Welcome to our five-part series focusing on how to improve your channel marketing efforts. This series offers practical tips that you can implement right now, courtesy of our vendors and partners. This is part three: 3 takeaways to create content your partners will love.
In a recent study about partner marketing, 75% of partners said content was important to them. However, 53% of partners in the same study viewed existing content provided by vendors as mediocre or worse. This means partners recognize the importance of content but aren’t happy with the quality.
How do you create content that your partners will value as high-quality content? Here are some takeaways from successful campaigns we have seen from our customers.
#1 Speak their language
One of the main issues partners have with the content provided by their vendors, is that most of the time this content is offered in English instead of their local language.
Just think about it: if you are a partner who is always communicating in French while trying to establish a real connection with the local market, why would you share content in English on your website and social media profiles?
Sharing content in your partners’ local language will help your content feel much more authentic to your end-users.
# 2 Stand out but don’t shout
It’s good to remember that you’re essentially borrowing your partners’ network and reach when launching through-channel marketing campaigns. Make sure to keep this in mind when creating content that you want your partners to share with their end-users.
Far too often, we get feedback from partners saying that designs with dark backgrounds and bright colors do not fit their brand. On top of this, content is often too product-focused and contains too many buzzwords.
So what should your content look and sound like?
- Neutral backgrounds work best
- Identify the problems of your end-users
- Create assets that won’t clash with the look and feel of your partners’ websites
# 3 Facilitate personalization
We are seeing more and more customized content from partners. Partners love being able to personalize messages with their own branding and tone-of-voice.
For us, this takes the form of banner carousels that partners can add their own banners to. This way, they have a combination of their own custom images and messaging, alongside the banners of their vendors.
So next time you offer content to your partners, give them the option to personalize the content.
Create content your partners will love
If you want your partners to love your content: offer it in local languages, make sure that it fits their marketing channels, and give them the option to personalize it. With all three established, success is guaranteed.
Part 1: GDPR: are you 100% sure you’re doing it right?
Part 2: 3 reasons your partner portal is being neglected
Part 4: 3 reasons alliance campaigns deserve your attention
Part 5: 3 ways to mobilize partners for your channel marketing campaign
