OneAffiniti Adds Lead Hub, LinkedIn Plug-In To Channel Marketing Services Menu

OneAffiniti, a channel partner marketing solutions company, has launched a range of new demand generation services for small and medium-sized partners, including a digital lead hub and a LinkedIn plug-in.

The company provides vendor-funded marketing services that support channel partners in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

The new digital lead hub captures leads and identifies subscribers who engage regularly with a partner’s campaigns. Campaign results are emailed to partners so they can monitor each effort’s results as well as follow up on open inquiries.

The LinkedIn social plug-in enables OneAffiniti to post monthly campaign or newsletter content on behalf of partners. Joel Montgomery, founder and CEO, told CMR that a large majority of small to midsize partners aren’t using social platforms such as LinkedIn at all.

With the plug-in, OneAffiniti is able to update the partner’s personal or company profile with monthly campaign content. “The LinkedIn plug-in enables customers who recognize the partner to see and read content, click through to a landing page and read a bit more.”

Founded in 2008, OneAffiniti was launched to help vendors unlock tier-two channel marketing.Tier-two partners, said Montgomery, often have lists of highly responsive customers and prospects. “The open rate is huge. The engagement is really strong.” But few partners have in-house marketing teams to take advantage of vendor-provided programs. And most are reluctant to share their client lists with vendors who offer to send out campaigns on their behalf.

Customer List Confidentiality

To address those challenges, OneAffiniti activates vendor-funded campaigns for selected partners while keeping their customer lists confidential. “Our job is to immediately build as much trust as we can with the partners so they hand over their most important asset to us — their customer and prospect list.”

Montgomery also stressed that his company must demonstrate to partners that the campaigns OneAffiniti sends to their customers are in the partners’ best interest. “Partners don’t want to be or have the capability to be involved in planning. They don’t have the expertise to provide us with feedback on how a marketing campaign should look. So we have to immediately establish trust and get the partners to feel comfortable with effectively outsourcing their marketing to us,” said Montgomery.

Vendors fees are charged only “when the partners act,” said Montgomery. “We feel like that’s an important part of the way we charge — that we put some risk in it.” OneAffiniti collects sales receipts from the partners to give vendors marketing insight and proof of performance.

“Tier-two partners will engage with programs that are done properly,” said Montgomery. “They want to participate. They want to find new business. When leads come to them through these program, they will actually do something with them.”

“We also find that when we make a program work,” added Montgomery, “the loyalty that these small partners have for the vendor funding it is also quite significant.”