Marketopia: Channel Marketing ‘Doesn’t Work’ for Most Partners

Most partners say their channel marketing efforts are failing, and that “frustrates” them.

That’s according to Terry Hedden, CEO of MSP marketing firm Marketopia. He claims marketing “hasn’t worked for the vast majority of firms.”

Hedden believes MSPs are wasting money by outsourcing their marketing to third parties that aren’t channel specialists.

“We are ‘saving money’ by outsourcing to people that frustrate our prospects and damage our brand. We are ‘saving money’ by using firms that don’t know our space or value proposition. And we are ‘saving money’ by working with many firms that do a small fraction of what needs to be done to create a steady flow of qualified prospects.

Marketopia’s Terry Hedden

“We have learned that ‘saving money’ can cost you dearly,” he said.

Channel Marketing Acquisition

Hedden made the comments after Florida-based Marketopia’s recent acquisition of U.K. channel marketing firm Continuity Marketing. With 175 channel experts globally, Continuity Marketing specializes in marketing, lead generation, website optimizations and rebuilds for MSPs.

“We’re one of the top marketing firms in the U.S.,” said Hedden. “They’re one of the top marketing firms in the U.K. And now we’re joining forces to help each other, and our clients grow better together.”

The deal allows Marketopia to expand its presence in London — it opened an office in the U.K. last April. The company also now boasts services in five languages and said it can better serve clients in EMEA.

“We quickly realized that there was tremendous demand for European firms desiring to expand into the U.S. [Also], U.S. firms that want to sell into countries worldwide. [Furthermore], we knew we needed to deepen our skill set there and offer a robust portfolio of services by people that know the technology industry.

“We were approached by Continuity Marketing in the U.K. and they simply checked off the boxes. They were a perfect match for us, skillset-wise, and share the 100% dedication to the technology industry. We are now equally capable in North America and EMEA.”

Opportunities

Hedden said clients can work with a single firm, globally, “instead of cobbling together a number of vendors and hoping they collaborate and cooperate. They will also benefit from greater capacity in all marketing disciplines with almost 60 marketing professionals dedicated to the technology channel.”

The CEO said the channel marketing firm will continue to expand internationally.

“We will strive to expand our geographic reach and capabilities until there is just one name brought up when a technology firm wants to grow, whether locally or globally,” he said.