Independent software vendors (ISVs), software publishers, system integrators (SIs), and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) often enhance their solutions by bundling technology with their products. These partners integrate or embed other software into their own applications to extend the overall value of their offering.
This growing business area may be seen like a niche market to some, but we believe there is high value in pursuing channel partner recruitment in the ISV-OEM marketplace.
Here are a few tips to make your strategy a success:
Prepare your data and target the right ISVs
Knowing the right type of ISV, software publisher, or SI to reach out to, and identifying the key decision-makers responsible for partnership alliances is the first step to a successful recruitment effort. Having access to good data and nurturing the right people over time will make your marketing initiatives more effective.
We believe it’s good to have a mix of different-sized companies to go after and not to neglect the start-ups who are more amenable to embedding software than the more established ones. With the right market intelligence, you can gain insight into emerging ISVs to get a head-start on the players of tomorrow.
You can never create too much content
Prospects want to know the success stories, user cases, and case studies to better understand how your application could help enhance their product. A lot of partner marketing materials that we’ve come across forget the most important message for a prospect: What’s in it for me?
Creating content takes time, but its advantages are clear — you’ll be able to communicate your ideas more easily with your prospects and have targeted messaging geared specifically for their verticals/horizontals.
Educate your audience
Having a well-known brand (outside of your immediate niche market) makes it easier to get a strong hold in the ISV-OEM space. Many top-tier companies (Microsoft, Oracle, SAP to name a few) are targeting ISVs regularly, so if you’re not on that playing field, you need to stand out. Educating your audience about your strong points through multi-channel marketing will help position your brand and increase recognition for it over time.
Peer-to-peer outreach works
“People buy from people.”
Having a solid value proposition, clear selling points, and the right people to reach out to your target audience will make the difference. Effective pre-sales campaigns are conducted by smart telesales agents who speak the native tongues of your prospects; trying to target everyone in English is ineffective and shows prospects that you’re not prepared to personalize your approach. Following up with targeted content after an initial call is a great way to begin the nurturing process. Regular outreach is key in order to initiate a sales cycle.
Conclusion
ISV-OEM partnerships are typically global initiatives that need to be well implemented locally. Programs of this type require sustainable, ongoing efforts which necessitate high-end, tech-savvy marketing resources to develop close relationships with prospects, to speak to them in-depth and on their level. With the right team, this strategy can pay off two-fold down the road, creating sustainable growth for your business (and your partner’s).
