Will Gardiner, head of business technology, CCgroup

1. Resellers
…and how to attract them
B2B Marketing InTech

2. • B2B tech PR consultancy
• 30 years old
• Entirely commercially-focused
• Insight-driven
• The Thinking Man’s Agency – PRCA
• Head of Business Technology
• 10 years in channel-focused programmes for UK
B2B tech companies
Who are we?

3. • We lost patience
• Different objectives and audiences require different tactics
• We created our own Audience Insight initiative – Catalyst
One size does NOT fit all

4. • Very few tech vendors only sell direct
• Lack knowledge of audience, or resources to market to them
• Lack of sales resource
• New sector or geography
• Need to actively attract channel partners
• But this isn’t the same as marketing for direct sales leads
We decided to find out HOW it’s different
Marketing to the channel

5. Channel
How resellers operate

6. Understanding the channel
How often are you actively
seeking out new vendors?
0 20 40 60
Constantly
At least once a
quarter
At least once every
six months
Annually
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
We tend to simply "stumble across"
vendors
Enabling inclusion on a particular
consortium / framework etc.
Plugging a hole for a particular
commercial opportunity
Need to evolve / grow the current
portfolio
Customer / market demand
Looking for competitive advantage
What triggers the search?

7. How frequently do you sign
up a new vendor?
0 10 20 30 40
Less frequently than
annually
Annually
At least once every six
months
At least once a quarter
Conclusions
• Resellers are on a continual hunt for
new tech vendors
• Their searching is constant, targeted
and purposeful
• They are looking for specific vendors
for specific customer / market needs
So how does a vendor make sure of
inclusion on the short list?
Understanding the channel

8. What to do
What Messages,
Content &
Channels to use

9. Influential Messages
Message Score /10
The technology’s specs and performance 9.74
Customer demand for tech category 9.19
Vendor’s company stability 8.92
Provision of support structure 8.46
Customer demand for specific brand 8.06
An attractive commission structure 7.42
Deal registration process and protection of leads from vendor’s direct sales 7.32
The vendor’s development roadmap 6.62
Local support resource 6.03
Strong training programme 5.67
Marketing toolkits 5.36
Local sales presence 4.85
Credibility
Commercial
Collaboration
Support

10. Channel
Channel Score /10
Peer recommendation 8.61
Word-of-mouth 8.05
Distributor recommendation 7.53
Industry events and trade shows 7.24
Industry analysts 6.75
Internet search 6.31
Trade press coverage 5.79
National press coverage 4.44
Social media 4.02
Networks
Profile &
Discoverability
Ineffective

11. Content
Content Score /10
Case studies 8.24
Analyst reports 7.71
Commentary in industry media 7.35
White papers 6.95
News announcements and press releases 6.54
Webinars 5.95
Video 5.57
Blogs 4.63
Social media posts 3.97
Evidence
Thought
Leadership
Social Media
Rich Media
Momentum

12. What not to do
Don’t just issue press releases
on version updates and senior
hires. Show me what you think!
Don’t claim to be the “next best
thing” – tell me what you’re going
to do, who agrees with your plan
and how you are accountable
Don’t bash
competitors – be
more subtle!
Many tech companies list features
as if they’re the only vendors that
offer them. Much better to show
me benefits, value and
differentiators
Don’t rebadge old ideas as
innovative. Be genuinely
insightful. A picture of a
cloud doesn’t make it a
cutting-edge service!
I don’t download white
papers unless they are
genuinely impressive. Too
many are copy and paste
jobs and have no depth
Too much reliance
on quality not
quantity of
messages

13. • Emphasise credibility – specs, customer demand & stability
• Does your programme clearly support and profit the
channel?
• Influence networks and build profile via
• Trade events
• Analysts
• SEO
• Trade media
• Case studies and analyst reports are the most important
pieces of content, but must be supported by white papers
thought leadership and regular announcements
How to build a programme

14. • Similarities:
• Low rank of national media and social
• High rank of networks and peers
• Differences:
• IT buyers rely on search far more than the channel
• IT buyers want white papers and thought leadership
more than case studies and market evidence – the
reverse is true for the channel
• Industry analysts and their reports are far more
important to the channel than to IT buyers
How does this compare to direct?

15. Thanks
Will Gardiner
Head of Business Technology
CCgroup
www.ccgrouppr.com
will.gardiner@ccgrouppr.com
0203 818 7190