unlock the channel’s potential as a demand generation engine.

With Demand Gen reporting that 91% of B2B leaders expect to increase revenue directly attributed to their partner ecosystems in 2021, the importance of getting it right can’t be overstated.

However, despite the increased focus, many companies are still finding their way in this area – experimenting with different approaches to find what works and what doesn’t.

Those that excel are benefiting from increased partner engagement, higher return on marketing investment and improved channel sales performance.

• The influence of vendor and product brands is declining as customers often buy a service level or an agreed business outcome as opposed to a specific technology product. As a result, we see a shift in supplier influence with vendors turning to [Managed] Service Providers for help. 
• Customers are increasingly turned off by generic messaging - they want to know how a technology solution addresses their specific issues, and whether the provider has experience in their sector. Channel partners bring a level of customer intimacy and specialist market knowledge that can't be matched by vendors. 
• Today's buyer is well informed and resistant to traditional outbound tactics - more sophisticated approaches are key to generating demand. Traditionally, resellers have lacked the resources needed to invest in the tactics and tools that underpin successful marketing campaigns, making them more receptive to, and dependent on, marketing support from vendors. 
• Many vendors are looking to support their channel partners' marketing efforts by leveraging their own resources and EoS. For those operating in highly competitive markets, channel GTM support is a way to differentiate, thus making it easier for partners to win new business while having an edge in attracting and retaining partners.

Driving Growth Through the Channel

Every aspect of B2B technology channel marketing has undergone profound change in recent years, and there are a number of factors driving this change. 

Executing TCM effectively can be hard, but it’s not rocket science. Applying best practice, and a bit of common sense, can make a big difference to the success of your initiatives.

In this eGuide, we’ve set out the ten principles of successful through-channel marketing.

This eGuide covers:

• Why through-channel marketing (TCM) has increased in importance
• The common issues that prevent TCM initiatives achieving their goals
• Our tips for delivering successful TCM programmes
• TCM in action: OneGTM case studies