It’s countdown season again with a “best of the best” list almost everywhere you listen or look. Since we love a good list here at Zift, we’re bringing you one more.  We covered a lot of good stuff on channel marketing and management, and content marketing best practices over the past year.  Before we hit the ground running into 2017, here are the Top 10 Channel Chatter posts of 2016.

10. 6 Email Marketing Best Practices to Generate More Leads – If you find yourself constantly questioning the meaning of life and the success (or failure) of your email marketing campaigns, then this post is a good starting point for you.

9. Writers of the Lost Art: Email Subject Lines – A sleeper hit, this post just joined the Channel Chatter ranks in December which proves something as “simple” as subject lines resonates so deep with so many.

8. Adapting to Channel Change: The Cisco Story – Guest blogger, Chad Reese, Director of Partner Digital Marketing for Cisco Systems hits the high notes on what Cisco has done to adapt to shifting customer and prospect buying behavior.

7. Content Marketing & The Buyer’s Journey – We’re big believers that no matter what your channel partner’s sales cycle looks like, when it comes to the buyer’s journey there are some fundamental truths about the type of content you should use along the way.

6. The Shrinking Sales Cycle: How to Win the Online Content Game – A decade ago it took about 5.6 interactions between a prospect and your brand to make a sale.  Today, it’s less than 2 interactions.  Shrinking? Yep.

5. Tis’ the Season for Giving Once Again – Zift’s annual “you choose, we give” campaign.  Not that we ever doubted, but the fact that this comes in at #5 on our greatest hits list shows that Channel Chatter readers have warm hearts to match the sharp minds. Thank you for caring.

4. What Makes Them Click? Digital Ads in a Noisy World – A question as old as digital advertising itself.  While no one can claim to have the end all be all answer (that would be no fun), we do have data on things that work and things that don’t.

3. Automation Fusion: Blending Platforms to Drive Direct and Indirect Channel Revenue – What do you get when you throw the leading thought leaders in the channel and marketing automation on a webcast together?  Gold.  Pure gold.

2. Manufacturers and Channel Partners: A State of Disconnect [Infographic] – This year we did some pretty cool research with the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI).  (And who doesn’t love a good infographic?)

And the number one Channel Chatter hit of 2016 is….

1. How Often Should You Update or Rebuild Your Website? – A classic with a free “Do I need to update my website” checklist!

We look forward to you joining us for more channel marketing and management content and conversations in the new year. Subscribe to our biweekly digest and get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. Simply enter your email address on the top right of the page and click the big orange “Subscribe” button.

From all of us at Zift Solutions, have a happy, healthy, and happening 2017.