Creative on a budget

There are a range of options available when it comes to marketing your business and they don't have to cost you the earth. Use the resources around you to succeed.

Join forces
Fallon Emery, field program marketing manager at CA has experience working with both vendors and resellers. "For the reseller, marketing is imperative. Why? Because more than any other business function, marketing deals with the customers. Despite all the complicated definitions, marketing is about attracting new and keeping existing customers at a profit. If you're in business - you need marketing," she explained.

Joint marketing with vendors represents a great opportunity as long as it is done correctly. "Vendors see channel partners as an extension of their own sales team. Accordingly, they provide them with a similar level of sales and marketing tools and support," said Emery. "Traditionally, we've seen a lot of standard collateral, partner logos and 'one off' marketing pieces provided to partners. However, it's no good simply banging a reseller's logo on a vendor postcard and hoping for the best."

For the reseller, some of the best opportunities lay in their ability to personalise campaign materials, offered through many vendor driven partner programs. Resellers can customise the messaging to highlight where they add value and differentiate themselves from their competition in the market.
"Usually, vendors will have more resources such as money and campaign pieces for the reseller to leverage, but resellers must be willing to put in the time and effort to make any campaign effective," added Emery.

Use vendor tools
Many vendors have marketing strategies that have been devised specifically for their resellers. Security specialist, McAfee, is developing a tool that creates marketing materials for SecurityAlliance partners. MAK Wizard, The McAfee Marketing Assistant Kit, will be launched later this year and enables partners to create personal, segment, strategy and solution based HTML emails. There will be a section that designs ads, animated banners and interactive network diagrams. Within the McAfee partner program the marketing department can help is able to assist. "As the majority of resellers don't have time to write up their own marketing plans, they look to us for leadership and guidance on Internet security market trends and gaps.

I encourage them to think of our marketing department as an extension of their own," said Marsha Hall, marketing manager A/N Z region for McAfee.

Maintain databases
Emery at CA insists that maintaining an accurate database is vital. "Key marketing goals for the reseller should include protecting and leveraging existing customers as well as finding a way to differentiate from the competition,"

One of the best ways to do this is by maintaining databases and contacting customers and prospects regularly.

Having an audience for your marketing message is perhaps the most important element of any campaign.

"Resellers should never underestimate the value of their customers," added Emery. "Building a list of customer references will help you reward your customers when they recommend someone to you. Focus on the lifetime value of a customer. Remind them of a product or service you have that they aren't using. Cross-sell and upsell."

Ask for help
Andrew Antal, marketing director Asia Pacific for MessageLabs said: "Marketing needs to be targeted and have specific measurements to ensure that resellers maximise their marketing dollars."

Antel recommends the Australian Information Industry Association, an organisation that runs marketing sessions for resellers and the general IT community as a starting point. "These sessions are good in hearing from different marketing folks in the IT industry,"added Antal.

Top 10 tips

1. Plan ahead.
2. Align with vendor/marketing plan.
3. Align with vendor marketing spend calendar.
4. Use free vendor tools.
5. Leverage big seminars and roadshows.
6. Keep a good, clean database that is up-to-date.
7. Be mindful of ROI when applying for co-funding and partner funding.
8. Use own sales team to tap into databases to cross-sell and upsell.
9. Liaise with vendors to participate in their partner stands at events to increase awareness with company names and improving relationships.
10. Use content in collateral, brochures, white papers, etc and brand as
your own