In partner marketing, your content must connect with partners and prospects and guide them through the buyer’s journey. While you’re likely a pro at developing and executing marketing strategies through various distribution methods, including through your partners, you may find that you’re not quite achieving the results you want. What’s going wrong?
Perhaps it’s because you actually need to factor in two buyer’s journeys into the plan.
Ah, that’s it, isn’t it? Don’t worry, below, we offer a quick refresh on the buyer’s journey and share our best three tips for navigating it as a channel marketer.
Understanding the buyer’s journey: the basics
So what exactly is the buyer’s journey? In simple terms, a buyer’s journey is the path a prospect takes from life as it is to purchasing something that will ideally, better their situation. For both B2B and B2C audiences, this translates to a decision-making process that helps someone understand, compare, rationalize and ultimately buy the thing.
Successful marketers will provide content that matches each phase: awareness, interest, consideration and decision. For B2B decision-makers, say, seeking an expensive software solution, the last stage can carry significant ramifications — and even put their job at stake. That’s why it’s essential to support them along the way with all the information they need to progress.
But when you’re a channel marketer, you actually have two buyer’s journeys to navigate:
- Your partner’s journey (they need to be convinced to sell your product)
- Their end user’s journey (they need to be convinced to buy it)
Understanding and mapping both journeys is key to boosting partner engagement and driving customer sales.
3 tips for channel marketers to help navigate the buyer’s journey(s)
With the basics fresh in your mind, here are our top suggestions to refine your approach and help you better support both audiences:
Tip 1: Map out the journey for both audiences
You must start by understanding both buyer journeys separately — your partners and the buyers they’re selling to. Then find out where they intersect. While AI tools can give you a quick framework, taking the time to sketch these journeys yourself (even on a whiteboard or with sticky notes) can spark important new insights.
Here’s how to think about each phase:
Awareness:
- Partner journey: Your partner realizes they need a new product to offer or a stronger solution to remain competitive.
- End user journey: The customer becomes aware of a challenge or need that your product can solve.
Interest:
- Partner journey: They start researching vendors or solutions to expand their portfolio.
- End user journey: They begin looking for solutions to their problem.
Consideration:
- Partner journey: They evaluate the benefits of partnering with your brand (support, margins, marketing resources).
- End user journey: They weigh different product options and vendors.
Decision:
- Partner journey: They sign a reseller or distribution agreement.
- End user journey: They purchase from your partner.
When you understand how each audience moves through their journey, you can make sure your marketing assets and partner enablement programs meet them at the right moments. It’s all about creating alignment as they progress along their journey.
Tip 2: Focus on consistency
Maintaining brand consistency across partner interactions helps build credibility and customer satisfaction, ultimately driving sales. And for channel marketers, aligning (there’s that word again!) your partners with your brand matters more than ever.
Here’s how to maintain consistency:
- Provide clear, easy-to-use brand guidelines.
- Offer templated co-branded assets (e.g., brochures, email campaigns, social posts).
- Host regular partner training sessions that cover brand messaging and positioning.
When partners are confident in your brand — and know exactly how to present it — they’re much more likely to actively promote it to their customers.
Tip 3: Collaborate
Want better results from your partners? Bring them along! Co-creating content with your marketing partners not only helps ensure your marketing assets feel relevant to their customers (and matches how they progress in the buyer’s journey), but it also strengthens the relationship.
Consider:
- Working directly with your partner to map their customers’ buyer journey! It will allow you to understand the true pain points of your partner, enabling you to provide them with better support. Pro tip: Frame it as an opportunity for them to voice their concerns and even offer ideas for tools that can help them do their jobs better. This can go a long way to get even reluctant partners to engage, and you’ll leave with a more accurate map for the end user.
- Then, take that buyer’s journey map and put it to good use. Hosting strategy sessions with partners will enlighten you about their true challenges and identify the content that is most useful to them.
- Finally, remember to check in often. Gathering regular feedback from partners on what’s working and what’s not goes a long way to achieving better results.
When partners feel heard and supported, they’re more motivated to champion your product and share it with their customers.
The buyer’s journey isn’t a straight line, and when you’re a channel marketer, it’s a double path you must navigate. By mapping both journeys, staying consistent, and collaborating with your partners, you’ll create a smoother, more effective experience for everyone involved — and importantly, drive better results.
Want more? Check out this webinar replay to gain a better understanding of the B2B buyer’s journey.