Channel Marketing and Management Leader Moves Forward with Confidence Driven by Financial Strength, Innovation, Deeper Executive Leadership, Growing Customer Base and Evolving Culture
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – January 18, 2017
Zift Solutions, a leading provider of Channel Marketing and Management (CMM) solutions, announced that its demonstrated growth and success in 2016 is driving strong forward momentum into 2017.
Growing Financial Strength & Market Dominance
Zift exhibited impressive financial growth in 2016, increasing revenue by more than 50 percent and signing several new customers, including Akamai, Gamma Telecom, Informatica, SAS and VMware. Zift maintained its position as the definitive CMM platform provider in the marketplace today with the largest channel partner community worldwide.
Following its acquisition of SharedVue, Zift has successfully completed the migration of all customers from an array of industries spanning Manufacturing, Telecommunications, eCommerce and Tech to the Zift Platform. The transition to Zift provides expanded functionality for these companies to drive more channel revenue.
Innovation Expands Boundaries
Zift expanded the boundaries of CMM in 2016, becoming the first provider to deliver fully-integrated Search Engine Marketing capabilities within a CMM platform and leveling the playing field for channel marketing by making digital advertising, including SEM and Pay-Per-Click, accessible to channel programs of all sizes.
Zift also launched Campaign Marketplace, which gives channel partners the ability to optimize, manage and use their Market Development Funds (MDF) to access pre-approved marketing activities and customized campaigns developed and executed by professional Marketing Service Agencies within the Zift Platform.
2016 saw Zift surpassing 1 billion in tracked marketing events, which can be analyzed to provide additional insight into the specific ways users are leveraging Zift capabilities. Users saw impressive results in 2016 with Zift, including:
- A 143% increase in integrated multi-tactic campaigns created with:
- 15 million emails sent through Zift with a 251% increase in clicks and a 138% increase in form submission
- 252% increase in social accounts connected with a 290% increase in social shares/retweets and a nearly 300% increase in social post clicks
- An 181% increase in leads created and more than 2.2 million leads distributed
- More than 1.2 million opportunities created
Expanded Executive Leadership
Zift deepened its already strong leadership bench with the addition of several proven industry experts in 2016. Prominent industry analyst and CMM thought leader, Laz Gonzalez joined Zift as Chief Strategy Officer, bringing unparalleled channel insight garnered from his tenure as Group Director of Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies at SiriusDecisions and years serving as strategic advisor to leading B2B channel programs worldwide. Zift’s new Vice President of Product, Damian Rochman brings over 20 years of cross-functional software expertise to his role defining and managing the strategic direction and development of Zift’s product roadmap. Steven Capozzi joined Zift as Vice President of Customer Success, further strengthening the company’s culture of customer centricity and bringing two decades of product lifecycle, marketing and management expertise to his new role at Zift. New Zift Chief Financial Officer Will Sendall joined the company in April, using 20 years of high-growth technology expertise in his role providing direction and oversight of Zift’s continued financial growth and management.
Continued Thought-Leadership
Leveraging its deep industry insight for education and thought-leadership, Zift conducted a powerful study with the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI), exploring the disruptive changes within the dealer/distributor landscape. “Collaborating with Channel Partners to Drive Faster Growth” found that manufacturers are missing opportunities to effectively engage channel partners, lack visibility to measure marketing ROI, and are underutilizing data, modern digital marketing and collaboration tools that drive channel sales.
Zift launched Channel Visions TV, an educational destination website that brings together channel change makers, recognized industry analysts and experts along with seasoned professionals working on both sides of the channel to share insight and real-world experiences.
Evolving Corporate Culture & Demonstrated Social Responsibility
The company continued to expand in 2016 with 27.2% employee growth. Demonstrating the company’s strong commitment to social responsibility, more than 75 percent of Zift staff participated in Pledge 1%, donating more than 500 hours to local philanthropic organizations, including Transitions LifeCare, Raleigh Soup Kitchen, the Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, Build Your Bucket List, and Walk to End Alzheimer’s, among many others. The staff currently working in Zift’s dual NC-based offices will be consolidated into one cornerstone location in 2017.
“Zift is moving forward in 2017 with the vision, direction and resources required to address the needs and continued challenges of today’s channel organizations,” said Ken Romley, President and CEO, Zift Solutions. “We are dedicated to creating a great place to work, rapidly responding to the demands of our growing customer base and actively shaping the future of the channel by delivering easy-to-use, integrated tools and services that provide everything necessary to build and grow a more profitable channel partner program.”
About Zift Solutions
Zift Solutions increases channel sales and boosts marketing impact with a superior technology platform, a complete channel marketing success framework and global customer care. Leading channel driven organizations around the world leverage Zift Solutions’ cloud-based platform to automate co-branded marketing, empower collaborative selling and measure results with powerful analytics. To learn more join the conversation via the blog Channel Chatter and follow us on Twitter @zift.
Press Contacts
Lisa Hyatt
Marketing Communications Director
Zift Solutions
(919) 271-1472
lisahyatt@ziftsolutions.com
David Buffaloe
VP of Marketing
Zift Solutions
(919) 424-3329
dbuffaloe@ziftsolutions.com
