From the PartnerOn Team

At ContentMX we continue to review the data to not only understand topics of interest, but to also understand what type of content drives the interest. 

One of our content marketplaces boasts over 2800 users who have published over 12,000 pieces of content to over 400,000 prospects in January alone.

The content originated from top suppliers such as Microsoft, Cisco, Red Hat, Intel, HPE, Lenovo, and many others.  

Our reports are able to help us tell the story of what the consumers engage in. The first chart shows us what type of content was shared by the users of our application in January.

The second chart helps us understand, what content created the most reactions, or MQL’s.

Let’s look at two types of content and how they compare in the two graphs. In the first graph you can see that solution briefs are 17.9% of the content shared by our users. In the second graph you can see that the majority of the social media reactions came from social briefs (38.8%).  If we look at infographics we can see that they are the second most popular item to share by our users, but only 7.9% of the reactions came from those posts. Clearly there is a disconnect between the perceived need and the actual interest.  

If we think about the analysis and how it compares to the scatter graphs of the buyers then we can understand why the solution brief would be so popular. It becomes the start of the dialogue, and is relevant for all the parties who are engaged in the decision making process. The promotional and branding materials become relevant for the executives. They use this information to help trigger which organizations to present against the solution briefs, while white papers and analyst reports help validate the solutions about to be selected.  

The analysis is just the beginning. As we continue to evolve, add new features and offer co-selling and lead sharing services between suppliers and their partners, we will be able to help track the content to a marketing qualified lead and to sales qualified lead. Thereby helping convert content engagement into a shared opportunity.

As the largest content marketplace for the channel, we are among the very few organizations who can recognize how content is engaged with through the entire sales channel. Allowing suppliers who work with ContentMX a very unique view that crosses over many vendors, partners and different consumers.

The PartnerOn Marketplaces are one of the largest publishers of technology content in the world, communicating to over 10,000 partners, who in turn help create over 10 million impressions and over 70,000 consumer clicks every month. Each click is a new potential business opportunity. 

The publishing engine not only creates reach, but offers unique data insights for both partners and suppliers alike. The story the data tells is one of interest, engagement and market predictions. For example, a study of 1,000 partners from one of our Content Marketplaces compares partners to consumer interests.  This first chart shows content selected and published by partners. 

This chart demonstrates that this select group of partners are most interested in content from Palo Alto Networks, followed by Red Hat, IBM Cloud and Dell. 

We can then overlay that data with what the consumers engaged with and we can see a slightly different story.

While Palo Alto, Red Hat, Dell, and IBM are still in the top four, the percentages get a lot closer, and Dell and IBM Cloud have traded places.  We have similar studies from other marketplaces where we have seen a clear interest in content about hybrid work. This demonstrates what we predict is the long tail reaction to Covid.  

As the PartnerOn audience continues to grow, content will start to focus on unique industries and challenges faced by target audiences. From this we plan on building a model to help suppliers and vendors focus their marketing efforts. 

While publishing data is not new, the idea of being able to easily parse seller and consumer data together is a unique opportunity that only PartnerOn Content Marketplaces can offer. Become part of our content marketplace today, as either a user or provider of content, and be part of the future.

-ABP – Always Be Publishing with PartnerOn

Every time a new salesperson starts there are often standard quotes and phrases that the head of sales uses to help motivate new team members.  In the old, and very much outdated movie, Glengarry Glen Ross, they use some iconic quotes. Such as:

“Coffee is for closers!” and “Always be closing” 

But what would the head of sales say to their team today to help them understand the secret to success? Perhaps:

“LinkedIn is for winners” 

“Always be engaging!”

“Content is an absolute, where do you get the content?”

These quotes represent a new paradigm in which buyers are not on a clear journey. They are not waiting for the phone to ring and oftentimes they are not picking up the phone to make a call. In fact, according to a study by Gartner Research, buyers spend only 18% of their time talking to a salesperson. 

So where does the journey start, and who is leading it?

This chart is a telling tale of the buyer’s experience…

Take notice that 27% of a buyer’s time is spent doing research independently online, and 22% of their time is meeting with the buying groups. So how is the journey of the buyer happening? I see it as a scatter graph.

Remember how group projects in school were divided up? Each person would run in different directions to research and retrieve the assigned information. Everyone would then return to the group and share results. At that point, the group would piece them together for the final outcome.

The scatter strategy for group projects is more reflective of a buyer’s journey today. If this is the strategy then how are salespeople supposed to close deals?

 

It requires the seller to become an educator and to build trust among the consortium of buyers, not just the one. The best way to do that is through sustained content marketing, content marketing that supports the multi-dimensional approach to solution development and procurement. 

Content marketing performed at the local level (or by the seller) offers the buyers who are scattering a unique opportunity to bring together all the data they researched from a single source. In turn, that source becomes the trusted source most likely to close the deal, and following the lead of Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross, earns themself a cup of coffee.  

That is why ParterOn has become such a powerful ally to the sellers. What is your motivational quote? PartnerOn is for winners, remember ABP -Always Be Publishing. 

More great content and Social MQLs check it out!

Did you miss our webinar “What’s in Store for 2022”? Don’t fret, the recording is available for viewing. Listen to what Jeff Mesnik has to say about the importance of consistent digital marketing and how we are making it easier for you to increase leads.

We are taking content marketing a step further by driving sales to you. Learn more about the power of the Social MQLs, our demand generation content, APIs to help co-sell, and more. Exciting things are happening on PartnerOn, don’t miss how to leverage these updates into more sales opportunities.

Welcome to 2022, let’s hope it is a full new and amazing year and not 2020 too.  

At ContentMX we are taking this opportunity to announce and launch new programs and features to PartnerOn, the largest content marketplace for the Channel. 

You are invited to join our webinar: “What’s in Store for 2022” on January 11, 10 am or 6 pm EST, to learn about new content and new features that will increase sales.