1 Develop Partner Segmentation & Personas

Marketers have long known the value of a segmented market. That theory holds true for partner strategies as well. The value of using data to achieve these segments versus using a legacy framework is a resulting strategy that will motivate the right behavior. Updated partner segments and personas will also help you answer questions like:

> “Will spending money on this group of people generate better results than money spent elsewhere?”

> “We have a new product to launch, where should we pilot our new marketing initiatives?”

> “What do I need to create to support my partners?”

> “How do I best reach and communicate with this group of partners?”

> “How should I expect this type of partner to perform?”

While partner segmentation could be as simple as geographic location, other demographic information should be considered like partner type, partner size, product sophistication, who the end-customer is by size or vertical, and how much partners sell of your brand (more on this later in the article).

Once you have the demographic segmentation, personas give a look at how partners do business. Consider reaching out to partners with a survey, picking up the phone, or purchasing a research study to get a first-person view of their ‘personality’. This should bring to light how they like to receive information, what support they need when interacting with clients, and what they find most valuable about your partnership.

To sum it up, the data you’ll want to start with segmentation and personas is:

> Partner demographic information (location, size, type, etc.)

> Partner customer types (who do they sell to?)

> Partner selling style (how do they sell?)

> Partner sales data (more details later, we can help)

> Partner personality (how do they like information, what support do they need, etc.)

> Partner perceived value (what do they like most about how you work today)

The best thing about partner segmentation and personas is using them to enhance virtually everything else in your partner strategy—from recruitment through enablement to sales.

Already doing this? Take a step back and evaluate if your current segmentation is truly aligned with differences in needs and sales behavior. If you’ve been using the same geographic or partner size segmentation we commonly find—it may be time to see if that framework truly fits.