In With the New: The Rise Of Visual B2B Marketing

Posted by Seth Jacobsen on Oct 25, 2016 10:50:00 AM

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In our last blog, we talked at some length about outdated marketing strategies that are falling by the wayside..  We saw from both surveys of customers and buyers, as well as reports from within marketing departments themselves, that most forms of traditional marketing in the B2B space are simply not as effective as they once were.

This is especially critical in the face of changing demographics.  Millennials are already the largest living demographic group in America, and they are increasingly moving into positions of power and responsibility within businesses.

While we can't predict what the future of marketing may hold years from now, we can report on the trends today, based on recent studies such as the HubSpot State of Inbound Marketing report.  Beyond simply embracing inbound marketing itself, one trend above all is revealing itself as the new dominant force in the foreseeable future of marketing across nearly all groups:

The future of marketing is visual.

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Topics: communication, content marketing, b2b

A 2016 Inbound Marketing Strategy Requires the Right Resources

Posted by Todd Hockenberry on Dec 22, 2015 4:05:00 PM

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A key part of any strategy is understanding your resources and planning so that your people, tools, and processes are equipped and aligned. When all of the resources at your disposal work together they allow you to achieve specific goals, like your 2016 Marketing Goals. 

When we look at some of the things we know, it helps us to better understand the shape of our strategy and, in turn, this allows us to align our resources. Some interesting takeways include: 

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Topics: prm, Scale Your Channel, partner relationship management, best practices, lead management, Partner Collaboration, PRM v. CRM, emerging growth companies, Performance, marketing, communication, crm

Get Found Online and Empower Your Channel to Grow Sales in 2016

Posted by Todd Hockenberry on Dec 14, 2015 2:30:00 PM

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Companies with a large distributed sales channel (reps or distributors) often come to us struggling with how to grow sales and manage the channel effectively.  Under performance is often caused by a disconnect between the manufacturer or service provider and the realities of the buying environment.  In an age of information parity (buyers often have as much information available to them as the salesperson) successful companies drive interest and engagement in ways that match this change in buyer behavior.

There are two particular stats that help to illustrate this point:

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Topics: prm, Scale Your Channel, partner relationship management, best practices, lead management, Partner Collaboration, PRM v. CRM, emerging growth companies, Performance, marketing, communication, crm

The PRM/CRM Balance – How to Handle Lead Management

Posted by Seth Jacobsen on Dec 10, 2015 11:00:00 AM

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Any business that sells through an indirect sales channel has likely encountered the challenge of lead registration and management. If your emerging growth company is bringing on its first few channel partners you recognize the need to have some type of process in place to share leads. If you are looking to scale an already successful indirect channel you probably realize the complexity of maintaining control and insight into your pipeline. Regardless of how advanced your relationships are with your with channel partners, you understand this is a critical success factor. Our experience has shown us that some common challenges exist as it relates to lead management in the sales channel:

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Topics: prm, Scale Your Channel, partner relationship management, best practices, lead management, Partner Collaboration, PRM v. CRM, emerging growth companies, Performance, marketing, communication, crm

Pareto Principle: How to Manage a Growing Roster of Channel Partners

Posted by Seth Jacobsen on Dec 18, 2014 2:50:00 PM

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A growing network of channel partners – dealers, VARs, and resellers – can be a very good thing for companies looking to increase revenue, but to those tasked with managing channel relationships, adding channel partners also means adding to the challenge of maintaining and maximizing their engagement with the enterprise. Getting the attention of your channel partners - and maintaining it - is one key challenge. Another challenge is bucking the Pareto principle where 80% of your revenue comes from only 20% of your partners. This scenario leaves most channel managers wondering how to change this dynamic and get most out of their entire channel.

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Topics: prm, Scale Your Channel, PRM Best Practice, Partner Collaboration, channel management, channel manager, emerging growth companies, Channel Partner Certification, Increase Channel Sales, Performance, marketing, communication, dealer training

Mindshare and Your Channel Partners – Are You Getting Their Attention?

Posted by Seth Jacobsen on Dec 16, 2014 3:11:00 PM

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We hear a lot of questions related to channel partner relationship management, and invariably the term “mindshare” seems to pop up.  It is an easy concept to grasp but, in practice, is very difficult to obtain. If you are a manufacturer selling through an indirect channel, you know the importance of mindshare. In many cases, your partners are selling your products and services right alongside those of your competitors. In order to gain a leg of up on the competition, you need your partners focused on your products first. That's mindshare. But...how to achieve it?

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Topics: prm, partner relationship management, Partner Portal, Channel Partner Training, Partner Collaboration, Channel Partner Certification, Marketing Materials, Performance, prm systems, marketing, communication, channel partner management, PRM solutions, channel partner relationship, mindshare