Building innovative and market-worthy solutions is what successful IT channel partners have been doing for years. Many solution providers, however, are less confident when it comes to marketing their brand. The good news is there’s a plethora of resources to help channel partners launch a successful marketing strategy, communicate their message, and connect with business decision-makers.
Thriving channel partners, like Heartland Technology Solutions, an Ames, Iowa-based company with eight offices in five states, is not only marketing-oriented but creative as well. The Microsoft Gold Certified solution provider is a good example of how to take marketing to the next level, which is critical for businesses whose goal is to expand and grow.
This year, Heartland promoted its third Extreme Office Technology Makeover contest, a business promotion event the company started in January 2006. According to Lindsey Long, marketing manager at Heartland, the event is part of a larger daylong technology event for customers that it coordinates with the local Chamber of Commerce. The Office Technology Makeover targets the small business market, with winners receiving goods and services worth in excess of $10,000.
“We tap into partner resources for products and marketing. Our goal is not to spend any out of pocket funds,” says Long.
Last year's winner, for example, was Haps Air Service, a 60-year old company located in Ames. With two locations, the $25,000 makeover improved the company’s network infrastructure, its ability to communicate more efficiently between locations, and its opportunities to expand its business. The Candy House, located in Joplin, Mo., and known nationwide for its hand-dipped chocolates won an $18,000 makeover in 2006 that included Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, Microsoft Office, a new telephone system, an antivirus solution, and more.
While excelling at sales and technology, channel partners often stumble when it comes to marketing their business. Many simply just don’t have the time or the resources to implement a consistent strategy, leaving many vendor marketing resources sorely underutilized. Others are stuck in a rut running the same campaigns over and over again.
One way or another, channel partners serious about generating revenue and increasing market share must put marketing at the top of their to-do list. Once they do, there are a number of marketing strategies to pursue.
Some solution providers' approach to marketing is to hire a full-service marketing agency. These companies help with end-user IT marketing campaigns and collateral, direct marketing, e-marketing, and lead generation. For channel partners with limited in-house resources it may be best to focus on what they do best, which is providing technology solutions and let the marketing pros do the marketing.
Along these lines, both value-added distributors Tech Data and Ingram Micro offer full marketing services via TD Agency and Ingram Micro Channel Marketing Services, respectively. Brand management, direct mail, e-marketing, and event marketing are services offered by TD Agency, for example.
Katie Dumala, vice president of marketing services at Tech Data, currently sees many channel partners having a hard time matching their marketing strategies to their new managed services business model.
Resourceful resellers, however, are employing new marketing tools, such as Web 2.0 and social networking, to bolster their new business models. How to evolve in a virtual world isn’t escaping Heartland Technology Solutions. This year the solution provider will launch virtual lunch-and-learn events.
In addition to their full-service marketing agencies, both Tech Data and Ingram Micro provide essential marketing resources to solution providers such as field marketing resources, helping VARs establish a marketing plan, and aggregate vendor MDF funds, to name a few.
Getting out their comfort zone is something Eileen Renner, director of channel and corporate marketing at Amazon Consulting, a partner development firm based in Silicon Valley, strongly recommends for IT solution providers. “Depending on the size of the VAR it's important to look for new business opportunities in new markets,” she says.
Building partner-to-partner relationships is a strategic way for channel partners to expand their reach. Microsoft’s Channel Partner Builder helps VARs build new business relationships bringing channel partners together on specific business opportunities, across industries, geographies, and competencies.
Microsoft’s Partner Marketing Center is ripe with tools to help partners attract new and existing customers through product launch campaigns, customer campaigns, lead generation, training, logo building, and partner directories.
Every channel partner should be leveraging vendors’ online partner and solution directories to promote their organization and be a part of a large online referral community.
Pointivity Corp., an 18-year-old solution provider in San Diego and a Microsoft Gold Certified partner, utilizes a number of Microsoft’s online customizable promotional tools to reach customers. But company president Kent Erickson is a bigger fan of the breadth of online product information and training Microsoft supplies to help his organization stay ahead of the curve on new products.
With the lion’s share of Pointivity’s business focused on managed services, relationship selling, such as partnering with professional organizations and vendors to generate new business, is vital to communicating the company’s message.
Marketing is part and parcel of running a thriving solutions business. Smart resellers reach beyond the low-hanging fruit to find new and innovative ways to brand their business, nurture existing relationships and create new ones, and boost the bottom line.
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