Marketing Matters by Barb Levisay, Owner, Marketing for Partners

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VARs and ISVs Are Like Peas and Carrots: Better Together

There's no doubt that ISV solutions can deliver more value to VAR customers and build services for the VAR. It's also true that VARs' relationships with their customers can open doors for ISVs that would otherwise be closed. So how can you leverage those relationships for more effective marketing?

The Challenge To Keep Content Fresh
Every partner struggles to keep content fresh on their Web site and/or blog. The pull of billable and development work is relentless and necessary for survival.  But when ISVs and VARs share the load and deliver educational content to prospects and customers together, everyone wins.

Cal Business Solutions, a Connecticut-based Dynamics VAR, recently unveiled its CAL MarketPlace showcasing ISVs it uses to enhance industry and functional solutions. "We tried to look at what our marketing strengths are for CAL and it is in our Web site and search engine optimization," said Anya Ciecierski, director of marketing at CAL Business Solutions. "So we decided building the CAL MarketPlace was a good way for us to promote our ISV partners with co-marketing. This helps us be a better partner to our clients, and ISV companies we work with."

Give Existing Customers a Reason To Bookmark
The CAL MarketPlace is a rich source of information for existing customers, adding the ongoing education element to the Web site that many partners have been searching for.

Ciecierski noted, "We felt it was important to give our clients one location to get information about the specific ISV/add-on products we recommend for Microsoft Dynamics GP. As their business partner, they look to us to provide advice on enhancements that will improve their business processes. Now there is one central up to date online directory we can point them to at all times."

Multiple Wins
A VAR-sponsored ISV Web page or mini-site helps all parties on multiple levels.

  • The VAR benefits from additional content supplied by ISVs -- both for customers and for search results.
  • Both VAR and ISV benefit from additional links for SEO.
  • The ISV can promote the VAR site on its Web site for endorsement validation.
  • The ISV can offer the content it creates across multiple VARs to capitalize on the time investment, and can reduce the constant one-off marketing challenges that ISVs face.
  • Prospects and customers can research stack solutions in one central place.

If you are a VAR and not leveraging your ISV partners for fresh Web content, you are working too hard. If you are an ISV continually trying to execute one-off marketing campaigns with busy partners, there is hope. Join forces and feed the content beast some peas and carrots.

Do you have an ISV-VAR partnership success story? Please leave a comment below, or e-mail me so we can share the knowledge.

Posted by Barb Levisay on October 05, 2011


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