How to Create a User Experience that Commands Channel Partners’ Loyalty
As a channel marketer, you provide your partners with resources that help them sell your brand. One of these should be a platform through which they can obtain branded marketing materials and enroll in automated programs. Just because such a platform exists, however, doesn’t mean that your partners will love it. It needs to be one that they like using. If they enjoy working with the platform, there’s a great chance that they’ll enjoy marketing your brand even more.
Here are three ways to give your partners the user experience that will give you their solid loyalty:
Keep It Simple
Amazon.com has become the gold standard for what consumers want the Internet to be. Why? Because it’s so easy to use. You have no problem finding what you need (or don’t need but really, really want). The same principle applies to your marketing platform. Your channel partners shouldn’t have to spend an eternity searching for marketing resources. If they do,they might find it easier to stop selling your brand. Give them a platform that is easy to use so that they are equipped to be your marketing partners.
Personalize, Personalize, Personalize
In the 2013 Online Personal Experience Survey, 74 percent of online consumers said that they get frustrated when a website serves content that doesn’t match their interests. Your channel partners are online consumers, too, right? Imagine how annoyed they would get if they see content on your platform that has nothing to do with them. Configure your platform to serve content based on partners’ location, sales numbers, and any other relevant data. If you take the effort to give them a unique experience, they’ll pay you back with loyalty.
Listen to Partners’ Feedback
Remember that this platform is not for you. It’s for your channel partners. They use it the most, so let them give feedback on what works, what doesn’t, and what new features the platform could use. When they give you feedback, let them know that you are listening and will consider it. If the suggestions will provide partners with a more valuable experience, apply them. The more your partners see that you listen to them, the more they will do what they can do help you — and your brand — succeed.
Your channel partners sell a variety of brands. This means their attention is spread out among many different companies. The ones that focus on channel partners’ needs the most are the ones that will be more likely to see local marketing success. By offering partners a platform with a user-centric experience, you’re in a much better position to earn their loyalty for a long time.