A New Twist on Account-Based Marketing to Fuel Partner Ecosystem Development

Partner marketing efforts have typically focused on reaching customers poised to buy joint solutions. But since September 2020, SAS has tried something new: marketing to its own partners by leveraging an account-based digital marketing approach.

Why? The fight for partners' awareness and attention has never been fiercer, and as many companies have learned, customer experience and partner experience are inextricably linked. Without sustained awareness and education, partnerships will never reach their full potential.

SAS launched a campaign targeting partners at some of the large, global GSIs that have the power to put its solutions to work in their own large, multiyear customer engagements. To date, this campaign has targeted individual professionals at two GSIs with marketing messages and content that are aligned with their selling priorities, based on conversations with trusted contacts at both firms.

So what has been achieved after a year of campaign activation, and what can you learn from these efforts? Here's a preview:

• While it's impossible to reach an entire large audience 1:1, with account-based digital marketing you can cast a much wider net.
• Content is (still) king, and as such, this effort required new content, targeted to each audience and delivered in ways that would resonate.
• Early efforts should focus on brand and engagement goals–you can't impact demand and growth until you get the message out and your partners know and trust you.

Speakers: