The world of marketing has become increasingly more complex in recent years. With omnichannel approaches, platforms, and various approaches to content. it can sometimes seem that a marketer’s work is never done. But, thankfully, new ways of dealing with our marketing issues have also arisen, including process improvement strategies, and new ideas.

You will often hear the term channel marketing used, and it will often be used in conjunction with the term partner personas, but what do these terms mean? How can they benefit you and just how do you go about building this so-called ideal partner persona?

At its simplest, channel marketing is about being involved in the total lifecycle of a product; from the point of initial production to its final usage by the consumer. That lifecycle can consist of several levels of people, organizations, and activities. Not to forget who is involved in the process as a whole.

Partners in your channel marketing help you promote the benefits of the product, either to end consumers or to other links in the chain. This can also include distributors, affiliate partners, agents, resellers, and other third parties.

Channel marketing is based on the idea that the relationship is both symbiotic and mutually beneficial. Unlike your normal way of promoting and advertising your products, your channel partners may be independent businesses who are promoting the same product as you, which means that your product can reach a different audience than if you were operating alone.

Third parties benefit as well as your business, as they may receive a percentage of overall sales or, in the case of resellers, they can access discounts if they buy your product in bulk. Channel marketing can also be of advantage if you do not have the (human or financial) resources to facilitate the required levels of marketing alone.

The first thing to emphasize is that a partner persona is not a real person. Instead, it is a representation of who your ideal channel marketing partner may be. It is most often based on market research and data analysis of who your target demographic consumers are. There are several benefits in defining that partner persona:

Creating your perfect partner persona is not just a case of jotting down a ‘wish list’. If you approach this exercise without due care, and careful research, then you could do your business more harm than good. There are a number of factors that contribute to the partner persona:

So, you’ve spent some time creating what you see as your ideal partner persona. And further research has identified potential partners that you feel fit that persona. How do you begin to create the channel partner program you have imagined. Some factors include the following:

Successfully marketing (and selling) your product has many different approaches. For example, you may want to combine content marketing for SaaS with a solid channel marketing strategy that includes partners who complement your product well. How you identify partners and build a program will also depend on the industry you operate in.

Software developers seeking partners may often ask what is QA and its place in your current business model. A business offering organic fruit and veg is going to look for a partner who values sustainability. Customizing your partner personas to suit you is crucial when approaching the issue.

Source: ReadWrite

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