Partner Marketing Automation (PMA/TCMA) platforms have transformed how companies scale their through-channel marketing. Automation enables more partners to participate, campaigns to run consistently, and performance to be tracked centrally.

But many partner marketing leaders discover that automation alone doesn’t guarantee engagement.

In fact, over time, it can make programs quieter.

What happens after PMA campaigns are automated?

One of the biggest advantages of PMA is that partners can “set it and forget it.” They select campaigns, connect their channels, and automation takes over.

The challenge is what happens next.

From the vendor side, performance lives in dashboards – email opens, clicks, impressions, and leads are visible. From the partner’s perspective, that value is often invisible unless they actively log in and look for it.

Over time, this creates a common pattern:

• Campaigns are running
• Results exist
• But partners aren’t consistently engaged

Not because the program isn’t working—but because the impact isn’t visible enough.

Why is partner marketing visibility so important?

Partners stay engaged when they can clearly see the value they’re receiving.

When partners are regularly reminded:

• How many buyers were driven to their website
• How their co-branded campaigns performed
• How many leads are waiting in their dashboard
• Resources available to help them move opportunities forward

…the program stays top of mind. Confidence grows. Participation increases.

Without proactive visibility, even strong programs risk being deprioritized by partners who are juggling many vendor relationships.

Do TCMA/PMA platforms automatically share performance metrics with partners?

Most TCMA/PMA platforms provide robust reporting for vendors, but most do notautomatically package and email performance results to partners.

As a result, many teams rely on:

• Spreadsheets
• Manual summaries and emails
• Ad hoc partner communications

These approaches are time-consuming, hard to scale, and often the first thing dropped when internal resources get stretched.

How can vendors automatically share PMA results with partners?

This gap is exactly why we built PartnerVue.

PartnerVue sits on top of PMA/TCMA platforms and automatically:

• Pulls each partner’s PMA performance data via API
• Organizes it into clear, partner-friendly insights
• Emails every partner a monthly performance summary with their own metrics

Instead of asking partners to log into dashboards, PartnerVue brings results directly to their inbox.

What metrics should partners see from PMA campaigns?

Each PartnerVue email highlights the metrics partners care about most, including:

• Engagement: email opens, click-throughs, and social impressions
• Content performance: document downloads and landing page visits
• Demand generation: leads received and pipeline activity

This makes vendor-funded marketing tangible and reinforces the value of continued participation.

How does PartnerVue improve partner engagement and ROI?

For partners, PartnerVue makes impact visible and reinforces why participating in PMA matters.

For vendors, the benefits include:

• Increased partner engagement and campaign participation
• Fewer “is this working?” conversations internally
• Clear proof of ROI tied to partner activity
• Reduced reliance on manual reporting

PartnerVue also supports internal visibility by providing consistent reporting that can be shared with partner managers and leadership.

How easy is it to add PartnerVue to a PMA platform?

PartnerVue is designed to be simple.

• No configuration required from your team
• No disruption to your existing PMA/TCMA instance
• Typically live within 30 days

It complements TCMA/PMA platforms by extending the value of the data you already have.

When should PMA teams consider adding PartnerVue?

PartnerVue is most valuable when:

• PMA campaigns are live, but partner engagement feels quiet
• Teams want to reinforce value without adding manual work
• Vendors need clearer proof of impact for partners and leadership

If your PMA program is running but partners aren’t as engaged as you’d expect, visibility—not execution—may be the missing piece.

Contact us to see a sample partner report or a full demo of PartnerVue.

Learn more about PartnerVue

The post Making Partner Marketing Impact Visible with PartnerVue™ appeared first on AscendX Digital.

It signals intent:

• To scale partner impact
• To bring consistency and measurement to through-channel efforts
• To move beyond one-off campaigns and manual execution

In most cases, the decision is sound. PMA platforms are powerful, flexible, and capable of driving real pipeline.

Yet for many teams, the real challenge doesn’t surface at purchase. It often shows up months later, in a phase few people talk about openly.

The Part of PMA Adoption No One Prepares You For

Early in a PMA rollout, expectations are high.

Teams are energized by the platform’s potential. Partners are being introduced. Internal stakeholders are aligned around the vision of scalable, repeatable partner marketing.

Then reality sets in.

Weeks in, teams are learning the system.
Months in, execution starts to feel heavier than planned.
And before long, the program enters what we call the quiet middle.

This is the stage where:

• Campaigns are being rolled out, but few are live in-market
• Partner onboarding is slower and more uneven than expected
• Internal teams are juggling PMA alongside many other priorities
• Leadership begins asking when results will show up

Nothing is “wrong.”
But momentum hasn’t arrived yet.

And that gap matters.

The Problem Isn’t the Platform

When PMA initiatives struggle, the instinct is often to question the technology.

Is through-partner marketing a difficult strategy?

Is PMA technology too complex?
Was it the wrong vendor?
Are partners uninterested in participating?

In most cases, the answer is no. The real issue is time-to-value.

Self-managed PMA programs require more than software:

• Detailed campaign strategy
• Platform technology expertise
• Content creation & readiness
• Partner activation & enablement
• Ongoing execution and optimization

Many organizations underestimate how much operational lift is required to translate PMA capability into live partner activity and measurable results.

As a result, meaningful momentum often takes 9–12 months to materialize when everything is handled internally – much longer than anticipated.

Why Waiting Quietly Gets Expensive

During this quiet middle, staying the course feels like the safest option.

After all, the platform is already purchased. Teams are busy. Progress may be happening—just slowly.

But the cost of waiting is rarely neutral.

Until partners are live and campaigns are running:

• Pipeline cannot be generated
• Partner confidence can erode
• Internal teams remain stretched
• Executive patience starts to thin

Every month of delay quietly pushes results further out while expectations continue to rise, and what often goes unmodeled is that delayed pipeline is lost opportunity.

The Internal Stakeholder Risk

Beyond pipeline, there’s another risk that tends to surface during this phase: internal trust.

As months pass, stakeholders understandably ask:

• Are partners actually participating in campaigns?
• Is this gaining traction?
• When will we see proof that this investment is paying off?

If those questions don’t have concrete answers—live campaigns, active partners, early metrics—confidence starts to slip.

And once confidence erodes, future conversations become harder:

• Renewals require more justification
• Expansion becomes less likely
• Even successful long-term plans face skepticism

This is how strong PMA strategies stall—not because they’re flawed, but because progress wasn’t visible fast enough.

Reframing the Decision: From Stall to Pivot

The most effective PMA teams don’t frame this moment as a failure. They treat it as a checkpoint.

They ask: “How do we unlock value from our investment—before trust, time, or opportunity erodes further?”

That shift reframes execution support as:

• Time compression
• Risk reduction
• Investment protection

A short, focused execution push at this stage can:

• Get more partners live sooner
• Create visible proof points
• Relieve pressure on internal teams
• Restore confidence across stakeholders

Most importantly, it changes the narrative from “We’re still getting there” to “Here’s what’s already working.”

Momentum Changes the Conversation

When even modest partner activity is visible—campaigns running, partners engaged, metrics flowing—everything changes.

Leadership conversations become forward-looking.
Renewals feel justified.
Expansion becomes possible.

The difference isn’t the platform. It’s whether momentum arrived in time.

A Final Thought

If you’re early in PMA adoption, the quiet middle may still be ahead.

If you’re already there, know this: you’re not alone. This phase is common and solvable.

The question isn’t whether PMA works. It’s whether you can generate momentum before time, trust, or opportunity runs out.

And that’s where an expert partner makes all the difference.

How to get back on track

If you are at the very beginning of your PMA journey, AscendX Digital can help you get the results you want in the time you need to meet partner and internal executive expectations.  We recently helped one large, global brand stand up their PMA program, onboard the first 50 partners, and gain traction (500 social posts, 50k Emails, 600k impressions) in less than 90 days. At the 6-month mark, the internal team had solid results and full internal executive support to grow their program and scale globally.

If you are experiencing the “quiet middle” or struggling to get traction for your program, we can help assess your current situation, identify roadblocks and solutions, and provide guidance to get better results faster.

Contact us. There’s no obligation, and we would be pleased to listen, assess, share best practices, and help you get the results you deserve.

Get a PMA Health Check

Use our PMA Self-Assessment Tool to get insight into how your current PMA/TCMA program is working. And if you have questions, reach out. We are here to listen and help.

The post The Quiet Middle of PMA Adoption (And Why So Many Programs Stall There) appeared first on AscendX Digital.

AI-enhanced search experiences, such as Google’s AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, and platforms like Perplexity, are changing how users find information. But these technologies do not replace SEO. They depend on it. Here’s why search engine optimization remains a critical part of any modern digital marketing strategy.

AI Needs Optimized Content to Function

Even the most advanced AI tools rely on high-quality web content. These models are trained on data pulled from websites, and they can only reference what they can discover and understand.

If your site isn’t optimized for visibility, structure, and clarity:

• It may not be properly indexed or crawled.
• Your pages may not be selected for summaries or citations.
• You could lose valuable visibility in AI-curated search results.

SEO ensures that your content is accessible, well-structured, and aligned with the topics AI systems need to surface reliable answers.

AI Summaries Still Drive Clicks to Sources

AI search tools often generate quick answers, but they still provide links to source material. Whether it’s Google’s AI Overview or a citation in Perplexity, having optimized pages increases your chance of being referenced.

This approach supports:

• Referral traffic from AI-generated content.
• Credibility through appearances in cited results.
• Brand recognition at key points in the buyer journey.

SEO increases the likelihood that your site is chosen as a credible source, which keeps your brand in front of potential customers.

User Intent Hasn’t Gone Away

People may interact with AI differently than with a search engine, but their goals remain the same. Whether they are looking for an answer, a solution, or a company, intent still drives behavior.

Optimizing for user intent ensures that your content matches what users are really looking for, including:

• Informational content, such as articles and guides.
• Transactional pages, such as product or pricing information.
• Navigational queries tied to your brand or services.

Strong SEO connects your content to these goals, regardless of whether the user is typing into a search bar or asking an AI assistant.

Structured Data Helps AI Understand Your Site

AI tools need context to accurately interpret and present your content. Structured data, such as Schema markup, helps search engines and AI platforms understand what your pages are about.

By using structured data, you improve:

• How your content is categorized and displayed.
• Eligibility for featured snippets and AI summaries.
• The accuracy and relevance of AI-generated answers that draw from your site.

Without structured data, your content may be overlooked or misrepresented by AI systems.

Organic Traffic Is Changing, Not Disappearing

While AI may satisfy simple questions directly in the search interface, it does not eliminate the need for deeper content. Many users still click through to original sources for more detailed insights.

Content that continues to drive traffic includes:

• Detailed explanations and thought leadership.
• Product or solution comparisons.
• Unique insights not easily summarized by AI.

SEO makes sure your content is discoverable when users need more than just a quick response.

SEO Is Still Critical for B2B and Local Reach

For B2B marketers and local businesses, search visibility continues to influence purchasing decisions. AI may streamline the discovery process, but it does not replace the need for authoritative, specific content.

Your SEO strategy supports:

• Long research cycles in the B2B buying process.
• Local directory rankings and map listings.
• Discoverability of co-branded content, partner landing pages, and case studies.

SEO helps your business appear where customers are actively researching and evaluating their options.

The Bottom Line

SEO is not a legacy strategy. It is a foundational element of discoverability in an increasingly AI-driven environment. AI tools rely on optimized content to surface relevant, trustworthy information. Your investment in SEO directly impacts whether that content is part of the conversation.

Being found online no longer depends solely on search engines. It now includes AI platforms, voice tools, and chat-based systems. The organizations that prioritize SEO are positioning themselves to be found, trusted, and selected, regardless of how search continues to evolve.

Search and the channel

AscendX Digital provides SEO services to partners, both directly and sponsored by vendors. When vendors sponsor search optimization for their partners, they are optimizing their own search terms across their entire ecosystem. They are dominating search far and wide.

For partners, their websites get all of the technical optimization that helps them to be found, and it adds much-needed credibility and authority they would not otherwise be able to build on their own.

If you are interested in having your partners found for your products and services in the digital customer journey, contact us. We’re here to make it happen.

The post Why SEO still matters in the age of AI search appeared first on AscendX Digital.

Partner marketing leaders are expected to influence revenue, build scalable programs, and improve the overall partner experience, all while proving ROI.

And yet, many programs still struggle to scale efficiently, align with internal teams, or clearly measure their impact.

So, what’s holding teams back? And what’s actually working right now for high-performing partner marketing organizations?

Here’s a practical look at what we’re hearing and seeing in the field. 

1. The Most Common Challenges Partner Marketers Face

Despite the maturity of many partner ecosystems, three major friction points keep surfacing in our conversations with partner marketing leaders:

Misalignment Across Teams

Many partner marketers are still operating independently, disconnected from channel sales, partner managers, and corporate marketing. Without shared KPIs or campaign calendars, co-marketing initiatives don’t get the support they deserve and often fall flat.

Manual, Unscalable Execution

Co-marketing campaigns are often built from scratch each time, with inconsistent timelines and heavy manual coordination. Partners are required to log into portals and manually run campaigns (even if they are conveniently provided “in a box”).  As partner counts grow, execution bottlenecks slow things down.

Difficulty Proving Impact

Without proper tracking and attribution, it’s hard to demonstrate ROI from partner-driven campaigns. Leadership attention shifts, and budgets become harder to defend. 

2. What High-Performing Teams Are Doing Differently

Some partner marketing teams are getting it right. Here’s what they’re doing, and what you can learn from their success.

Cross-Functional Alignment Is a Force Multiplier

Partner marketing is successful when it is aligned with channel sales, product management, corporate communications, and digital marketing teams. Leading organizations are building alignment through:

• Engaging Channel Sales Teams from the Start – Partner account managers and channel sales leaders can help identify which partners are the best fit, and actively promote programs, building partner trust and increasing participation.
• Involving Channel and Program Leadership – When channel leaders integrate marketing programs into partner program tiers, partners have a greater visibility to program benefits, helping to solidify through-partner marketing program support.
• Collaborating with Corporate Marketing – When partner marketing is integrated into corporate campaigns and launch calendars, both sides benefit. Corporate teams gain additional reach through the partner channel, while partner marketers save time by adapting—not reinventing—content.

Result: Programs and campaigns run smoother, participation grows faster, and partner activity aligns with broader business goals—all because every team is pulling in the same direction.

Partner Marketing Automation Is Enabling Scale

Manual execution is one of the biggest roadblocks to scaling partner campaigns – both within partner marketing organizations and for partners. Vendor partner marketing teams have scarce resources, while the vast majority of partners (90%) are SMBs, and most (85%) don’t have in-house marketing resources to execute vendor campaigns. 

High-performing teams are leaning into automation to simplify campaign launches, reduce bottlenecks, and maintain brand consistency.

With through-partner marketing automation (PMA) tools, teams are enabling:

• More partners to participate with less effort
• Built-in brand compliance
• Real-time performance tracking and attribution
• More control over the customer’s digital journey through partners

Result: Partner marketers spend less time managing logistics and more time driving strategy, while partners go to market faster with less friction.

Measurement and Reporting: Closing the Loop with Data

The most effective programs don’t just execute—they measure. Teams leveraging TCMA/PMA platforms are using built-in analytics to track engagement and prove value, both internally and to partners.

These tools allow them to:

• Monitor campaign performance across web, email, social, and search marketing
• Attribute leads and pipeline activity to specific partners and campaigns
• Provide partners with performance reporting and lead notifications
• Share results with internal stakeholders to reinforce program value

Result: Marketing leaders can confidently demonstrate ROI, partners stay informed and engaged, and everyone can see what’s working – and why.

3. Moving Forward: Through-Partner Marketing with Purpose

If you are seeing gaps in your partner marketing program or realizing there’s more potential to unlock, this is the right time to take a step back and assess. Here’s a quick self-evaluation to help you gauge where you stand:

Partner Marketing Reality Check: Self-Evaluation

Rate each statement below as True, Somewhat True, or Not Yet:

1. Our partner marketing efforts are aligned with internal teams (sales, product, corporate marketing).
2. We have a repeatable process for launching campaigns with partners.
3. Our partners have access to ready-to-use, co-brandable content.
4. We’re using automation to streamline campaign delivery.
5. All partners (large, small, long-tail) are enthusiastically participating in our partner marketing programs.
6. We can clearly measure the results of our partner campaigns and report on ROI.
7. Our partner communication is proactive, consistent, and adds value.
8. We have the internal resources and processes to support long-term scale.

If you answered “Not Yet” to more than two items, your program likely needs additional structure, automation, or alignment to scale effectively.

Getting Started Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

Here’s how to move forward with clarity:

• Start with alignment– Make a list of the internal organizations with which you need support and alignment. What are their goals/KPIs? How can your partner marketing initiatives contribute to their success? Approach them with opportunities for shared success.
• Audit what you have– Review your current campaigns, assets, and content delivery methods. Identify which partners are participating and which ones are not.  Identify what’s working, and what’s missing.
• Evaluate if PMA/TCMA is right for you – Are you reaching customers through all of your partners, and are you able to control and view the customer journey? Are you scaling efficiently across your ecosystem?
• Consider expert support– If resources are tight or progress has stalled, a service partner can help you get started quicker and build momentum with proven frameworks, tools, and execution support.

Ready to Dig In?

We’ve helped partner marketing teams assess, align, implement, and scale TCMA/PMA programs without adding unnecessary complexity. Whether you’re just starting or optimizing a current initiative, we’re happy to help.

• Schedule a 30-Minute Strategy Session here
• Download: 5 Questions to Ask Before Implementing PMA – A self-implementation readiness guide

Let us know where you’re focused, and we’ll share ideas and assets that support your goals.

The post The Partner Marketing Reality Check appeared first on AscendX Digital.

• It’s not on your partners’ websites – prominently or at all.
• It’s not in the partners’ social media or digital marketing.
• It’s deep in their websites, but it’s old news or not brand-compliant.

You may even find your competitors’ brands, products, and messages before you find yours. And if that’s what you’re finding, buyers are finding it, too.

If you build it, they won’t come

You have great marketing information. You made it easily available on a portal. You even did a training webinar for partners. But still, no one is coming.

It’s reported that 90% of partners are small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) and less than 15% of all partners use the marketing content that their vendors provide. It’s not because they don’t care. The reason your marketing campaigns and messages are not getting out is because 84% of partners don’t have dedicated marketing resources to execute.  It’s this same reason why up to 60% of MDF goes unused by partners.

Is it serious?

If you want your business to grow, then yes. Partner Marketing measures itself on revenue growth, pipeline, partner engagement, and partner growth. If your partners aren’t going to market with your brand, if they aren’t promoting your products to their customers, it’s tough to get traction, build a pipeline, and grow. 

And you should ask yourself, if your partners aren’t promoting your brand, are they more engaged with your competitors’ brands? What are your competitors doing that you’re not?

What you can do about it

Partners need more than a passive marketing portal that sits out in the ether with a strategy of hope.

Canalys Chief Analyst Jay McBain has consistently reported that his research indicates nearly two-thirds of partners need help. “…66% of all partners are in the category of Do it for me or Do it on behalf of me. In other words, they don’t have the time, they don’t have the resources, they don’t have the money, whatever it is, the skills. They don’t have the necessary abilities to go and effectively market themselves. So yeah, in 66% of the cases, I think vendors need to step up.” 

A through-partner marketing strategy that includes modern technology & automation, along with supporting people and processes can drive awareness and demand for you and your partners – at scale.  When you build it right, your partners can opt-in, select the content and activities that apply to them, sit back, and let the automation do it for them.

The solution gets your brand prominently displayed on partner websites, syndicated through partner social channels, and in front of your partners’ customers via Email and search marketing.  And your partners – they get an immediate boost to their digital presence and credibility, and lots of engagement with potential new customers.

Through-partner marketing puts you in control of the customer journey

You want buyers to land on your brand content when they visit your partners’ sites. Through-partner marketing guides that journey.

When a buyer sees a co-branded LinkedIn post, reads an Email, or finds your joint solution in search, they are guided to the exact content on your co-branded page of the partner’s website.  There’s no diversion – they find exactly what you want them to see.

How one vendor transformed their partner marketing desert into a thriving marketing ecosystem

We worked with a vendor who audited their partners. They wanted to see their brand on the partners’ websites and in their digital marketing activities. The biggest partners passed with flying colors. The medium-sized and smaller partners all failed – and were frustrated by the entire process. They felt as if they were being punished because they didn’t have the resources to comply with requirements that seemed unfair.

The vendor decided to invest in a through-partner marketing solution. We worked with them to create a program that was rewarding for partners instead of punitive and was flexible so that partners could participate in a way that worked best for them. 

And it wasn’t just about the vendor. The solution included all kinds of support for partners that enabled them to leverage the new marketing investments with services aimed at helping them be better digital actors and raising the digital profile of their own companies online – directly resulting in being found in their customers’ digital journey.  When the partners do better, the vendor does better, and everybody wins.

If your partners are not online, neither are you

The path to purchase is digital, and it’s through your partners. McKinsey & Company reports that “100% of B2B customers prefer omnichannel, no matter the industry, country, size, or customer relationship stage. There are no exceptions.”  Omnichannel is significantly digital with 82% of B2B buyers utilizing search to interact with a company before making a purchase, and 72% of B2B buyers using social media to research solutions.

If buyers are not finding the partners who sell your solutions, and if they aren’t finding your product information through your partners, they won’t find you.

Don’t let your partner marketing languish in the desert.

How AscendX Digital can help 

AscendX Digital is the first and only marketing service provider to deliver through-partner marketing as a managed service to companies who want to amplify their brand and marketing messages through their partners, reach new customers, and drive more business for the entire channel ecosystem.

Our solution includes the technology, people, and processes critical to a successful strategy. We work with multiple technology platform providers so we can ensure that you get the best solution that fits your business needs. We know how to build cross-functional alignment and integrate processes so that your solution is successful, and we help you create an experience that delights your partners. 

Because our solution is a managed service, there’s no MarTech to buy and learn, and no risk to your program if your team experiences disruption. We can get you to market faster than if you were to implement it on your own. And you can start small and pay as you grow.

Whether you have a PMA investment that needs strategic and/or operational support or are looking for a holistic TPM solution, AscendX Digital can help.

The post Do you have a partner marketing desert? appeared first on AscendX Digital.

When teams face change, new skills are required or work gets redistributed. New employees, programs, and skills requirements result in long learning curves before people are up to speed. HubSpot reported in their Top Global Marketing Challenges of 2022 report, that “Training Marketing Teams” is the top barrier facing marketing leadership.

You can win the war on talent, get to market faster, and reduce your own risk by using managed service models to supplement and enhance your own in-house teams. 

Managed Services alleviate much of this burden – but where should a CMO start? Which functions make the most sense? A good place to start is to look at your marketing technology (MarTech). According to the CMO Survey, CMOs are spending 24% of their budgets on MarTech, expecting to grow that to 30% in 5 years. What’s astounding, however, is that Gartner reports only 58% of the MarTech stack is being utilized. 

Partner Marketing Automation (PMA) is one of the fastest-growing categories of the MarTech stack (25% CAGR) and an area where companies typically need the most help. It is the technology that powers Through-Partner Marketing (TPM) strategies and programs.

What is Through-Partner Marketing?  

Through-Partner Marketing enables vendors to extend and amplify their marketing, connect with and enable more partners, reach more customers, control the customer journey, and drive more growth for every player in their channel ecosystem. It is a strategic marketing lever for the 89% of companies that use partner sales. 

TPM is an approach that must include people, processes, and technology. It is not a technology-only solution. 

The technology – Partner Marketing Automation – is revolutionary and a key enabler for vendors to drive their marketing through partners at scale and with partners of all sizes. It enables vendors to syndicate brand-compliant web content across hundreds or thousands of partner sites, automate Email campaigns through partners, syndicate social media posts on partner channels, and conduct search engine marketing en masse. 

But – it requires resource expertise to select the best platform, customize the features and capabilities, and configure for each vendor’s unique partner ecosystem. Teams of people are needed to manage the program, build and customize content, manage the platform, onboard and support partners, and much more.   

Processes must be put into place that connect the Through-Partner Marketing program across the organization, integrate with established marketing operations, deliver campaigns, refresh content, and operate the PMA tools. It’s only when all three of these elements – technology, people, and processes are in sync that a Through-Partner Marketing program will deliver on its promise.

Why Managed Services Make Sense

Companies are implementing Through-Partner Marketing because it’s innovative and it helps them reach more customers with more control, but the complexity and the newness of the technology, and the heavy resource requirements are contributing to their under-utilization. In fact, “only 17% of companies are fully satisfied that they are getting the most from the systems.” It’s not that the technology isn’t great – it is. The problem is the lack of a complete solution that includes the people and processes to make it successful – and it’s where managed services can offer real benefits and a better return on that marketing investment.

1. Reduced risk – A managed service model protects your program from the direct impacts of lay-offs and downsizing. Your marketing solution is delivered without the risk of disruption to your partners.
2. No new in-house resources required – A TPM managed service delivers the full solution with the required resources that a marketing team would need to find, train, and pull together internally – such as platform SMEs, partner support, content writing, graphic design, HTML programming, social media managers, and business analysts.
3. Flexibility – A managed service model enables you to build the solution that you want and only pay for what you need – so that your solution is never underutilized. You add on only when you are ready.
4. Time to market – How long does it take to acquire a new tech platform, find (or hire!) an internal resource, get that person (or people) trained, and then build the content to deploy on that platform? Probably 6 months at best. With managed TPM, you can be up and running in as little as 60 days.
5. Cost efficient – You get the best-of-breed resources working on and delivering your solution. And when you are only paying for what you use, you benefit.
6. Knowledge transfer – A managed service model means you are working with experts in that field, and your team learns from working with them.
7. Better outcomes – When you have experts leading the program and running the technology, you get the benefit of industry best practices. In the case of TPM, you can realize much better outcomes – such as better recruitment & onboarding, higher participation rates, better-built marketing content, improved content management, and diversity, richer business intelligence, and a better overall partner experience.
8. You’re always on the cutting edge – Companies delivering the managed services are experts. It’s all they do. Your internal teams are almost never likely to be as up-to-speed on the technology or best practices as the experts delivering the solutions.

AscendX Digital is the first and only marketing service provider to deliver Through-Partner Marketing as a managed service to companies who want to amplify their brand and marketing messages through their partners, reach new customers, and drive more business for the entire channel ecosystem.

We know Through-Partner Marketing. Our team has many decades of technology marketing expertise, and we work with vendors and channel partners every day.  We work with multiple technology platform providers so we can ensure that you get the best solution that fits your business needs. And we believe in the value of partnerships – within our team, with our vendors, and especially with our customers. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We are better together.

Whether you have a PMA investment that needs some strategic and/or operational support, or if you are looking for a holistic TPM solution, AscendX Digital can help. 

GET THE INFOGRAPHIC here.

The post Why Managed Through-Partner Marketing is Your Best Investment appeared first on AscendX Digital.

The two main line items for Channel leaders are their people budgets (Channel sales, Partner Account/Business Managers, Channel Operations, and Channel Marketing), and their program dollars. Program budgets include things like training & certification programs, channel incentives, market development funds (MDF), and channel marketing programs. So how does a leader determine where to invest? It all comes down to return.

Through-Partner Marketing (TPM) “represents the third stage for channel sales and marketing leaders”(source: Forrester), following the automation of CRM and marketing processes. It’s growing fast, and yet many companies are still testing the waters. With the advances in automation, TPM brings about a welcome improvement in the ability to measure the effectiveness and return of MDF and marketing programs and investments. 

How to measure MDF return 

If you have been in channel partner marketing as long as we have, you’ll know that it’s especially hard to measure and report on MDF returns. For many vendors, measurement is loose at best, and they often throw up their hands, claiming MDF is a “cost of doing business” with partners, rather than a strategic growth lever. We have even heard stories of vendors threatening to cut off MDF if partners didn’t provide real metrics, only to pay out the MDF the next quarter because, well, what other choice did they have?

Through-partner marketing can connect the dots and provide real metrics. But first…

What is Through-Partner Marketing?

Through-partner marketing enables brands to extend and amplify their marketing, connect with and enable more partners, reach more customers, control the digital customer journey, and drive revenue for every player in their channel ecosystem. It is a strategic marketing lever for the 89% of companies that use partner sales. It enables partner growth and creates partner loyalty.

From the partner’s perspective, TPM is an enabler. It is an investment from their vendor in their own go-to-market and digital maturity. It elevates their presence and credibility so they can be found in the customer’s digital journey. It helps to expand the breadth of partner offerings, drives leads, and builds deeper loyalty with vendors.

Measuring Through-Partner Marketing ROI 

Basic PMA tool analytics can tell a manufacturer or a distributor which marketing messages and activities are resonating best and driving real engagement with potential customers. For example, we tell our clients how many views they had of their own content across their partner ecosystem, which content was the most popular, which posts had the most engagement, and which documents were downloaded most often. We know the open and click-through rates of Ads and emails that are sent through partners, who opened and clicked through, and how many leads were generated. And, we can look at it across campaigns, or by partner. Vendors can review, optimize and invest in MDF activities and partners that are driving the most engagement.  

But at a deeper level, we calculate return on investment of the solution, and there are 2 categories of attribution – directly attributable revenue, and indirectly attributable revenue. Here’s how we do it.

Directly Attributable Through-Partner Marketing Revenue

This is the most intuitive. As customers click through on social posts, emails and paid ads, view content, and convert online, leads are generated, partners follow-up, and deals are closed. We track deals in a partner portal, and vendors can calculate ROI.  If your business is transactional, customers can convert directly on a centrally-managed store for even tighter reporting.

Indirectly Attributable Through-Partner Marketing Revenue

This one is less intuitive and a little harder to measure, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable. In fact, one could argue it’s just as valuable (if not more). Through-partner marketing not only gets vendor content in front of more customers, but it also enables your partners to immediately participate in the customer digital journey. Their digital presence is elevated such that they are “found” by customers who are actively looking for your/their solution, and that should not be underestimated.  

McKinsey & Company reports that “100% of B2B customers prefer omnichannel, no matter the industry, country, size, or customer relationship stage. There are no exceptions.”  Omnichannel means that digital is key – 82% of B2B buyers utilize search to interact with a company before making a purchase, and 84% of B2B executives use social media as a source for making those purchase decisions. Partners need to participate in the digital journey.

They need to be where those buyers are searching and researching, but most of them need your help to get there. Small and medium-sized partners (aka “long tail” partners) are tight on resources. Studies indicate that 84% of them don’t have in-house resources and struggle to transform to new ways of marketing, even with MDF incentives.

TPM does exactly that and partners will reward vendors for it. 

In our experience working with vendors and partners in TPM engagements, 75% of partners reported that they believed the vendor with whom they had TPM benefits “invested in the success of their business.” Additionally, when growth rates were calculated by vendors, the partners who participated in the TPM program had significantly higher growth rates than those who did not. 

Partner loyalty and “stickiness”, while somewhat more difficult to measure, are even harder to develop, but worth their weight in gold. 

In addition, the joint brand marketing – between you and your partners – is an immediate lift for both your and your partners’ brands and credibility. Think of it as two-way advocacy across hundreds, or even thousands of partners, and in front of millions of customers. 

The exponential brand awareness should not be dismissed. 

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) explains that while “Companies often debate the value of B2B brand marketing, underestimating the value of brand marketing is a mistake.” BCG’s research shows that companies that are “more mature in terms of brand marketing generate higher ROMI [return on marketing investments]; and moreover, strong brand marketing capabilities actually reinforce performance marketing, leading to better engagement overall.” 

And those who invest are seeing real results. BCG reports that “B2B companies that have reached the amplifying level of maturity perform far better, generating returns on their brand marketing investments that were 46 percentage points higher than those at the nascent level.”

This research is consistent with our experience. More customers see your brand, and your partners reward you for it with loyalty, and, wait for it – more business revenue.

So exactly how much is the return?

Let’s take an example.

Company A wants to launch a Through-Partner Marketing solution for a subset of their long-tail partners. The recommendation for Google Ads for the Channel would be to start with a smaller subset of the partner participants and increase over time.

The Numbers

The Cost

The cost depends on the complexity of the services that Company A chooses and the number of partners in the program, but they can expect to pay between $20-120 per partner per month for a Managed TPM solution. (The more partners, the lower the per-partner cost) Additionally, they would re-direct a portion of their existing paid Ads media budget to their partners and pay a platform & agency fee commensurate with the amount of media they choose. 

The Return

Depending on how many partners Company A includes in their TCM program, ROI can be 20 – 30x.

•  Using industry averages for email opens, clicks and conversions, if Company A starts with 100 partners, they should see a return of approximately $1.5M on the directly attributable revenue. With 500 partners, we expect Company A to reap $3.4M through its partners.

For the indirectly attributable revenue, we calculate the amount of growth that the long-tail partners represent and apply what we have experienced with our clients.  The increase comes from the brand marketing, the partners being “found” online through web content, social media, and more active communication with their customers. Company A’s content on the partner sites boost engagement and overall credibility, and the relationship with between Company A and their participating partners is stronger. When you add the Google Ads, the boost is higher.

•  We calculate the indirectly attributable revenue return to be $1.9M for 100 partners, and $9.7M for 500 partners.
•  Total expected return is $3.4 – $13.1M.

The ROI will build over time. Company A and their partners will experience benefits immediately, but the ROI will grow as the TCM program continues to work. For example, one company saw a 75% improvement in their cost per click with Google Ads over a 2-year period.  

How to fund a new TPM initiative when budgets are shrinking

Company A has 15% of their MDF unspent each year. This represents $1.3M in MDF that is not producing the 2.5x expected return of $3.3M.  We recommend re-allocating a fraction of this to support Company A’s long-tail partners with a Through-Partner Marketing initiative that will drive new revenue, new brand awareness, and a fresh new direction for Company A and its partners.

The return of $3.4 – $13.1M far exceeds $3.3M of lost return from the unspent MDF – even at the lower partner participation rate. AND since the Through-Partner Marketing costs a mere fraction of the unspent MDF, there’s still room for Company A to reduce overall spend, if required.

If you happen to be a distributor, then you’ve got a whole other opportunity to fund your TPM initiative, namely from your own suppliers who also want to get their products and services in front of your partners’ customers. Your vendor suppliers have their own MDF that can flow to you for the new digital marketing opportunity.

Calculating the value for partners

There’s a strong business case for partners to want to participate. If each partner had to pay for the digital marketing services themselves, it may very likely be much more than they could afford to do on their own – if they even had the resources.

Instead, partners have the unique opportunity to participate in a TPM program and leverage that $60k investment that their vendor or distributor is making on their behalf, learn the digital ropes, and grow their businesses.

Through-Partner Marketing Managed Services

There are many benefits to a Managed Through-Partner Marketing services model. You can read more about that here. But in the context of ROI, accessing TPM as a service delivers more. One key reason that companies don’t realize the return when they launch TCM themselves, is the lack of access and expertise across a multitude of required resources, namely:

• Marketing program manager
•  Marketing communications
•  Partner lead
•  Platform SMEs
•  Social media manager
•  Graphic designer
•  Digital ads program manager
•  Copywriter
•  Business analyst

Accessing a service that includes all of those resources is a less expensive option, and with an efficiency factor that improves overall service delivery, drives a faster time to market, improved overall performance, and a better ROI.

Why you should invest in TPM now

Three reasons.

1. Budgets are under scrutiny and leaders are demanding better returns on spend.  You can reduce your MDF (at least by the amount of unspent funding), spend LESS on automated Through-Partner Marketing services, and generate new revenue.
2. The path to purchase is through your partners, and you need them all online. If they’re not online, neither are you. 
3. Your partners need help, and if you don’t help them, another vendor will.

Calculate your own ROI

If you want to explore TPM for your company, you can use this online calculator to see what your own ROI could be. 

The post The ROI of Through-Partner Marketing appeared first on AscendX Digital.

We hear this from partners, especially the long-tail, SMB partners all the time. But why do they get frustrated by your funding?  Shouldn’t they LOVE it?  After all, it’s a windfall/financial injection for their business that drives new revenue for THEM. But the reality is that it’s not always viewed positively. Sometimes it’s just a “pain in the neck.” How do you know if your MDF program is causing stress? 

Consider this… 

•  If your current MDF program requires your SMB partners to stop selling in order to perform administrative tasks to implement marketing campaigns, it might be a “pain in the neck”. 
•  If you are competing for your partners’ attention with continuous communication, cajoling them to participate and report, your MDF program might be a “pain in the neck.”
•  If you find that you’re always helping your partners to “use up” their MDF in the last couple of weeks of the quarter, your MDF program might be a “pain in the neck.” 

Should you care about the experience of your SMB partners? 

Absolutely!  The opportunity is massive. Steven Kiernan, Global VP at Canalys shared that in a recent Canalys report of the SMB market in North America, vendors “should not neglect small regional partners that work with SMB customers. This segment represents a significant channel growth opportunity for vendors due to its sheer size. There are an estimated 7.05M businesses that fall into this category, or 98.2% of a total 7.12 businesses.” 

So how do you make the experience better? 

Here’s why your partners don’t love your MDF program, followed by what you can do about it.

1. Partners lack the internal marketing resources to execute marketing programs. Ninety percent of partners are SMBs, and 84% of them lack dedicated internal marketing resources. Even when vendors provide marketing agencies, partners still have to meet with the agencies, engage, and participate in campaigns. Many partners just don’t have the bandwidth.
2. Your MDF isn’t the only game in town. Most partners sell products and services from multiple suppliers/vendors, with many of them offering up MDF.  Think about it from your partner’s point of view…. They have MDF from multiple vendors with different rules, often with different agencies with which to work, and they have different processes for reporting back.  Large partners often have a full-time employee whose sole responsibility is managing vendor MDF programs. For the SMB partners, it’s simply overwhelming, and they often just pass on it.
3. Your MDF is rigid and doesn’t meet their modern marketing needs. Your MDF programs have guidelines – which is fine – but sometimes your partners have ideas that may not conform. Events, lunch and learns, and trade shows are becoming less important, while digital marketing – like search marketing and paid digital ads – are becoming more desirable. If your MDF program doesn’t allow modern marketing options, it’s difficult for partners.
4. Your MDF is too short-term focused.  If you provide MDF on a quarterly use-it-or-lose-it basis, your partners may find it difficult to use altogether. Many meaningful activities require time to set up, and time to gather momentum. If you’re always pushing disparate, short-term activities, your partners might give up.

“I wish they’d use the MDF and do it for me.”

SMB partners have told us that they want their vendors to utilize the MDF on their behalf, and we have to say that it makes a lot of sense. Jay McBain, Chief Analyst at Canalys has reported that at least two-thirds of partners fall into the “do it for me” camp. Manufacturers and distributors have larger marketing teams with resources that are already creating marketing content. Taking that one step further and executing campaigns is the next logical step to support their SMB partners.

Do it with Through-Channel Marketing

Through-Channel Marketing (TCM) is a fully automated solution that enables manufacturers and distributors to market their products and solutions to and through their vast ecosystem of channel partners, out to end-user buyers that purchase from those partners. Once partners opt-in, it is effortless for them. 

Your MDF budget funds the syndicated content, automated email campaigns, paid and organic social media marketing, and paid search, driving massive amounts of traffic, leads, and conversion directly to partners.

1. Partners don’t need internal marketing resources to benefit.  Once the partners have joined the program, their work is done. The vendor/distributor marketing campaigns are automatically launched in market, driving leads and/or conversion to partners.
2. Your MDF program rises to the top of the list. With no complicated program to manage, partners appreciate the value of your MDF program, compared to other vendors’ funding.  Studies show that partners appreciate the investment they believe that their vendors make in them via Through-Channel Marketing programs, which drives partner loyalty.
3. Your MDF program can be the modern, digital solution your partners want and need. Partners know that the buying journey has changed. They know that companies that have made the digital shift are more successful than those that have not. Through-Channel marketing delivers the digital solution that helps them to be found online, increase their own digital maturity, and demonstrate more credibility – without the heavy lifting on their own.
4. Your MDF program becomes a long-term commitment with measurable quarterly results.  Through-Channel Marketing is an annual program that measures quarterly, annual, and even longer-term results. The beauty of TCM is the integration of all of the various components that work together to improve short-term metrics, while at the same time, helping the partners to build an online audience over time.   
5. Your partners get more. A typical Through-Channel Marketing program delivers over $60k of value to each partner for a tiny fraction of the cost. Because you are delivering value at scale, you can get more for your budget, and give more value to your partners.

Re-allocate existing budgets for better returns.

Re-allocating just a portion of your direct MDF funding to a Through-Channel Marketing program can alleviate the burden that partners associate with MDF programs, and it can deliver higher returns across a much broader spectrum of partners, including the long-tail.

If you want to learn more about Through-Channel marketing, this video provides a high-level overview. If you are interested in exploring what the ROI on a TCM investment for your business could be, this blog gives a high-level explanation. Contact us directly to see what the return could be for you with our TCM aaS ROI calculator. 

And stop being a pain in the neck. 

AscendX Digital Inc. is the first and only TCM-as-a-Service marketing provider and the only company with a revenue-generating model for distributors. Instead of spinning up a new product in your MarTech stack and putting more pressure on your marketing teams, consider looking at the outcomes of TCM and engaging as-a-Service. When you do, you can deliver a solution to market months faster, pay only for what you use, drive better partner and customer experiences, and reduce your risk. 

Our team has many decades of technology marketing expertise, and we work with vendors and SMB partners every day. Whether you have a TCMA investment that needs some strategic and/or operational support, or if you are looking for a fully managed as-a-service solution, AscendX Digital can help. 

The post What your SMB partners REALLY think of your MDF program appeared first on AscendX Digital.

When teams face change, new skills are required or work gets redistributed. New employees, programs, and skills requirements result in long learning curves before people are up to speed. HubSpot reported in their Top Global Marketing Challenges of 2022 report, that “Training Marketing Teams” is the top barrier facing marketing leadership.

You can win the war on talent, get to market faster, and reduce your own risk by using managed service models to supplement and enhance your own in-house teams. 

Managed Services alleviate much of this burden – but where should a CMO start? Which functions make the most sense? A good place to start is to look at your marketing technology (MarTech). According to the CMO Survey, CMOs are spending 24% of their budgets on MarTech, expecting to grow that to 30% in 5 years. What’s astounding, however, is that Gartner reports only 58% of the MarTech stack is being utilized. 

Partner Marketing Automation (PMA) is one of the fastest-growing categories of the MarTech stack (25% CAGR) and an area where companies typically need the most help. It is the technology that powers Through-Partner Marketing (TPM) strategies and programs.

What is Through-Partner Marketing?  

Through-Partner Marketing enables vendors to extend and amplify their marketing, connect with and enable more partners, reach more customers, control the customer journey, and drive more growth for every player in their channel ecosystem. It is a strategic marketing lever for the 89% of companies that use partner sales. 

TPM is an approach that must include people, processes, and technology. It is not a technology-only solution. 

The technology – Partner Marketing Automation – is revolutionary and a key enabler for vendors to drive their marketing through partners at scale and with partners of all sizes. It enables vendors to syndicate brand-compliant web content across hundreds or thousands of partner sites, automate Email campaigns through partners, syndicate social media posts on partner channels, and conduct search engine marketing en masse. 

But – it requires resource expertise to select the best platform, customize the features and capabilities, and configure for each vendor’s unique partner ecosystem. Teams of people are needed to manage the program, build and customize content, manage the platform, onboard and support partners, and much more.   

Processes must be put into place that connect the Through-Partner Marketing program across the organization, integrate with established marketing operations, deliver campaigns, refresh content, and operate the PMA tools. It’s only when all three of these elements – technology, people, and processes are in sync that a Through-Partner Marketing program will deliver on its promise.

Why Managed Services Make Sense

Companies are implementing Through-Partner Marketing because it’s innovative and it helps them reach more customers with more control, but the complexity and the newness of the technology, and the heavy resource requirements are contributing to their under-utilization. In fact, “only 17% of companies are fully satisfied that they are getting the most from the systems.” It’s not that the technology isn’t great – it is. The problem is the lack of a complete solution that includes the people and processes to make it successful – and it’s where managed services can offer real benefits and a better return on that marketing investment.

1. Reduced risk – A managed service model protects your program from the direct impacts of lay-offs and downsizing. Your marketing solution is delivered without the risk of disruption to your partners.
2. No new in-house resources required – A TPM managed service delivers the full solution with the required resources that a marketing team would need to find, train, and pull together internally – such as platform SMEs, partner support, content writing, graphic design, HTML programming, social media managers, and business analysts.
3. Flexibility – A managed service model enables you to build the solution that you want and only pay for what you need – so that your solution is never underutilized. You add on only when you are ready.
4. Time to market – How long does it take to acquire a new tech platform, find (or hire!) an internal resource, get that person (or people) trained, and then build the content to deploy on that platform? Probably 6 months at best. With managed TPM, you can be up and running in as little as 60 days.
5. Cost efficient – You get the best-of-breed resources working on and delivering your solution. And when you are only paying for what you use, you benefit.
6. Knowledge transfer – A managed service model means you are working with experts in that field, and your team learns from working with them.
7. Better outcomes – When you have experts leading the program and running the technology, you get the benefit of industry best practices. In the case of TPM, you can realize much better outcomes – such as better recruitment & onboarding, higher participation rates, better-built marketing content, improved content management, and diversity, richer business intelligence, and a better overall partner experience.
8. You’re always on the cutting edge – Companies delivering the managed services are experts. It’s all they do. Your internal teams are almost never likely to be as up-to-speed on the technology or best practices as the experts delivering the solutions.

AscendX Digital is the first and only marketing service provider to deliver Through-Partner Marketing as a managed service to companies who want to amplify their brand and marketing messages through their partners, reach new customers, and drive more business for the entire channel ecosystem.

We know Through-Partner Marketing. Our team has many decades of technology marketing expertise, and we work with vendors and channel partners every day.  We work with multiple technology platform providers so we can ensure that you get the best solution that fits your business needs. And we believe in the value of partnerships – within our team, with our vendors, and especially with our customers. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We are better together.

Whether you have a PMA investment that needs some strategic and/or operational support, or if you are looking for a holistic TPM solution, AscendX Digital can help.

GET THE INFOGRAPHIC here.

The post Why Managed Through-Partner Marketing is Your Best Investment appeared first on AscendX Digital.

Technical SEO: The Critical Foundation

While all aspects of SEO contribute to a website’s success, technical SEO is the place to start, laying the groundwork for everything else to work in sync. It’s like the foundation of a house – you might not see it, but without it, the whole structure is compromised.

• Search Engine Accessibility: Technical SEO ensures search engines can crawl, index, and understand your content. This means ensuring your site’s structure is clear, your code is clean, and no technical barriers prevent search engine bots from accessing your pages.
• User Experience: Have you ever clicked away from a slow-loading website in frustration? You’re not alone. Technical elements like site speed, mobile-friendliness, and secure connections (HTTPS) directly affect user experience. And guess what? Search engines care about that too! A positive user experience can boost your rankings and keep visitors engaged.
• The Ripple Effect: A well-structured site with clear internal linking not only helps search engines but also enhances the effectiveness of your on-page content and off-site link-building efforts. It’s all connected!

Beyond Technical: Content and Backlinks

While technical SEO is vital, it’s not the whole story. Think of it as the foundation of your SEO house – you still need walls, a roof, and some nice furniture to make it a home people want to visit. That’s where high-quality content and backlinks come into play.

• Content is King: Creating informative, engaging, and relevant content that answers your audience’s questions keeps them coming back for more. Search engines reward websites with valuable content, so invest time in crafting well-written web copy, articles, blog posts, and other resources.
• The Backlink Balancing Act: Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites. They signal to search engines that your site is trustworthy and authoritative. But remember, quality trumps quantity. A few links from reputable, relevant sites are far more valuable than a bunch of links from spammy or irrelevant sources.

How Many Backlinks Do You Need?

There’s no magic number when it comes to backlinks. The ideal number varies based on factors like:

• Competition: In highly competitive industries, you’ll likely need more backlinks to stand out.
• Your Current Profile: If you’re starting from scratch, even a few new backlinks can make a difference.
• The key is to focus on building relationships and creating content that naturally attracts backlinks from other websites.

SEO is an Ongoing Journey

SEO is not a one-time fix. Search engines constantly update their algorithms, and your competitors are always working to improve their rankings. That’s why ongoing monitoring, optimization, and adaptation are crucial.

Even if you’ve reached page 1, there’s always room for improvement:

• Target new keywords to expand your reach
• Enhance user experience to keep visitors engaged
• Stay informed about algorithm updates to maintain your rankings
• Explore new SEO opportunities as your website grows

The Bottom Line

Technical SEO lays the essential groundwork for a successful SEO strategy. But it’s just one piece of the puzzle. By combining technical excellence with high-quality content and a strong backlink profile, you can achieve lasting visibility and success in the competitive online landscape.

SEO is an ongoing journey, not a destination. Embrace the challenge, stay informed, and never stop optimizing!

Get to Page One

At AscendX Digital, we work with companies of all sizes to help them take their place at the top of Google and Bing search engine results pages. Whether you’re targeting a local or a national presence, if you’re not on page 1, give us a call. We can help you get there.

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