SharedVue, a division of UBM, LLC and UBM Channel announces the promotions of Dana Chandler and Billy Pomarico to the position of Senior Account Manager. These promotions take effect immediately.

“This new title for Dana and Billy allows them to continue the primary function they serve as Account Managers for some of our key customers but more importantly reflects their consistent excellence in serving our customers and working internally for the betterment of our technology. We feel this provides them a pathway to gain a stronger leadership position with SharedVue.” stated M. Reid Overcash, Sr. Vice President of UBM Channel and founder of SharedVue.

Dana began her career at SharedVue’s former parent company, Strategic Insights, as an account coordinator in 2007.  As SharedVue gained new customers she moved into a customer and partner support position and was named an Account Manager three years ago.  Dana was involved in the original development of client on-boarding to SharedVue’s platform and growth strategies for using SharedVue’s program.  She quickly took the lead on one of the company’s largest clients, HP, and also manages such clients as Eaton, CA and Riverbed. Dana graduated with honors from Meredith College in Raleigh, NC and is an active member of the Junior League of Raleigh, an organization focused on creating a positive impact in the community.

Dana said, “I have had the unique opportunity to be involved in the maturation of an idea that has developed into the industry’s leader in cross-marketing solutions. I look forward to the additional challenges this position can provide.”

Billy Pomarico came to SharedVue in 2009 to help manage SharedVue’s partner support efforts. He immediately demonstrated his exceptional skills as a project manager and was soon promoted to the Account Manager position where he now works with VMware, Salesforce.com, VCE, CenturyLink , CA and  Logitech.  Billy graduated from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a B.S. in Business Administration. He has been active in the community as co-founder and board member of Triangle Breakfast Club, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, Band Together NC steering committee member and is a Wake County Habitat for Humanity volunteer.

Billy offered, “I really enjoy interfacing with clients and providing exceptional customer service. The skills I brought to the job and have learned on the job have been essential assets in working with my customers. As the future at SharedVue looks very bright, I look forward to growing further and having an impact on this company.”

Challenge: Onboarding Partners to Enablement Programs

There are a million programs out there to enable channel solution providers to better sell vendor products. The list is infinite: Google Adwords, landing pages, lead tele-qualification, events, email campaigns, search engine optimization and even content syndication. Often, these programs are too cookie-cutter to fit 100% of the partners to which they are made available. So what can a vendor do to increase adoption of the programs they make available to partners?

What we’ve found useful is to take channel partner pains and turn those into an opportunity to customize a piece of our platform to better suit a broader partner base. Below is an example of one such problem we found while onboarding partners to the SharedVue Syndication Platform for one of our existing clients. The end product was a new way for partners to use our enablement program as well as documentation and a whitepaper to help and inform them.

Solution: Deep Linking to Syndicated Content

Early on, we realized that channel reseller website hierarchies might make it awkward to group all of a vendor’s product and solution information in the same place. Often times, only offering an all-in-one syndication program closes the door to onboarding a channel partner. When channel resellers add a SharedVue Syndicated Showcase to their website, they are essentially adding content to only one page on their site.

Vendor content appears on that page, complete with images, links, navigation, etc. When someone visits the website and lands on the Syndicated Showcase, they are able to browse through the content as if it were on multiple pages by clicking the syndicated content’s navigation bar. However, this gorups all the content into one section of a partner’s website. So we decided to further explore solution provider needs and came up with five reasons a partner may need to break up vendor syndicated content.

5 Reasons Partners Need Break Up Vendor Content

 

1. Push website visitors directly to the pages of content they want without forcing them to navigate the the rest of the syndicated content.
2. Improve conversion rates (downloads, lead form submission, etc.) by providing visitors with targeted content.
3. Better integrate vendors’ Syndicated Showcases with their website hierarchy.
4. Categorize vendor product and solution content any way they want (i.e. Products/Solutions or Hardware/Software).
5. Drive customers to content localized for their country in their language of preference.

To get over the hurdle of an all-in-one set of content, we created Deep Links for syndicating partners — the ability to hide the syndicated navigation structure and link directly to any individual page of syndicated content. Directly linking (Deep Linking) to an individual page of syndicated content within a showcase is easy for partners. All they must do is link to the page where they have placed the vendor’s syndicated content code and append the syndicated page’s query string.

When a visitor clicks on a link in a Syndicated Showcase on a partner website, instead of navigating to a new page, SharedVue tells the current page to refresh and display new content. Thus, the URL of that page remains unchanged even though new content appears. Since a SharedVue Syndicated Showcase is only on one page of content, you must use specific methods to drive a visitor to particular content within a Syndicated Showcase.

SharedVue creates a unique query string at the end of every syndicated page’s URL (seen above). So depending on the content a visitor is viewing, the end of the page’s URL will vary.

We enabled Deep Linking to a particular page of syndicated content, allowing partners to simply create a link anywhere on their website that references the page where they placed the syndicated code. With the unique query string of the content, partners now have the ability to organize vendor Syndication Showcases any way they want.

Result: Customization Increases Partner Adoption

With a slight customization to an automated process, we’ve been able to increase the number of partners using our syndicated vendor showcases. It is important to note, though, that the process of taking in partner feedback, evaluating and creating a plan of action can be used to help increase adoption for any type of turn-key partner program. The more accommodating you are to partners, the more you’ll see adoption your of enablement programs.

Social media has become a huge part of people’s daily lives and continues to gain ground as a marketing and communications tool for businesses. According to according to The Marketing Data Box, The average budget spent on company blogs and social media increased from 9% in 2009 to 17% in 2011.

While most vendors and channel marketers already use blogging and social media in some way, few are very active on Linkedin. Let’s take a look at the “Big Three” social networks to see why Linkedin may be the best underutilized resource for communicating with your channel partners and improving your channel marketing program through relevant discussions.

The Big Three: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin

Facebook

Facebook is the most used social network site on the web with over 600 million users. Many large corporations and technology vendors already have well-established fan pages on Facebook with thousands and often millions of fans.

While Facebook can be very effective for consumer branding, it is not the most effective for two-way communication with your channel partners. Facebook has a more casual and fun nature. Most people on Facebook are looking to catch up with friends or be entertained and are less likely to engage in business related discussions.

Also, Facebook profiles can have a lot of personal information and photos, which partners may not be as comfortable sharing with their professional network.

Twitter

Twitter follows Facebook in terms of users with over 200 million registered users. Twitter is a neat space because there are many informal communities that revolve around different business niches and topics. It’s a great place for learning and collaboration as people in these communities are able to exchange ideas and share relevant articles with one another.

However, it has been debated that only a percentage of registered users are actually active. This was further confirmed when I tried to follow partners currently using SharedVue’s Cloud Marketing platform and found that out of every 10 partners on Twitter, there were only about 2 who were still active users.

Linkedin

Linkedin has over 100 million active users and is the smallest of the Big Three but it also has the most potential for B2B customers and channel partners. Most professionals today have some sort of presence on LinkedIn and this business focused social network is the perfect environment for creating discussions and gathering feedback to improve your partner enablement programs.

You can use Linkedin Groups to interact with your partners in a forum-like setting. Partners and vendors can collaborate through asking and answering each others questions. Partners can benefit from best practice tips vendors share while vendors can benefit by learning what’s working and what’s not in their partner enablement programs.

Guiding Questions to Help Promote Content Syndication Programs

To help get you started, here a few questions you can ask your channel partners:

• If you haven’t registed for content syndication yet, what is keeping you from doing so?
• If you could request one improvement to the content syndication program what would it be?
• If you could request one improvement to the partner enablemet program as a whole what would it be?
• What issues have you run into with the current partner enablement and content syndication programs?

What questions are you asking your channel partners? Share your questions and experiences with the rest of us in the comments section.

What is SEO and how does syndicated content affect it?

SEO stands for search engine optimization and refers to all the things you can do on the internet to raise the quality and indexability of a website’s individual pages. SEO is organized into two categories — on-page and off-page. On-page refers to all the things you can control on your website, including content, images, code, meta data, keywords, etc. Off-page refers all the things you can do outside of your website, including building links back to your website from other sites, social media efforts and other third party interactions. Syndicated content is part of on-page SEO and it may or may not affect your website’s pages depending on the content your vendors choose to push through.

Overall, syndicated content has the ability to positively affect your search rankings over time if placed on a page by itself. Likewise, placing syndicated content on a new page will not negatively affect any of your existing pages’ rankings. For more information, see SharedVue’s Search Engine Statement.

Some SEO experts place paid search (like Google Adwords) as a third category. SharedVue is currently experimenting with paid search programs and syndicated content.

Will placing SharedVue syndicated content on a new page on my website affect my search engine rankings negatively?

No. Google ranks pages on your website on an individual basis. In fact, SharedVue recommends you add a completely new page when you add syndicated content to your website. This eliminates the risk of deleting content that already ranks well in searches. The syndicated content will receive its own ranking for your website and as long as you do not edit or change any existing pages, you will retain your SERP rankings.

Does syndicated content help improve my current search engine rankings?

If vendors have enabled their SharedVue syndicated showcases with varying content sets, keywords and partner information, your new syndicated page may rank high in SERPs (search engine results pages). Since Google ranks pages on an individual basis for any given search term, the syndicated content will not affect your other product, solution or service page rankings.

How does placing syndicated content on an existing page of my website affect that page’s rank?

Any time you change the content of an existing page, whether it’s text, an image or anything else, the page is indexed differently. Adding new content to an existing page, syndicated or otherwise, on your website may affect that page’s rank. That’s why it is always a good idea to place syndicated content on a new page on your site, and link to it from an existing product or solution page.

Is there any way to place syndicated content on an existing page on my website without affecting that page’s search engine rankings?

No.  Adding new or modifying existing content always changes search engine indexing.  The best way to place content on an existing page of your website without affecting its current page ranking is by using SharedVue’s “basic implementation” method. This method embeds content on your website using an iFrame. Search engines do not guarantee support for iFrames because they don’t adhere to Web standards (each page should displays only one URL).

Pages that use iFrames display several URLs (one for each frame) within a single page. However, this does not guarantee your page isn’t affected by the content. The best way to implemented syndicated content is to place it on a new page.

What if I don’t want search engines to index SharedVue syndicated content?

If you wish to place a SharedVue Vendor Showcase on your website without affecting search rankings, you can simply link to the syndicated page with a “nofollow” link. Nofollow links allow you to add entire pages of content without search engines being able to index them. If you add a SharedVue Vendor Showcase to your website and want to guarantee only your existing pages are visited by search bots, be sure that every link to the showcase is a “nofollow” link.

Additionally, you can add the <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex, nofollow”> tag to the header of your syndicated page. Using either of both of these methods will ensure visitors to your website are receiving the most updated, relevant information without search engines indexing the content.

How do I make sure my syndicated content is being indexed by search engines?

Search engines are able to index any of SharedVue’s server-side (preferred method) and CMS plugin implementations. This is because these methods literally embed the content directly into the coding of your website. Using SharedVue’s basic method simply frames the content on your website and does not place it into the code. Thus, search engines are not able to index it. If your vendor showcase is enabled with SEO content, it is recommended you use one of these methods.

What can I do to improve the SEO of my website?

Aside from adding a vendor showcase with SEO content, there are several things search engines recommend you do to improve page rank. Google has great resources available in their Webmaster Tools.

SharedVue, a division of UBM, LLC and UBM Channel announces the promotion of Marie Duncan to the position of Key Account Manager. Marie was originally hired by the founding parent company of SharedVue, Strategic Insights, as an account executive working with several key clients including Cisco. As her work progressed it became apparent that she could be a valuable resource for SharedVue so she moved to an account manager’s position. As that department grew and Marie took on much more responsibility, she was promoted to the position of Senior Account Manager working with Cisco, IBM, Xerox and SAP.

Marie graduated from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and is an enthusiastic Tar Heel fan. She began her career with the NC Department of Commerce as a marketing manager and later worked with a large law firm in marketing prior to taking the job with Strategic Insights. She is active in the community serving as Secretary of the Poe Health Center Board and in a leadership position for the Junior League of Raleigh.

“I can’t say enough about what Marie has meant to our organization. She is organized, understands our technology, relates well to her co-workers and has the respect of her customer group. In short, Marie is a leader in our organization and a necessary ingredient to our success. In her new position we will be looking to Marie to continue her work with current customers and we will involve her in more strategic management activities.” commented M. Reid Overcash, Sr. Vice President of UBM Channel and founder of SharedVue.

Marie offered, “I continue to enjoy the challenges SharedVue’s impressive growth presents as we find better ways to improve the client experience. SharedVue has provided me valuable opportunities in the past and I am excited to explore new ones to help drive my passion for serving clients.”

When I talk to channel IT vendors they almost always tell me how important their partners are to them.

They tell me 50%, 75%, and sometimes even 100% of their total business goes through the channel — the lifeblood of their business. Often times, a channel partner is where a prospective customer has the 1^st interaction with a vendor brand, product or solution.

Vendors mention customer relationships, sales and technical staffs, market presence, and other strengths when it comes to their channel community. Representing the vendor brand  in the channel, however, is all but a fairy tale. When I ask how these important business partners are representing the vendor brand to prospects and customers, the answers usually aren’t nearly as complimentary.

In a recent UBM Channel study, nearly two-thirds of all solution providers said they lack an internal resource for marketing.  Without sufficient marketing expertise on staff, how can vendors expect channel partners to do their brands justice?

What kind of impact does this have on the vendor brand?   If your channel is made up of hundreds, or even thousands of participating solution providers, then think about how many different ways your brand may be suffering. Because of the lack of resources in the channel, there is serious confusion in the marketplace.  Loss of sales? Other things you’d rather not discuss?

If you want your channel partners to “mirror” (pun intended) what you’re seeing when you look at your brand, then content syndication could be a good fit. Think about the value a vendor gains if their brand is consistently represented channel-wide! And what about value for channel partners?  By taking the effort of representing and managing multiple vendor brands and products out of their hands, partners would have more time to connect with customers, build pipelines and sell.

All of a sudden, the inconsistent brand image vendors have seen looking back at them from the channel begins to reflect a little more accurately.

Matt Nisonger to the newly created position of Director of Customer Engagement. Previously Matt has served SharedVue as the Director of Technology reporting to John Brown, Chief Technology Officer.

M. Reid Overcash, Sr. Vice President of UBM Channel and founder of SharedVue, stated, “In his new role Matt will be responsible for managing the inside processes and people who work with our most valuable asset, our customers. Matt’s new position will include directing the Facilit8 account management team and the partner support department, the content web production group and interfacing with the platform technology development team.”

“Matt has proven time and again that he brings fresh ideas to our company and understands the need to create processes and training that enhance the overall customer experience with SharedVue products and services. We feel making this move now is a re-affirmation of the SharedVue commitment to our customers and their channel partners.”

“I am thrilled at the opportunity to build on SharedVue’s industry leading service levels. By nurturing our valuable customer relationships, we will continue to develop innovative products backed by intelligent, analytics-based execution that demonstrates clear value. Our customers can look forward to a smart mix of cross channel integrated marketing strategies touching on all the interactive platforms that drive sales for their partners.” states Nisonger .

In a related development, SharedVue announces the promotion of Sara Bryson-Wheelan to the position of Director of Strategic Projects. She previously served as Director of Facilit8. Her job will entail directing new customers through the on-boarding process with SharedVue as well as managing the integration of outside resources and partners with SharedVue technology.

“Sara is the first employee of SharedVue and knows our products and processes as well as anyone in the organization. She is an excellent project manager and has exhibited outstanding judgment in her previous positions with us. Sara is a very special and important person with our organization and we feel her skills are perfect for this very important new position,” states Overcash.

Wheelan will transition fully to her new position in the next few weeks as she completes several projects she is currently finalizing.

Wheelan commented, “As SharedVue continues to develop strategic integration points and grow its reputable client base, the creation of this position solidifies our commitment to driving market innovation and continuing to bring industry leading products to our customers.”

Working at SharedVue I have spoken to hundreds of channel and partner marketing professionals. I learn something new on each call yet one thing that always stands out is the variety of ways these companies, both big and small, manage their channel.

If any company has a channel strategy or see’s its channel as a significant part of their overall revenue then it should be important to them, right?

Nine times out of ten, when talking with clients and prospects I hear, “Well, we have a partner portal where we have a secure log-in for our partners to download or upload assets and company/product information”.  They also use a variety of content or marketing solutions which they believe satisfies the tactic of empowering their channel partners web presence. What I hear most often are CRM solutions such as Salesforce and ERP solutions such as SAP, Eloqua, Lyris or Constant Contact.

The essential challenge here is that using one or more of these solutions as a single company is great, but how do we get our partners to use them? How can we be sure they are actually using them? How can we better manage and empower our partners?

Using all those other tools is great, but guaranteeing partners actually use them — especially when they have a lack of resources — is next to impossible. SharedVue consolidates all of these solutions into one content marketing solution, allowing our clients to effectively manage their partners and their channel as a whole. We provide channel vendors the ability to offer their partners a program that effectively ensures and allows them to manage the content and information for their partners. SharedVue closes the loop between marketing, web content and lead generation through a server-side, cloud-based solution.

When Kevin Kostner’s character Ray Kinsella, in one of the greatest baseball movies of all time, Field of Dreams, begins hearing voices, he thinks he’s going a bit mad.

Ultimately, “If you build it he will come” convinces Ray to use prime acreage on his corn farm in Iowa, to build, of all things, a baseball field. The crop revenue he forgoes to build the baseball field, nearly puts him into bankruptcy and he becomes the laughingstock of the town. He sticks to the power of his convictions, word gets out, and the ball field turns into a cash cow (farm pun intended).

When channel marketing professionals put together plans for their partners, do they follow the same approach? If you build it will they come?

Does a lead gen program, without the proper follow up, deliver the desired results? Do marketing automation programs without partner buy-in and engagement drive revenue?

There are many moving parts required to drive a successful channel marketing program, and often times those moving parts come from multiple vendors.

How do you integrate? Which vendor takes the lead on it? Do these multiple vendors consider themselves competitors, making said integration difficult at best?

At SharedVue (a UBM Channel Solution) we struggle with the same questions.

Our business has been about helping vendors deliver their brand, product, and promotional content to their partner web sites. Content Syndication as it is known, has been the ball field…we’ve built it, now how do you get them to come?

In the movie, Ray’s companion, Terence Mann, played by the great James Earl Jones, tells him:

“Ray, people will come Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won’t mind if you look around, you’ll say. It’s only $20 per person. They’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it…”

They come for the experience…

At SharedVue we’re always working on improving the experience, and making it so…if you build it they actually will come.

We’ve added platform functionality over the last couple of years to include email marketing tools for the partner to their end user community.

In the New Year, we will be announcing other functionality, including social, press releases, CRM integration and others….and you won’t have to go to Iowa to get it.

PR Newswire CEO Ninan Chacko talks about the importance of content in building relationships with customers and stakeholders:

[From PRN] Marketing, today, is about driving closer, authentic, deep and meaningful relationships, on an individual level, between an enterprise and its constituents – customers, prospects, investors, business partners, key influencers, and more.

These constituents are far more informed; and as such, much smarter than ever before. To that end, if an enterprise is unable to articulate its purpose, its ideals and values and how these impact the products & services it brings to market; if it is unable to offer something more than just its wares; and if it is only interested in being heard but not listening, the enterprise will never establish a true relationship with its constituents.Read More »