Marketing All-Stars Share Their Focus for 2022 and Beyond
Where do our CMO roundtable members expect to be concentrating their efforts in the months ahead?
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“I think it’s being consistent and continuing to meet people where they are,” said Pax8’s Amanda Lee. “We do that through strategy and execution on the media side and the social media side.
“We have to continue connecting our marketplaces into other marketplaces, stay relevant and help our partners grow. That’s key: helping their businesses get bigger.”
“For us, it’s about developing more tools to help partners be better,” said Telarus’ Amy Bailey. “We’ve got new tools coming out in the next couple of months that will allow them to go into their clients and say, ‘I’ve got this. I’m your trusted consultant.’
“We have to keep moving,” said Comcast Business’ Dalyn Wertz. “If we don’t, our partners get impatient. So we’re going to keep delivering, keep focused and keep committed.”
“I serve lots of different companies with different programs,” said BuzzTheory’s Khali Henderson. “Some want to enable their partners in an easy way that they can execute upon. Some of them are saying, ‘Let’s make this as simple and packaged as I can get it so that they can just go with that one value prop.’ Others are going into a situation where they’re saying, ‘We’ll be your marketing department, we’ll be channel-first and we’ll do all the ABM (account-based marketing) with you. We’re going to go to market together. We’ll develop the leads and then hand them to you. We’ll help you through the whole process.’
“So totally different approaches, but they’re trying to get to the same place — where their partners can actually grow their own businesses with the help of the vendor.”
“We’re focused mostly on how to effectively communicate with people,” said Informa Tech’s Brittany Watts. “We have so many channels with so many different age groups that we’re trying to reach. And we’re starting with database management.
“I want to send as few emails as possible. That’s my goal. So where else can I connect with people? Reddit? Then I need to learn Reddit. So it’s looking at those things.”
“For us, last year was really about transformation,” said GoTo’s Domenici. “This year is about execution, which is good. And simplification — making it easier to differentiate, understand and work with our company. That’s our focus, doing the work this year.”
“As a [relatively] new entrant into the channel world, it’s not about focusing on every partner that’s out there,” said LiveVox’s Nick Bandy. “We need to focus on the right subset that makes sense for us. Focus on the right product.
“We need to overachieve so that people start to believe. And so it’s providing the tools they need to be successful and prove they made the right decision.”
“It’s month five in my tenure,” said IntelePeer’s Brian Gilman. “For me, it’s data. Having the team understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it and create efficiency in what they’re doing.
“A company our size doesn’t have the biggest budget. So, it’s finding where you can sacrifice one for the other to get better efficiency.”
“I think it’s responding to my clients and their sales teams,” said Cisco’s Michelle Ragusa-McBain. “How do we have that connected, end-to-end experience for our partners and customers? How are we laser-focused and not overwhelming them with information they don’t want and need?
“How do we personalize things and make sure they know we’re front and center with them?”
“I think it’s responding to my clients and their sales teams,” said Cisco’s Michelle Ragusa-McBain. “How do we have that connected, end-to-end experience for our partners and customers? How are we laser-focused and not overwhelming them with information they don’t want and need?
“How do we personalize things and make sure they know we’re front and center with them?”
What will our marketing all-stars be focusing on in 2022? That was the “lightning round” question with which Allison Bergamo topped off the CMO Roundtable at Channel Partners Conference & Expo.
Bergamo Marketing Group’s Allison Bergamo
The roundtable participants included Amy Bailey, senior vice president of marketing for Telarus; Nick Bandy, CMO at LiveVox; Theresa Caragol, CEO of AchieveUnite; Jamie Domenici, CMO of GoTo; Brian Gilman, CMO at IntelePeer; Khali Henderson, senior partner at BuzzTheory; Amanda Lee, senior vice president of global communications at Pax8; Michelle Ragusa-McBain, leader for the global partner organization at Cisco; Brittany Watts, marketing director for Informa Tech; and Dalyn Wertz, executive director, indirect channel program and marketing for Comcast Business.
Telarus’ Amy Bailey
LiveVox’s Nick Bandy
AchieveUnite’s Theresa Caragol
GoTo’s Jamie Domenici
IntelePeer’s Brian Gilman
In part one, the group shared what they were doing to maintain a consistent presence with clients, partners and peers in the ever-changing ICT channel.
Comcast Business’ Dalyn Wertz
Informa Tech’s Brittany Watts
Cisco’s Michelle Ragusa-McBain
Pax8’s Amanda Lee
Buzz Theory’s Khali Henderson
In part two, they provided insights on how they were keeping their teams up and running despite the talent shortage precipitated by “The Great Resignation.”
In this third and final installment of the series, they look ahead to the next six to 12 months and predict what will be their primary area of focus.
Click through the gallery above to see what they think will be their priorities in the months ahead.
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