Channel partners are leaving valuable market development funds on the table.
Rachel Brindley, senior director of channels at Omdia — a Channel Dive sister company — said many partners are failing to maximize MDF at a time when vendors are zeroing in on marketing-led demand generation and customer engagement.
“Partners are not maximizing their marketing development funds enough. They’re not using them in a sufficient way,” she said at Omdia’s recent channel transformation event in London.
More than 40% of partners weren’t sure which MDF-supported activity delivered the greatest impact on their business, according to Omdia.
“They don’t know the impact of those MDF funds. They can’t measure the return on investment. They can’t tell what’s happening,” said Brindley.
The findings suggest partners risk missing both funding and pipeline opportunities as vendors expect them to drive demand rather than simply fulfill transactions.
One reason partners struggle to make the most of MDF is a wide variation in marketing maturity across the channel.
While larger partners are building dedicated marketing teams, automation platforms and processes for measuring campaign performance, smaller organizations are operating with limited resources and little visibility into which activities deliver results.
“There is a real divergence,” said Brindley, arguing that marketing capability is becoming a competitive advantage as partner programs evolve.
Channel firms that can measure campaign performance and demonstrate business outcomes are better positioned to maximize MDF investment and build stronger relationships with vendors, she added.
The challenge becomes acute as customers engage with vendors and partners early in the buying process. Prospects are consuming vendor content independently before they engage with a sales team or channel partner, according to Brindley.
“There is definitely a shift in how customers are consuming,” she said. “They’re consuming much earlier in that buying cycle, so by the time they get to you or the partner, they’ve already read white papers. They’ve already heard a podcast. They’ve already done some research.”
Partners need to up their game, supplementing legacy assets supplied by MDF programs and reaching out to prospects early in the buying cycle.
The responsibility doesn’t rest solely with partners.
Nearly 9 in 10 channel firm surveyed by Omdia considered marketing activation critical to strategic vendor relationships. However, more than half said vendors failed to provide adequate marketing resources.
“Partners need to get better at utilizing those marketing development funds,” said Brindley. “But vendors also need to give partners more support in order to help them use those funds.”
The stakes are rising as vendor extend incentives beyond product sales to the full customer lifecycle, including co-selling, deployment, adoption and expansion. Brindley warned that vendors will base MDF budget investment decisions on a partner’s marketing maturity, as well as on measurable outcomes.
