It is essential to understand what channel incentive programs are and why they are crucial to a successful company’s marketing strategy. An underdeveloped and poorly implemented program can underwhelm important channel partner incentive programs that are vital to you meeting company business objectives. It is surprising how brands fail to consider or successfully execute an indirect go-to-market approach that uses channel partnerships to help scale, expand into new markets, build brand recognition and enhance product value. Below are some essential ideas to help energize partners and increase sales. Start with the Basics What is a channel partner incentive program? A channel partner incentive program motivates your product partners, including resellers and distributors, to engage in certain behaviors by offering valuable rewards and incentives that help them grow their businesses. Channel partners often vary in shape and size depending on your market and don’t necessarily have to be in your industry to be successful. They can be affiliates, resellers, distributors, independent retailers, and even value-added providers. Anyone that sells your brand and doesn’t work directly for your business is a potential channel partner. The best way to ensure that your brand stands out above the competition is through well-executed channel partner […]
Tag: implementation
Incentive Program Strategies: Fact-finding and involvement
The first step to building an incentive program strategy is to conduct internal research on business operations, current customers, employees, and competitors. Incentive programs are always more effective if you can get input from members of your participant audience. Try and get feedback on the rules, rewards, and any other aspects of the program that will increase ownership and engagement in your research. Meet with departments across the organization to identify what goal/objective needs to be accomplished, such as increased sales, improved attendance, etc. While you’re setting goals, identify which individuals or teams can achieve that department’s organizational goals and objectives; those are each department’s program participants. Work with management to build the foundation of the Incentive Program carefully. You will help them to understand whether they will need an open-ended or closed-ended program design and identify the organization’s fixed and variable costs. If they have current programs up and running, get a better understanding of them. Find out if you can improve on the operational efficiencies or increase engagement. Rewards should be consistent with your participant demographics as well as the organization’s brand. The more information you can get from your audience on the types of rewards they’ll appreciate, […]
The Case for Incentive Technology
With acquisition and engagement costs on the rise, along with shifts in managing privacy, there has never been a better time to invest in incentive program technology. Incentive program technology is the key to future-proofing the internal and external engagement initiatives of your business. It’s not enough to rely on a decentralized one-off view of single application type incentive programs to manage programs such as employee recognition,health and wellness,sales incentives, channel, and consumer promotions. to drive brand revenue, engagement, growth, and longevity companies look to advanced Platform technology developed on the foundation of security standards that can build and engage an internal and external participant base. A loyalty and incentive programs are the ideal relationship-building tool to overcome these monumental changes because it provides a clear value exchange for participants. Acquisition costs on the rise Customer acquisition costs (CAC) increased over 60% in the past six years and showed no signs of slowing. Because programs have moved primarily online to interact with participants – participants notice when technology, convenience, or delays affect their experiences. Organizations can combat rising costs by focusing on retention. Benefits from an enterprise-level reward incentive program can include higher participant engagement, better insights, increased operational efficiencies, […]
Successful Loyalty Program Buying Process
Well-executed incentive programs encourage relationships between businesses and their customers, instead of relationships between customers and their reward points. Technology has moved loyalty programs beyond standard point accrual. The behavioral and emotional components of loyalty and how participants interact with your brand are now front and center for loyalty program strategy, planning, and engagement. Keep in mind that successful incentive programs use simple logic and are friction-free. A successful program is easy to join, incentivizes engagement, provides a variety of relevant reward products matched to the participant demographics, and excites and delights the members. Understand the responsibilities of the primary stakeholders in the buying process and at what stage each team should join throughout implementation. Several primary stakeholders have varying focuses, concerns, needs, and goals for the incentive program and solution to manage the reward fulfillment, including marketing, customer service, IT & development, and finance teams. It is necessary to include the product manager if you do not cover that function for the program the incentive program is under consideration. Be prepared to acknowledge who’s responsible for, accountable for, and needs to be kept informed of the loyalty program buying process. Evaluate and understand solution providers that align with your […]
