Thom ProvenThe ABM Leaders Group webinar on Channel Marketing – MDF Optimization hosted on 15th December 2022 was a great opportunity to learn about how to optimize your channel marketing spend by setting up a strategic ROI-focused approach.

We heard from some of the leading experts in the marketing and advertising industry, including Leslie Alore, Heather Harlos, Thom Campbell, Kam Goldman and co-hosts, Claudio Ayub and Bob Samuels.

Here are the top takeaways from our webinar on Channel Marketing:

  1. Creating Exciting and Engaging Channel Partner Participation It’s important to make it easy for them to participate, make the process visual, provide incentives and automation tools, build strong partnerships, and have branded materials available for sales drives.

2. Funding Marketing vs Enablement – Finding a balance is important. The right balance will allow you to do both, but it’s important to know what each is and how each fits into your overall strategy.

3. Marketing-to Channel Partners, as well as marketing-through and with them, is critical for maximizing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Partnering with 50 or even 100 strategic partners will enable you to customize your plan.

4. Marketing Certification Programs for partners – Participation badge that people like to share.

5. Marketing-with-Partners – Thom Campbell uses a “with” marketing strategy rather than a “through” marketing strategy. ‘With-marketing’, the company works with the partner on the funds shared rather than just handing over the funds so that they can run a program as they please.

6. MDF program requirements should be structured in such a way that funds are used strategically. A campaign brief should address the following four questions:

  • Who is the audience
  • What is the message
  • Why should they care about it
  • What are the metrics by which success will be measured?
Value Bomb
When you speak to everyone you reach no one
– Heather Harlos, 

Sr Director of Global Partner Enablement and Programs, Proofpoint

7. Measurement-tracking impressions and click-throughs as well as leads converted is essential for determining the effectiveness of your marketing efforts(Watch the Webinar  – 18:22).

8. Precision Demand Marketing – a relatively new strategy in the field of demand marketing(Watch the Webinar  – 35:16).

9. MDF program guidelines – make them clear and concise(Watch the Webinar  – 40:43).

10. Proposal-based approach to partner collaboration. In this approach, a partner is chosen based on their ability to meet the requirements set out in the proposal (Watch the Webinar  – 44:02).      .

11. Compliance as a challenge in B2B Lead Gen and how to tackle it(Watch the Webinar  – 42:10).

12. Reimbursement Process – Ways to manage partner reimbursement(Watch the Webinar  – 49:33).

13. Marketing Attribution – Multi-touch approach. This model can help you determine which touchpoints in the customer journey are most effective at driving revenue and increase ROI on your marketing spend(Watch the Webinar  – 52:40).

14. Net new revenue vs Net new account

Value Bomb (Watch the Webinar  – 39:47)
Proven ROI
– Thom Campbell, 

In answer to the question, ‘how do you get more budget for next year?’

The webinar covered everything from setting up an MDF strategy to measuring the impact of it. If you missed it or would like to watch the full presentation again, we’ve got you covered!

Watch the on-demand webinar here –  http://bit.ly/3BRZFIo