Make Channel Marketing Simple, Value-Focused and Human-Oriented, Says CMO Roundtable
Our panel of experts agrees that when the channel gets “noisy” marketing should get back to basics.
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In a somewhat Zen approach to dealing with the ongoing flux in the channel, participants noted that they were focused on simplicity — identifying the basic elements of their marketing programs to make sure they were strong and, most importantly, what their partners need.
“I like to get back to basics when things get a little noisy and chaotic,” said Comcast Business’ Dalyn Wertz. “Partners want simplicity and consistency. It’s noisier than ever right now, and we find that one-to-one communications — reaching out and talking to partners and finding out what they need — is most important.
“Partners need help because they’re not sure how to navigate some of this uncertainty. The trusted advisor is smarter than ever, so we can calm each other down by getting back to basics,” she said.
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While the marketing program needs to be simple, it can never be one-size-fits all. Different partners need different approaches, different levels of support. For example, T-Mobile’s Kim Chau observed that “MSPs are not the sales machines that agents are. They have a really hard time finding new clients. Once they find them, they keep them — they’re really great about that — but finding them is not so easy.
“So we looked at the way we engage, from recruitment to co-marketing to co-selling. For us, it’s about that level of engagement with our partner ecosystem. We brought in strategy that engages a partner in a multitiered manner. We have different approaches for what needs to be done.”
Xcitium’s MeiLee Langley added, “Engagement is necessary for a couple of reasons: to educate the partners and to get them involved in the activities we have going on.”
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Many at the roundtable discovered a disconnect between marketing and sales when they were evaluating their marketing initiatives.
“A lot of partners that aren’t connected with larger entities don’t have marketing skills and don’t have marketers at all,” said Telarus’ Jennifer Dimas. “We went through an exercise earlier this year to help them build marketing programs, and it was astonishing to me. These are sellers, not marketers, and they never understood the importance of marketing.”
“One of things we took a hard look at was what our partners are doing and who they’re reaching, so we can create more alignment to help them,” said Ingram Micro’s Jennifer Anaya. “We need to create more integrated marketing campaigns and approaches so that our partners see things that matter to them and, more importantly, matter to their end users.”
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“I’m actually seeing an acceleration of interest in educational events as things that are delivering direct value,” said Langley. “They want to walk out of there understanding how they’re going to sell more.”
“We re-evaluated our entire educational offering at the end of last year,” said Anaya. “One of the things we were skipping right over was how to sell, how to market, how to position yourself. We worked on stadium pitches, unique value propositions and built marketing content.”
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“We’re divesting from some of the activities that didn’t return value to the partners or suppliers,” said Dimas. “We’re getting more crisp about our own messaging to make sure that we have an impactful message at the brand and product level.”
“We changed the name of MDF [marketing development funds] to BDF, business development funds,” said Langley. “When it was marketing development funds, it was just the hospitality, the golf tournaments and open houses. Then we shifted it to BDF and it immediately changed the conversation.
“We were trying to shift them from thinking MDF was all incentives — because that was what they were used for — to more marketing-focused activity. When you say ‘BDF,’ it’s more inclusive of the sales activities.
“It’s all about the enablement conversations — the business enablement, not just the marketing. We’re looking at the business end to end in how we can support and enable them.,” she added.
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When it came to making the most of available resources, doing more with less, participants all agreed that AI will be valuable in handling routine functions to free up human resources. However, many questions remain about how to strike a balance between technology and people, not to mention the concerns about AI taking jobs.
“AI is a tool, not an ‘easy button,’” said Bergamo. “You will always have humans in the loop.
“Even with ChatGPT, you have need to provide the data, the input to get the output you expect. And even then, you need to take what it gives you and check it. GPT is amazingly confident about giving you misinformation. So you need to filter it,” Bergamo said.
“At the end of the day,” she added, “we’re all in the relationship business. You connect with your team and connect with the partners. You connect the dots for your partners and your customers. You listen to their stories, their challenges. Sure, an AI tool can do a lot of things, but it can’t replace the human element, the expertise, the experience.”
Photo courtesy: Mykola Holyutyak/Shutterstock
When it came to making the most of available resources, doing more with less, participants all agreed that AI will be valuable in handling routine functions to free up human resources. However, many questions remain about how to strike a balance between technology and people, not to mention the concerns about AI taking jobs.
“AI is a tool, not an ‘easy button,’” said Bergamo. “You will always have humans in the loop.
“Even with ChatGPT, you have need to provide the data, the input to get the output you expect. And even then, you need to take what it gives you and check it. GPT is amazingly confident about giving you misinformation. So you need to filter it,” Bergamo said.
“At the end of the day,” she added, “we’re all in the relationship business. You connect with your team and connect with the partners. You connect the dots for your partners and your customers. You listen to their stories, their challenges. Sure, an AI tool can do a lot of things, but it can’t replace the human element, the expertise, the experience.”
Photo courtesy: Mykola Holyutyak/Shutterstock
The best way to cut through the noise and chaos of channel sales disruption is to make channel marketing simple, value-focused and human-oriented. This was the conclusion when a group of marketing superstars got together for a roundtable at Channel Partners Conference & Expo and MSP Summit in Las Vegas.
Bergamo Marketing Group’s Allison Bergamo
Moderated by Allison Bergamo, principal of Bergamo Marketing Group, the roundtable discussion explored the various ways in which marketing must be reimagined to anticipate change and deliver future-ready customer experiences.
In addition to Bergamo, roundtable participants included:
Jennifer Anaya, senior vice president of global marketing for Ingram Micro.
Kim Chau, vice president of business marketing for T-Mobile.
Jen Dimas, chief marketing and experience officer for Telarus.
MeiLee Langley, vice president of global marketing for Xcitium.
Ann Ranes, channel marketing consultant for T-Mobile.
Dalyn Wertz, executive director of indirect channel program and marketing for Comcast Business.
Ingram Micro’s Jennifer Anaya
T-Mobile’s Kim Chau
Telarus’ Jen Dimas
Xcitium’s MeiLee Langley
T-Mobile’s Ann Ranes
Comcast Business’ Dalyn Wertz
Following an extended period of M&A, the channel has made an abrupt change in 2023 to an environment overshadowed by economic uncertainty. All of this on the heels of the pandemic and the creation of “new normal.” It makes for head-spinning times for marketers. How are they handling it? What are they doing differently or no longer doing at all?
Scroll through the slideshow above to find out what marketing experts are dong to reimagine and realign their channel marketing.
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