There was plenty to chat about in the channel this year. Check out the most popular posts of 2017 in our top ten countdown:
10. Prepare for Global Domination: Zift Adds WeChat
“During the past decade, social media has reshaped the sales landscape along with the way people and businesses communicate. Today, B2B organizations and their channel partners are using social media to reach a much broader audience, demonstrate expertise and nurture ongoing conversations with prospects and customers. But to truly dominate the social media realm, you must move beyond just Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.”
9. Stepping Up to Solve the Integration Challenge
Ken Romley’s words at the launch of our Channel as a Service platform have become our mission and we’re seeing the benefits it brings customers. “I can assure you that Channel as a Service comes from listening to our customers, hearing what channel leaders desire — and stepping up to deliver on the bigger picture.”
8. Filling Some Big Shoes
This guest post by channel marketing expert, Mike Gallagher, is all about seeing things from your partner’s perspective. “Sitting in a typical vendor organization, it is natural to design marketing programs centered on driving your brand. You are measured on driving your marketing KPIs and growing partner leads and pipeline for your products or services. But when designing those marketing programs or writing those MDF policies, it is wise for the vendor to spend some meaningful time standing inside of those mighty big shoes of their partners. The world suddenly looks very different.”
7. Dispatches from Dell EMC World 2017 Global Partner Summit: 3 Best Practices for Digital Marketing in the Channel
Zift’s Chief Strategy Officer, Laz Gonzalez, shares the good stuff from his special presentation at Dell EMC World in May. “The fact is, the modern marketing landscape has changed dramatically – and your channel marketing efforts must change with it, particularly when it comes to helping partners embrace digital marketing. Digital marketing works – but partners need the right tools, skills and support to execute digital to provide measurable results.”
6. Blending the Art & Science of Digital Marketing
Digital ads that convert take the best of both good creative and sensible use of metrics. “Blending the art and the science of digital media marketing means staying ahead of the curve. In today’s digital marketing landscape there are two important ways that help achieve this; leveraging metrics and developing intuition.”
5. The Deal on Leads
Laz Gonzalez calles “time-out” to set the record straight on the difference between lead management and deal registration. “Lead management and deal registration, two critical components of channel sales and marketing, are often confused and misused among the majority of business to business (B-to-B) channel programs.”
4. Channel Breakthrough: Tapping into the Power of Partner Currency
This year, we were thrilled to share knowledge from Pino Soro. Don’t know Pino? Time to get an introduction – Pino was featured on CRN’s “100 People You Don’t Know But Should.” Here we break down his key takeaways when leveraging channel partner currency, including brushing up on lessons learned in Psych class.
3. Digital Advertising KPIs: Your Keys to Measuring Performance
Zift’s Director of Digital Advertising Services, Charles Machalicky, gets to the point on what you really need to focus on when measuring success. “Knowing the answer depends on who is asking the question in the first place. Depending on whether you are a supplier, a partner, or a member of the Zift team, you may have a different definition of what success means.”
2. Driving Channel Adoption and Sales Pipeline through Partner Marketing
Andrew Sigmund brought his unique experience working with channel partners to Channel Chatter. “In today’s oversaturated channel environment, suppliers must enable partners collaboratively with both sales and marketing tactics to create true value. As a Senior Manager of Channel Engagement at Zift Solutions, I’ve had the advantage of working with many different channel programs over the years and have seen what does and doesn’t work. Simply signing up a channel partner then expecting their participation and success in promoting or selling your products won’t cut it.”
And the #1 Channel Chatter post of 2017 is…..
Wish List 2017: What’s on Top Channel Leader’s To-Do Lists?
Where do we start with recapping everything that was 2017? The beginning, of course! This post kicked off our year and featured top channel experts including Maria Chien, Seenu Brahmarouthu, and Heather K. Margolis sharing what was tops on their wish lists for the year. Do you think some wishes came true? Comment below!
