5 Ways to Improve your Partners’ Digital Footprint

Channel Partners need to understand the importance of a strong digital footprint in order to succeed online.

We all know the Internet is a vast source for finding and sharing information as well as engaging potential customers. Taking the time to help Channel Partners better understand the role their digital footprint plays in demand generation is critical to growth.

When it comes to Partners, the most common objection to developing a truly effective digital footprint is the fear it will be time consuming, too complex and not sustainable. Many Partners are also challenged when overcoming the delayed gratification inherent in measuring ROI and driving demand via social media, blogging and SEO.

Building a digital footprint is multi-faceted, but it’s not complex, and doesn’t have to be time consuming. Sustainability and success have as much to do with having an effective website as they do with consistent engagement on social media and the two work together to drive demand.

For all of B2B, including Channel Partners, LinkedIn and Twitter are the two key social media sites to engage an audience and develop a relevant digital footprint. Think about these five ways you can help your Channel Partners improve their online presence:

1. Start with the face of your business:

Have Partners set up social media profiles. Include recognizable and high-resolution logos. And supplement with relevant, high-quality photos of products and services that represent the business. Always include the main website URL and up-to-date information about the Partners’ companies

2. Be concise:

On LinkedIn, craft a current and relevant headline and a professional business summary. Instead of simply labeling yourself with a job title, make it memorable by clearly conveying which challenges you solve. On Twitter, include keywords with hashtags in the bio.

3. Join the conversation:

On LinkedIn, groups relevant to your Partners’ businesses and the businesses of your joint customers are a perfect place to meet new peers and potential customers. Stand out as a thought-leader by participating in conversations regularly. Highlight your areas of expertise and offer insights. On Twitter, post links to articles relevant to the Partners’ audience and use keywords with hashtags in the posts to make it easier for the audience to find your Partners.

4. Enhance posts with interesting elements:

Help Partners create engaging social media posts by including videos or images to draw attention to their messages. Partners can also use social media to bring visitors to their websites by creating posts that link to blogs, pages, products and services. However, remember there’s a 70/30 rule: 70% someone else’s relevant content and 30% their content.

5. Engage early and often:

Channel Partners don’t have to spend all their spare time on social media. It’s consistency that makes a winning strategy. The Partners most successful at social are the ones who set aside 30 minutes a day to engage in the conversations, post and schedule content and like and share other’s content.

The virtual world moves fast and helping Channel Partners remain relevant means committing to being current, sharing posts to engage their audience, and participating regularly.

Need more social media strategy to share with your channel partners?

Download our latest pocket guide:

Photo Credit: Hive Chicago