Content distribution is a fundamental element of channel sales, but it’s also a challenge for many companies. Especially in this digital age of ours when channel partners are getting used to 24/7 access to material and speed is the name of the game. Here is all you need to know about content distribution for channel sales – and why it’s so important to make it fast and efficient.
For channel-sales companies, the ability to quickly and efficiently share marketing assets, product updates and sales content with channel partners can be the difference between failure and success. After all, partners rely on your material to approach customers and close deals, and a slow or clumsy content distribution can make them lose sales momentum or even put a competitor’s product first.
Here, we’ll go through the reasons why a fast and efficient content distribution can make a key difference for your sales results – and tips and tricks on making it happen.
Why a fast and efficient content distribution matters
Increased sales velocity
If partners and distributors have easy access to marketing materials, product information, and promotional assets, they can have an easier time engaging prospects at the right moment and moving them forward in the process. If the content distribution and access is slow, the opposite is bound to happen – underlining the importance of making your content readily available.
Brand consistency
To maintain a consistent brand message is important: it is one of the key things that makes your reputation grow, that makes customers trust you and helps them recognize your brand and product. A slow or disorganized content distribution can prevent all this from happening, as partners may use outdated or incorrect information if they can’t find what they need. They may even share their home-made material that might not be compliant or in line with your brand, something that can quickly harm your brand and reputation. A nightmare for many marketing leaders and one that we do best to avoid.
Luckily, a controlled and efficient content distribution can help you make sure that partners and distributors always have access to the latest and greatest material, and that they actually use it.
Better partner engagement
Partner engagement is vital for sales results. And if channel partners have easy access to new and relevant material, if it’s easy to work with you and your assets, they are bound to keep your product in mind and continiously engage with your material.
Faster time to market
If you’re in an industry where product lifecycles are short, or where a fast response to market trends or changes is critical, a slow content distribution can stop your progress in its tracks. By speeding up your content-sharing process, you can help your channel partners quickly bring your product to market and capitalize on demand or overall market trends.
How to make your content distribution faster and more efficient
Now, to actually increase the speed and efficiency of content distribution to channel sales partners require both technological and strategic changes. You could, for example:
- Use a Partner Portal: By offering channel partners a dedicated portal can work wonders for your content distribution. Said portal can oftentimes work as a central hub where partners and distributors can quickly find their content, while you can ensure that the material they access is always updated and relevant. If your Partner Portal offers a robust version control, the latter will also be way easier.
- Use automation and notifications: A Partner Portal where you can automatically update material for all channel partners in one swoop will make your content distribution so much more secure and efficient. If you can also find ways to notify partners about new content or versions, you won’t have to manually email everyone and hope they get the message.
- Make content accessible by phone: Channel-partner sales reps are oftentimes on the road, visiting customers and trade fairs. By creating a mobile-friendly content distribution, where channel partners can always access material via phone or tablet and quickly find what they’re looking for, your channel partners will have a much easier time selling your products.
- Create content templates that allow for customization: One of the biggest pitfalls in content distribution is to share a gigantic Drive or folder with all your material – and leave it to channel partners to find what they need. This will oftentimes lead to frustration and a clumsy experience that makes it more difficult to work with you and your products. By working with different content templates, with collections of material that can then be edited to fit specific partners, your channel partners can have an easier time finding what they need and ultimately sell your product.
- Analyze usage to optimize content: If you analyze what content partners use – and when – you can be able to take data-driven decisions when it comes to your overall content strategy. Something that can help you further improve your content distribution and make sure that channel partners get better and better material to work with.
The SP CE way to optimize your content distribution
SP_CE can give your partners or distributors one portal for their entire journey with you. A portal where your partner can reach all relevant content no matter where they are and when they need it. All while you can automatically update content everywhere with a click and track exactly who uses what material and when.
Curious to learn more? Contact us today to see SP_CE in action or check out our Partner Portal FAQ here.
