A deep dive into the evolution of channel programs as go-to-market motions will be presented at the B2B Marketing Exchange (B2BMX) in Scottsdale, AZ, February 28 to March 2.
With the return of the premier conference for B2B marketing and sales executives to an in-person event, a line-up of leading channel professionals, analysts and experts has been recruited to share their insights into optimizing revenue through evolving channel ecosystems.
Channel-focused discussions begin with a workshop on Monday, February 28. Led by Kristine Stewart, Founder and CEO of the Lexington Group, a channel evangelizing agency, the workshop will offer insights on how brands are developing nimble channel programs that support evolving partner-dependent go-to-market motions.
During this workshop, which will be co-presented by Jennifer McCready, Channel Consultant at Ready PX, attendees will examine how they can determine the new landscape of existing partners’ go-to-market motions; identify critical processes that align their support initiatives with emerging GTMs; and add agility to their organization to align with partner-driven requirements.
In her keynote presentation, Cheryl Cook, SVP of Global Partner Marketing at Dell Technologies, will review why and how the company is collaborating with its partner ecosystem to support its Progress Made Real initiative.
Dell is committed to driving human progress. During this session, Cook will discuss how the company is working with its partner ecosystem to create a positive and lasting social impact on humankind and the planet through 2030 and beyond – using their reach, technology and people.
The Go-To-Market track, which includes all of the channel-focused presentations, will be kicked off by Maria Chien, VP and Practice Leader for Channel Marketing Strategies at Forrester. During this session, titled Channel Transformation Is Anchored In Customer – And Partner – Obsession, Chien will review how adapting to the future of buying puts channel organizations at the forefront of tremendous shifts in go-to-market and route-to-market strategies. She’ll review how new partner business models are emerging in response to evolving buyer and customer preferences for subscription and consumption models, while B2B marketplaces have exploded in popularity to satisfy buyers’ self-service expectations.
Chien will also provide insights on how B2B channel marketing’s strategic value surges when progressing from traditional, supplier-centric operating models, to embracing a partner and indirect customer obsessed route-to-customer strategy putting channel marketing at the epicenter of that change.
To accelerate the implementation of channel-dependent programs, brands have begun to outsource some, if not all, critical processes. In their presentation — Channel In An Instant: How To Accelerate Partner Program Development With External Support – Rose Bentley, COO at Qumu, and Meredith Caram, CRO at JS Group, will discuss how channel-as-a-service offerings enable companies to quickly and efficiently scale up and implement a robust partner program to address wide-scope opportunities or pin-point net-new opportunities.
They will provide insights on how channel-as-a-service offerings accelerate development and rollout of partner programs to reduce time-to-value of partner initiatives. They will also share information on how channel-as-a-service offerings can provide instant access to partner program essentials such as incentive management, partner recruitment, and onboarding; reduce investment in partner enabling technology including through-channel marketing automation; and minimize internal staff expansion.
Larry Walsh, CEO and Chief Analyst at Channelnomics, a consulting firm, returns to B2BMX to moderate a panel of marketing leaders sharing insights on ensuring a channel program is supported by the right partners and staff too. All too often, channel leaders seek to strengthen their channel ecosystem with new partners, when they may already have relationships with the partners they need.
During this session, Walsh and panelists Ted Schuman, Founder and CEO of PlanetOne, and Jennifer Anaya, SVP of Global Marketing at Ingram Micro, will discuss identifying the perfect partners to take products or services to market, determining which of their partners they may not be engaging effectively, and then filling the blanks. The panel will also discuss which internal roles are critical to the success of a partner program and ways to build an all-star team.
B2BMX moves to The Phoenician resort in 2022. After hosting a record number of attendees in 2020, the conference was presented as an online event in 2021. “We’re excited to be returning to an in-person format,” said Andrew Gaffney, Founder/Editorial Director of Demand Gen Report, the event’s producer. “Last year, we hosted several successful virtual events, providing our attendees with access to world-class speakers sharing cutting edge insights into emerging B2B marketing and sales best practices. With our return to an in-person format, we are striving to strengthen the professional community we’ve been fostering and supporting for more than a decade.”