5 Game-Changing Channel Marketing Program Optimizations

Your channel marketing program can make (or break) your success.

But the most important aspect of your program might not be what you think.

You can use all the right channels. Try to keep campaigns on-brand. Follow all the trends. But ultimately, so much of your channel marketing success rests on your program.

Because without the right tools and features, you can kiss revenue growth goodbye.

Look at it this way:

Wayne Gretzky is one of the greatest hockey players of all time — his natural abilities give him strong potential to win. But what if his coach gave him worn gloves, a crumbling stick, and dull, blister-inducing skates? He probably wouldn’t play very well, despite his skills.

It’s the same thing with your channel partners. Their skills and knowledge can only take them so far. You must provide them with the resources they need to win.

It all comes down to how you optimize your channel marketing program.

This starts with understanding what your partners want. Delivering on your affiliates’ needs by giving them the features they desire increases their program satisfaction. It also shows them you’re listening and are committed to their success.

Our research shows that affiliates’ top program priorities are fund matching, training, dedicated support, and marketing implementation solutions. The key to leveraging these highly requested features? Understanding how to implement them into your marketing program.

Before we dive in, let’s get something out of the way. 

We’re going to be referencing 4 groups of affiliates throughout the report. Here’s what you need to know about each of them: 

The State of Local Marketing is an annual report series that serves as the industry standard for local marketing data, providing channel marketers with actionable takeaways to activate their local partners. By analyzing affiliates’ marketing behaviors and their impact on revenue growth, these reports uncover valuable insights and optimizations marketers can implement into their channel strategies. This year, we surveyed 1,147 channel partners and added 211,347 data points to the millions that already make up our benchmarks.

Now, let’s get into the insights. 

Fund matching is the most prioritized program feature among local affiliates. The data reveals that local partners across all levels of marketing savvy and satisfaction desire fund matching. However, it’s worth noting that affiliates with low satisfaction request this program feature most.

When you give your affiliates marketing funds (which we highly recommend), your number-one goal should be for them to spend these dollars.

Because, again, fund use = more marketing = more revenue.

So, how do you get your affiliates to invest their marketing dollars?

Here’s something you might not expect: Affiliate satisfaction influences fund usage more than marketing savvy.

That means satisfied affiliates are more likely to spend (aka market) than your most savvy local partners.

The data shows that affiliates with high program satisfaction spend more marketing funds than their unsatisfied peers. Among the most savvy affiliates, those with high satisfaction use 37% more funds than their low-satisfaction counterparts.

The same connection can be seen for low-savvy affiliates. Among this cohort, satisfied affiliates have 41% higher fund usage than their unsatisfied peers.

To increase affiliate satisfaction, you first need to determine your partners’ pain points. Get to the bottom of where your program is lacking and what your affiliates dislike about it. Is it too complex? Is the technology slow and outdated? Does it lack the tactics they want? Once you understand why your affiliates are unhappy, you can begin to deliver on their needs.

If you’ve ever done a skill-based activity like singing, dancing, or playing a sport, you know that the more you practice, the better you get. And if you can get your hands on some pointers, tips, and tricks that will help you along the way, you’ll be even better equipped to sharpen your skills.

Your affiliates are looking for the same kind of guidance with their marketing.

Affiliates across all levels of marketing savvy want training, education, and best practices in their marketing programs.

Affiliates with high program satisfaction are especially interested in education. Of the most savvy affiliates, 31% of those with high program satisfaction want training compared to 23% of their unsatisfied counterparts. That’s a 35% difference!

A 39% difference can be observed among your low-savvy partners.

Your affiliates are hungry for knowledge and show intent to improve their local marketing. For your high-savvy affiliates, this means they’ll continue to refine their skills. And your low-savvy partners will gain a much-needed understanding of local marketing.

In both cases, you can expect revenue to grow!

The directive here is simple: Add training, education, and best practices to your channel marketing program. Doing something as simple as adding virtual training courses and educational resources to your program could go a long way in preparing your partners to market smarter and more efficiently.

Some ways you can implement training, education, and best practices into your program include articles, videos, eBooks, infographics, webinars, reports, and online training courses. 

Today, we expect processes to be easy, efficient, and self-guided — automating monthly payments, asking Siri for directions, using tap-to-pay on card readers. Your channel marketing program should be just as intuitive.

Because complex processes lead to dissatisfaction and loss of motivation.

Here’s what the data reveals: 50% of affiliates question whether using marketing funds is worth their time. Because when these programs are too difficult to navigate, putting in the effort simply doesn’t feel worth it.

The bottom line? If your channel marketing program is too complex, even your most savvy partners will struggle to use it. And your less savvy partners? Forget about it. Complex programs discourage affiliates of all skill levels from using their funds and marketing your brand.

So, what can you do? If you want your local partners to leverage their programs and use their marketing funds, you need to simplify your program to ensure ease of use. Here are a few of the best ways to do it:

• Implement clear, straightforward rules
• Limit the number of requirements
• Cut down layers of approval
• Streamline approval times to between 24 and 48 hours
• Ensure consistent guidelines across all affiliates
• Offer program options affiliates want to utilize
• Offer more marketing tactics

55% of local affiliates experience some level of difficulty accessing their marketing program offerings. And when your partners struggle to find these features, they won't take advantage of them (and will likely become frustrated in the process).

Not only do complex programs lead to low affiliate satisfaction, but they also decrease affiliates’ motivation to use these programs. Let’s look at fund use to better understand how this happens.

If there’s a way to do something faster, more easily, and with less effort, it usually makes sense to take that route. (Think ecommerce experiences that enable shoppers to purchase products in just one click.)

Your program also needs to be that easy.

Your most savvy partners want marketing implementation solutions. In this case, program satisfaction doesn’t change the outcome — both satisfied and unsatisfied affiliates prioritize marketing support at 23% and 25%, respectively.

Make your affiliates’ jobs easier by providing marketing solutions through your channel marketing programs. These could include tools like:

• Generative AI solutions  
• AI-automated workflows 
• Do-it-for-me programs 
• Paid media services
• Affiliate-level marketing consultation support 

The less work your partners have to do, the more willing they’ll be to market your brand. 

In addition to marketing solutions, affiliates also want dedicated support. 

Roughly 30% of affiliates across each level of marketing savvy and program satisfaction see dedicated support as a program priority.

Dedicated support can be classified in two different ways: Internal support via an in-house marketing hire or external via marketing consultants or agencies who provide marketing support. In either case, dedicated support provides your affiliates with the means to market smarter and more efficiently.

Before adding this feature to your program, be sure to assess whether internal support, external support, or a combination of both makes the most sense for your affiliates.