ZINFI Technologies, Inc.

It is getting harder every day to cut through the clutter that exists in our email inboxes. Most business users get hundreds of emails every day. Many email programs allow auto filtering of newsletter into different folders – let alone the spam filters cutting out many legitimate emails due to improper set up. However, there are a few effective ways to reach potential prospects via email marketing. It’s still the most efficient ways to get in touch with new prospects and existing customers.* Build opt-in subscriber list – Yes, this is hard to do, but can be done. The easiest way to do is to build a social presence via various groups, start participating in group conversations, redirect (where allowed) traffic to a blog post, and request users to sign up for email newsletter on relevant topics. This is the only way to engage with new prospects.* Test for spam scores and rewrite – Did you know that more than two thirds of the emails that are sent via various email marketing software are never tested for their spam scores? Simple words like “free”, “promotion”, etc., trigger spam filters very quickly. As per Return Path only 81% of the emails that are sent reach an inbox. It is quite easy to check for spam scores and rewrite an email.* Send from an email account of a real person – A lot of times we receive Emails from generic account, e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]. Statistics show that emails from a real person, e.g., [email protected] would be twice more likely to be opened than generic accounts. It’s very easy to set this up in many email marketing automation platform; however, organizations still skip this very simple step.* Focused subject lines – Why do newspaper companies spend so much time in coming up with the headlines? Simple – headlines sell news. Same exact way, subject lines drive open rates of emails. Ideally a subject line should be ten words or less. Based on the focus of the email copy, questions based email, e.g., “did you know”, etc., may perform better than statement based subject lines, e.g., do this and get that, etc.* Writing purpose built email copy – There are primarily two types of email campaigns – sales centric (with clear offer to buy) and marketing centric (primarily with the purpose of building brands and relationships). They need to be written very differently and sent with different objectives. Sales centric emails can be simple text based emails without any heavy branding or designs. On the other hand, relationship centric emails could be informational, e.g., newsletter format.At ZINFI we not only provide a state-of-the-art channel marketing platform, but also a global marketing concierge service that can help you and your partners to run email marketing effectively. Our concierge services will work with your partners and help them to pick subject lines, custom design the body copy of the email with your content and their branding to make sure when it reaches an end prospect it realizes its full potential of converting that reach into a true prospect.

It is getting harder every day to cut through the clutter that exists in our email inboxes. Most business users get hundreds of emails every day. Many email programs allow auto filtering of newsletter into different folders – let alone the spam filters cutting out many legitimate emails due to improper set up. However, there are a few effective ways to reach potential prospects via email marketing. It’s still the most efficient ways to get in touch with new prospects and existing customers.

* Build opt-in subscriber list - Yes, this is hard to do, but can be done. The easiest way to do is to build a social presence via various groups, start participating in group conversations, redirect (where allowed) traffic to a blog post, and request users to sign up for email newsletter on relevant topics. This is the only way to engage with new prospects.

* Test for spam scores and rewrite - Did you know that more than two thirds of the emails that are sent via various email marketing software are never tested for their spam scores? Simple words like “free”, “promotion”, etc., trigger spam filters very quickly. As per Return Path only 81% of the emails that are sent reach an inbox. It is quite easy to check for spam scores and rewrite an email.

* Send from an email account of a real person - A lot of times we receive Emails from generic account, e.g., [email protected] or [email protected]. Statistics show that emails from a real person, e.g., [email protected] would be twice more likely to be opened than generic accounts. It’s very easy to set this up in many email marketing automation platform; however, organizations still skip this very simple step.

* Focused subject lines - Why do newspaper companies spend so much time in coming up with the headlines? Simple – headlines sell news. Same exact way, subject lines drive open rates of emails. Ideally a subject line should be ten words or less. Based on the focus of the email copy, questions based email, e.g., “did you know”, etc., may perform better than statement based subject lines, e.g., do this and get that, etc.

* Writing purpose built email copy - There are primarily two types of email campaigns – sales centric (with clear offer to buy) and marketing centric (primarily with the purpose of building brands and relationships). They need to be written very differently and sent with different objectives. Sales centric emails can be simple text based emails without any heavy branding or designs. On the other hand, relationship centric emails could be informational, e.g., newsletter format.

At ZINFI we not only provide a state-of-the-art channel marketing platform, but also a global marketing concierge service that can help you and your partners to run email marketing effectively. Our concierge services will work with your partners and help them to pick subject lines, custom design the body copy of the email with your content and their branding to make sure when it reaches an end prospect it realizes its full potential of converting that reach into a true prospect.

Executive Summary (TL;DR)

Effective channel marketing requires a specialized digital content strategy to bridge the gap between vendors and end-users. By empowering partners with high-quality, localized assets, brands drive scalable growth and measurable ROI. This guide explores modular content frameworks, the automation paradox, and consultative strategies necessary to maintain a competitive advantage in a distributed, partner-led global digital commerce ecosystem.

How Does Channel Marketing Leverage Digital Content for Scalable Growth?

Channel marketing depends on digital content to provide partners with the necessary tools to represent a brand’s value proposition accurately at scale. Providing centralized, high-quality assets ensures brand consistency while allowing partners to focus on local relationship management.

To achieve channel marketing, organizations must move beyond simple PDF sharing. Modern digital strategies involve the deployment of a Through-Channel Marketing Automation (TCMA) platform, which acts as a central nervous system for asset distribution. Statistics show that 80% of partner-led revenue is typically generated by only 20% of the partner base. By providing a diverse mix of "liftable" content—such as co-brandable webinars, white-label case studies, and automated social media syndication—vendors can move more partners into that top-tier revenue bracket.

The primary challenge in channel marketing today is content fatigue. Partners are often overwhelmed by generic materials that do not resonate with their specific local niche. Strategic content must be modular, allowing for "LEGO-block" style customization where a partner can swap a local testimonial into a global template.

The Strategic Tier Framework for Content Distribution

Tier

Content Type

Objective

Distribution Method

Tier 1: Strategic

Original Research, White Papers

Thought Leadership

Partner Portal / Direct Send

Tier 2: Tactical

Co-brandable Blogs, Case Studies

Lead Generation

TCMA Syndication

Tier 3: Operational

Social Snippets, Email Templates

Engagement

Automated Social Push

What is the "Automation Paradox" in Modern Channel Marketing?

The Automation Paradox occurs when the efficiency of automated content delivery reduces the perceived authenticity and local relevance of the partner’s message. Balancing high-volume automated distribution with localized, human-led storytelling is essential for maintaining trust within a partner network.

As channel marketing becomes increasingly automated, the risk of "content homogenization" rises. When 500 partners post the exact same LinkedIn update at the same time, the algorithmic value of that content plummets. To solve this, vendors must provide "structured flexibility."

Industry data suggests that localized content performs 6x better than generic global assets. Vendors should provide "70/30 content"—where 70% is the core brand messaging and 30% is a reserved space for the partner’s unique local insights, pricing, or service offerings. This ensures that channel marketing efforts remain personal while benefiting from the scale of corporate production.

How Does Consultative Strategy Transform Channel Partner Relationships?

A consultative strategy shifts the vendor-partner relationship from a transactional "order-taking" model to a collaborative growth partnership. It involves using data-driven insights to help partners select and deploy the content most likely to convert their specific audience segments.

Successful channel marketing is no longer about throwing content "over the fence." It requires a consultative approach where Channel Account Managers (CAMs) act as marketing advisors. Using analytics from the Partner Relationship Management (PRM) system, CAMs can identify which partners are struggling with top-of-funnel awareness versus bottom-of-funnel closing.

For example, a B2B SaaS provider might notice a partner has high click-through rates on emails but zero trial sign-ups. A consultative channel marketing intervention would involve providing that partner with a specialized "Comparison Guide" or "ROI Calculator" to address the specific friction point in the buyer journey.

Comparative Analysis: Traditional vs. Consultative Channel Marketing

Feature

Traditional Channel Marketing

Consultative Channel Marketing

Partner Role

Passive Reseller

Strategic Growth Partner

Content Goal

Brand Visibility

Customer Problem Solving

Data Usage

Reactive Reporting

Predictive Optimization

Feedback Loop

Annual Reviews

Real-time Performance Sync

What is the Long-term Future Outlook for Channel Marketing Content?

The future of channel marketing lies in hyper-personalization and the integration of immersive technologies that allow partners to demonstrate complex value propositions virtually. Generative workflows will soon enable real-time, partner-specific asset creation based on localized search intent data.

As we look toward 2030, channel marketing will be defined by "Predictive Partner Enablement." Instead of partners searching a portal for a flyer, AI-driven engines will push the right asset to the partner's CRM the moment a lead enters a specific stage.

We are also seeing the rise of "Entity-Based Marketing" within the channel. Search engines and LLMs are no longer just looking for keywords; they are looking for the relationship between the vendor (Entity A) and the partner (Entity B). Building a dense web of high-quality, interlinked content across the partner ecosystem is the only way to dominate the "Share of Model" in the next generation of generative search.

Why Does Content Alignment Reduce Channel Conflict?

Content alignment reduces channel conflict by clearly defining the target segments and value propositions for each partner tier, preventing overlap and price-based competition. When partners have specialized content for specific niches, they are less likely to compete for the same generic leads.

Conflict in channel marketing usually arises from ambiguity. If two partners are targeting the same "enterprise manufacturing" lead with the same generic corporate deck, the only differentiator left is price. By providing "Verticalized Content Kits"—one for food processing, one for automotive, one for aerospace—vendors encourage partners to specialize.

Specialization, fueled by deep-context content, allows partners to build a "moat" around their specific expertise. This makes the entire channel marketing ecosystem more resilient and profitable, as partners become indispensable experts in their chosen domains rather than interchangeable resellers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How do I measure the ROI of my channel marketing content?

Directly track lead attribution through your TCMA or PRM system. High-performing content should be measured by "Partner Adoption Rate" and "MQL-to-SQL Conversion." By monitoring which assets the most successful partners use, you can optimize your production budget toward high-impact materials.

2. My partners aren't using the content I provide. What is wrong?

The content is likely too generic or too difficult to customize. In channel marketing, ease of use is the primary driver of adoption. Ensure your assets are modular, co-brandable with a single click, and formatted for the platforms where your partners’ customers actually spend their time.

3. Should I provide the same content to all partners?

No, a tiered approach is more effective for channel marketing success. Your "Gold" partners should receive exclusive, high-value thought leadership pieces, while "Silver" and "Bronze" partners receive more standardized tactical assets. This incentivizes partners to invest more in the relationship to unlock better resources.

4. How does digital content help with partner recruitment?

High-quality enablement content is a major selling point for prospective partners. When looking to join a vendor network, partners evaluate the "Marketing Support" as a key benefit. Showcasing a robust library of channel marketing assets proves that you are committed to their success and business growth.

5. Is video more effective than written content in channel marketing?

Video is superior for engagement and demonstrating complex products, but written content is essential for SEO and deep research. A balanced channel marketing strategy uses short-form video for social awareness and long-form white papers or case studies for closing high-value B2B deals in the consideration phase.

6. How can I prevent partners from "going rogue" with their own branding?

Provide high-quality, professional templates that are easier to use than creating something from scratch. In channel marketing, partners only create their own (often off-brand) materials when the vendor-provided assets are outdated, irrelevant, or too difficult to find and customize within the partner portal.

7. How often should I update my channel marketing asset library?

Your library should be audited quarterly to remove outdated technical specs and refreshed monthly with new social snippets. In the fast-paced world of channel marketing, content has a short shelf-life. Keeping a "Freshness Score" for your assets ensures partners always have access to the latest market insights.

Most channel partners do not have marketing resources and, as a result, rarely use content marketing as part of their lead generation efforts. At most, they may have technical blogs or a social media program. But effective content marketing requires a holistic approach, and the best way to achieve this is with a Channel Marketing Automation platform that incorporates all the relevant content and integrated marketing tools for a complete campaign.

In situations of high demand and low competition, content marketing is not essential. The market will come to you as long as you are able to provide simple information distribution to prospects and customers. But for most areas of IT, this is how the world was fifty years ago.

How things have changed! Most markets today are ardently contested by multiple providers. Unless you are a Google with 70% market share and a business model built around your monopoly as an information enabler, as a technology vendor you will need an active content marketing campaign if it is to grow and thrive. This means a lot more than just distributing information about products and services to existing customers or interested prospects. Content marketing is all about creating an active engagement that allows you to remain top of mind with potential buyers through a stream of valuable insights and information. Easy to say, but hard to do, since not only must compelling content be created, but you must also control content distribution and track its consumption.

The good news is that over the past decade content marketing techniques have improved dramatically with digitization of content, and multiple methods of online distribution. As consumption of digital content has evolved into a three screens experience (mobile, desktop and TV), new content marketing – creation and tracking – tools have also emerged allowing the vendor/content provider to track consumption patterns, behavior and audience demographics with a high degree of precision.

Nevertheless, the challenge remains as to how you provide a content marketing platform within a channel marketing environment. Organizations that sell through a distribution network almost invariably find it difficult to provide content marketing tools that work efficiently as a channel marketing enabler. The key requirement to stimulate partner marketing efforts is for an integrated platform that distributors, resellers and IT solution providers can use without spending too much time or money.

At ZINFI we have dedicated ourselves for the last decade to solving this dilemma. Today, our Partner Relationship Management (PRM) platform provides a set of integrated channel marketing tools, including search, social, landing pages, events, web syndication, and more, that not only allows a vendor organization to provide digital marketing content to their channel partners, but also enables IT solution providers with no marketing expertise to get the...

Quantity-focused recruiting drives high churn and diluted market presence. This guide shows how to use data, automated workflows, and consultative engagement to recruit the right partners and build a resilient ecosystem.

It doesn’t matter how big or small your channel is:  chances are that once in a while you need to run partner recruitment campaigns – especially when you launch a new product or acquire a new company that your current channel is not equipped to sell. However, partner recruitment is not an easy task. We at ZINFI can help you with this or do it on your behalf either on a national level or globally by using our Channel Marketing Automation and concierge services.Most vendors want to recruit channel partners who have marketing, sales and product capabilities in place to sell the vendors’ specific set of products. Research statistics show that channel partners bringing in average revenues of between $2-10 million carry products from anywhere between six and 40 vendors. So, for a partner to add another product to his portfolio, it is a major strategic decision that is never taken lightly. Vendors therefore need to be highly selective about the partners they select and what to do to make the engagement meaningful.There are seven success parameters that we know to be critical to create a meaningful engagement with a prospective partner that leads to successful recruitment.* Know your partners – Channel marketing is about building repeatable motion, so if you already have a set of partners that are selling your product, the best thing to do is to understand what makes your best partners successful before embarking on partner recruitment. How?  Well, you can do a simple survey using a Channel Marketing Automation platform, asking them what other products they sell, who their premier vendors are and what distinguishes them from the rest, and how much and what type of service they provide. Since the survey tool is part of your Channel Marketing Automation platform, the data collected remains yours, and you can use it over and over again as a basis for reaching out to the right targets.* Build your target list – Once you know your target partner profile, it is easy to build a list of companies to begin your partner recruitment. You can use LinkedIn, data.com and other data sources to find this information. We at ZINFI can also help you to build customized partner lists by using our Channel Marketing Automation platform, which connects – among other sources – to multiple social and database sites.* Create your message – Partner recruitment must engage your potential prospects. It requires a very specific business proposition that must answer three fundamental questions if a new partner is to engage:  i) how would this solution help me differentiate my company in my market place, ii) how much investment would I have to make to sell this product and iii) how much revenue and profit would I make from an average transaction. If these three items are not answered clearly, then the rest of the channel program from rewards and rebates to MDF and more will not be enough to engage a prospective partner.* Make it a yearly goal – Most often vendors run partner recruitment campaign for three to six months and then stop. A short-term campaign is rarely effective. But if you take a long-term approach, and continue to reach out over 12 months to a targeted set of partners with specific messages, engage them into multiple conversation and help them understand how they can differentiate and make money, you will start seeing returns from the campaign.  This may occur anywhere from three to six months down the road, but be prepared for a longer haul.

It doesn’t matter how big or small your channel is:  chances are that once in a while you need to run partner recruitment campaigns – especially when you launch a new product or acquire a new company that your current channel is not equipped to sell. However, partner recruitment is not an easy task. We at ZINFI can help you with this or do it on your behalf either on a national level or globally by using our Channel Marketing Automation and concierge services.

Most vendors want to recruit channel partners who have marketing, sales and product capabilities in place to sell the vendors’ specific set of products. Research statistics show that channel partners bringing in average revenues of between $2-10 million carry products from anywhere between six and 40 vendors. So, for a partner to add another product to his portfolio, it is a major strategic decision that is never taken lightly. Vendors therefore need to be highly selective about the partners they select and what to do to make the engagement meaningful.

There are seven success parameters that we know to be critical to create a meaningful engagement with a prospective partner that leads to successful recruitment.

* Know your partners – Channel marketing is about building repeatable motion, so if you already have a set of partners that are selling your product, the best thing to do is to understand what makes your best partners successful before embarking on partner recruitment. How?  Well, you can do a simple survey using a Channel Marketing Automation platform, asking them what other products they sell, who their premier vendors are and what distinguishes them from the rest, and how much and what type of service they provide. Since the survey tool is part of your Channel Marketing Automation platform, the data collected remains yours, and you can use it over and over again as a basis for reaching out to the right targets.

* Build your target list – Once you know your target partner profile, it is easy to build a list of companies to begin your partner recruitment. You can use LinkedIn, data.com and other data sources to find this information. We at ZINFI can also help you to build customized partner lists by using our Channel Marketing Automation platform, which connects – among other sources - to multiple social and database sites.

* Create your message – Partner recruitment must engage your potential prospects. It requires a very specific business proposition that must answer three fundamental questions if a new partner is to engage:  i) how would this solution help me differentiate my company in my market place, ii) how much investment would I have to make to sell this product and iii) how much revenue and profit would I make from an average transaction. If these three items are not answered clearly, then the rest of the channel program from rewards and rebates to MDF and more will not be enough to engage a prospective partner.

* Make it a yearly goal – Most often vendors run partner recruitment campaign for three to six months and then stop. A short-term campaign is rarely effective. But if you take a long-term approach, and continue to reach out over 12 months to a targeted set of partners with specific messages, engage them into multiple conversation and help them understand how they can differentiate and make money, you will start seeing returns from the campaign.  This may occur anywhere from three to six months down the road,

Channel marketing automation provides a structured way to engage partners with personalized, relevant content. It helps you automate routine tasks, so you can focus on building stronger relationships.

In today's competitive landscape, simply having a channel program is not nearly enough. You must actively engage your partners to keep them motivated and productive for you.

Your partners are busy running their own businesses and serving their unique customers. Getting their attention requires a thoughtful, consistent, and highly relevant engagement strategy.

This is where carefully planned partner marketing tools can make a significant difference. Automation allows you to scale your engagement efforts without sacrificing a crucial personal touch.

By streamlining communication and providing valuable resources, you empower partners to succeed. This ultimately drives more revenue for your organization and for their business operations.

Key Takeaways

TL;DR

Utilize automation for personalized communication to make every partner feel uniquely valued.

Streamline content delivery with easy-to-use syndication and co-branding tools for partners.

Simplify lead management and distribution to increase fairness, transparency, and partner trust.

- Empower partners with automated, role-based onboarding and continuous training paths.

Boost motivation by using automated systems for managing incentives like MDF and rebates.

A unified platform integrates all these functions for a seamless partner experience.

How Can Channel Marketing Automation Personalize Partner Communication?

Personalization is the cornerstone of effective partner engagement in modern business ecosystems. Partners are more likely to engage when they receive relevant, timely communications.

A robust channel marketing automation platform allows you to segment your partner base. You can group them by tier, geography, specialization, or even performance history.

Once segmented, you can create and deliver targeted messaging for each specific group. This ensures that every email, newsletter, or alert is directly applicable to the recipient.

For example, new partners can receive a dedicated onboarding welcome sequence with key information. Meanwhile, top-tier partners might get exclusive updates on new products or incentives.

This level of personalization shows that you understand and value each partner’s specific needs. It moves away from a one-size-fits-all approach that often gets ignored by everyone.

Effective automated partner marketing helps you build a stronger, more personal connection at scale. It transforms your mass communications into a series of meaningful one-on-one conversations.

Tools for creating dynamic content can further enhance this highly personalized approach. You can use merge fields to include the partner’s name, company, or tier status.

Modern platforms can even change entire content blocks based on the partner’s profile. This makes each message feel like it was crafted just for their specific business.

The result is higher open rates, increased click-through rates, and greater overall engagement. Partners pay attention because the information you provide helps them succeed in their work.

This targeted communication strategy can be extended beyond email into the partner portal itself. You can curate the portal dashboard to show relevant content for a great user experience.

With tools like ZINFI's User Management, you can define specific roles and permissions. This ensures partners only see the information and tools that matter most to them.

This approach reduces clutter and makes it easier for partners to find what they need. A clean, personalized portal experience encourages frequent logins and deeper program participation.

An effective channel marketing automation system also tracks partner engagement with your communications. It gives you data on what content resonates most with different partner segments.

You can use this data to refine your strategy over time for better results. This data-driven approach ensures your communication continually evolves to meet partner expectations.

Ultimately, personalization through automation demonstrates a deep commitment to your partners' success. It fosters loyalty by making them feel seen, understood, and genuinely supported.

Such a strong relationship foundation is essential for long-term channel growth and profitability. It turns passive resellers into active, brand-advocating partners for your organization.

What Role Does Content Syndication Play in Channel Marketing Automation?

Content is the fuel for any successful marketing engine, including your channel program. However, providing content is not enough; it must be easily accessible and usable.

Partners often lack the time or resources to create their own marketing materials. They rely on you to provide high-quality, ready-to-use assets for their campaigns.

An advanced channel marketing automation platform simplifies this entire content delivery process. It مرکزی a content library where partners can find everything they might need.

This includes datasheets, case studies, white papers, email templates, and social media posts. Everything is organized and searchable, saving partners valuable time and considerable effort.

One of the most powerful features of these systems is content syndication. This allows partners to automatically populate their own websites with your approved content.

When you update a product description, it automatically updates on all syndicated partner sites. This ensures brand consistency and accuracy across your entire channel ecosystem immediately.

Through-partner marketing automation also facilitates simple asset co-branding for partner use. Partners can easily add their logo and contact information to your marketing collateral.

A tool like ZINFI’s Co-Branded Assets Management automates this process. It eliminates the need for manual design requests and approvals for sales materials.

Partners can generate professional, co-branded materials in just a few simple clicks. This empowerment encourages them to market your products more actively and consistently.

Social media is another critical area where automation can significantly boost partner activity. Many partners struggle to maintain an active, engaging social media presence for business.

With an automated channel tool for social media, you can provide pre-approved social posts. Partners can then schedule these posts to be published automatically on their profiles.

ZINFI's Social Syndication Management module makes this process incredibly simple and efficient for everyone. It helps partners amplify your brand message with minimal effort from their teams.

This broadens your marketing reach and builds brand credibility through trusted local voices. It is a win-win for both you and your network of valued partners.

Providing a video library is another excellent way to engage partners with content. Video is a highly effective medium for product demos, training, and testimonials.

An organized Video Library Management system allows partners to easily find and share video content. This helps them communicate your value proposition more effectively to all end customers.

Ultimately, a streamlined content strategy powered by channel marketing automation is essential. It removes friction and empowers partners to become effective marketers for your brand.

By making it easy, you drastically increase the likelihood of partner participation. This widespread marketing activity generates more leads and drives significant revenue growth.

Why is Simplified Lead Management a Benefit of Channel Marketing Automation?

Effective lead management is one of the most critical functions in any channel program. Poorly managed leads can cause channel conflict, partner frustration, and lost revenue.

Manual lead distribution processes are often slow, inconsistent, and prone to human error. They can create perceptions of favoritism, which quickly damages partner trust and morale.

A great channel marketing automation platform solves these problems by automating lead handling. It centralizes all incoming leads into a single, manageable system for review.

Rules-based workflows can then be used to distribute these leads to partners automatically. These rules can be based on geography, partner tier, certification, or other criteria.

This ensures a fair, transparent, and rapid distribution of sales opportunities to partners. Partners receive high-quality leads quickly, allowing them to engage prospects while they are hot.

Deal registration is another area where automation provides immense value for your program. It allows partners to formally claim a lead they have generated themselves.

An automated Deal Registration Management system provides a simple online form for partners. It then checks for duplicates and routes the registration for approval in seconds.

This protects partners’ investments in lead generation and prevents channel conflict. It gives them the confidence to proactively hunt for new business for your company.

The automation platform also provides complete visibility into the lead lifecycle for everyone. You can track when a lead was assigned, accepted, and updated by the partner.

This visibility allows you to monitor partner performance and identify potential bottlenecks. If a partner is not following up on leads, you can intervene and offer support.

Predictive analytics can even forecast which leads are most likely to close. This helps you and your partners prioritize efforts on the most promising opportunities.

Partners also benefit from this enhanced visibility into all their opportunities. They can log in to the portal and see their entire sales pipeline at a glance.

This centralized view helps them manage their activities and forecast their own revenues. It transforms the partner portal into an essential business

Most technology vendors struggle to keep their partners informed about product and program changes via their Channel Marketing Automation platform. This happens mostly when the vendor relies too heavily on Email Marketing based communication. While all Channel Marketing Automation tools provide Email Marketing as a core tool of communication, very few provide a set of alternative or supplementary communication tools, and this is a problem, because email is easy to ignore and ineffective as a single communications medium. ZINFI’s Channel Marketing Automation platform provides realistic, alternative tools to bridge this gap.An average channel partner with $2 million to $10 million in annual revenues will probably carry products from between six and forty technology vendors. Each vendor provides multiple products that go through product refresh, updates, and end of life announcements on a quarterly basis. On top of that each channel program has multiple updates related to market development funds (MDF), rewards, rebates, training, etc. Multiply that by a factor of six, or – even worse – forty, and you can see that the stream of information will be excessive, confusing, and easily forgettable. If vendors try to communicate to channel partners via emails only, it becomes almost an impossible feat to create an informed channel. The average email open rate is only 10-15% for most email blasts to the channel. So what can be done? Here are 5 options: * Mobile Responsive Portal– Almost all partners today live by their smart phones, and like any other business users they access a lot of information on their mobile devices. Therefore it makes sense for vendors to separate daily and weekly communications on to a web-based mobile platform, and encourage partners to bookmark that site on their handheld devices.* Mobile Applications– It is relatively easy to develop branded mobile applications, but only if you have a structured way to push fresh content. Product and program related content can easily be sent to a mobile application, and this creates a secure way of pushing content to partners – including sales videos, product training, and program announcements. However, content segregation is the key for success via mobile devices. You only want to push relevant content to relevant partners – not everything to everyone.* Social Communities– Most vendors are engaged in social communities targeted towards channel partners; however, information is not often distributed through these communities in a strategic way and much content is pushed randomly. A better tactic is to create multiple communications streams for topics like sales, marketing, training, or products. While you cannot push confidential or sensitive information (such as special pricing) through a publicly available site, information can be provided in such a way that partners are alerted about changes, and can then log into a secure site (mobile friendly is recommended) to access more information.* Mobile Video Portals– If a picture is worth thousand words, a video is worth a million. Most partners very rarely in an office. So, while they are waiting in the lobby to meet a client, traveling, or taking a break from a partner training conference, they have multiple opportunities to watch three- to five–minute-long information videos. It’s a simple matter today to take and upload videos without needing special production facilities. Get a simple tripod for your smartphone and you are in business.

Most technology vendors struggle to keep their partners informed about product and program changes via their Channel Marketing Automation platform. This happens mostly when the vendor relies too heavily on Email Marketing based communication. While all Channel Marketing Automation tools provide Email Marketing as a core tool of communication, very few provide a set of alternative or supplementary communication tools, and this is a problem, because email is easy to ignore and ineffective as a single communications medium. ZINFI’s Channel Marketing Automation platform provides realistic, alternative tools to bridge this gap.

An average channel partner with $2 million to $10 million in annual revenues will probably carry products from between six and forty technology vendors. Each vendor provides multiple products that go through product refresh, updates, and end of life announcements on a quarterly basis. On top of that each channel program has multiple updates related to market development funds (MDF), rewards, rebates, training, etc. Multiply that by a factor of six, or – even worse - forty, and you can see that the stream of information will be excessive, confusing, and easily forgettable. If vendors try to communicate to channel partners via emails only, it becomes almost an impossible feat to create an informed channel. The average email open rate is only 10-15% for most email blasts to the channel. So what can be done? Here are 5 options:

* Mobile Responsive Portal– Almost all partners today live by their smart phones, and like any other business users they access a lot of information on their mobile devices. Therefore it makes sense for vendors to separate daily and weekly communications on to a web-based mobile platform, and encourage partners to bookmark that site on their handheld devices.

* Mobile Applications– It is relatively easy to develop branded mobile applications, but only if you have a structured way to push fresh content. Product and program related content can easily be sent to a mobile application, and this creates a secure way of pushing content to partners – including sales videos, product training, and program announcements. However, content segregation is the key for success via mobile devices. You only want to push relevant content to relevant partners – not everything to everyone.

* Social Communities– Most vendors are engaged in social communities targeted towards channel partners; however, information is not often distributed through these communities in a strategic way and much content is pushed randomly. A better tactic is to create multiple communications streams for topics like sales, marketing, training, or products. While you cannot push confidential or sensitive information (such as special pricing) through a publicly available site, information can be provided in such a way that partners are alerted about changes, and can then log into a secure site (mobile friendly is recommended) to access more information.

* Mobile Video Portals– If a picture is worth thousand words, a video is worth a million. Most partners very rarely in an office. So, while they are waiting in the lobby to meet a client, traveling, or taking a break from a partner training conference, they have multiple opportunities to watch three- to five–minute-long information videos.