What does a channel marketing agency do?

A channel marketing agency generates demand for technology vendors and distributors through and with their partner ecosystem. That covers partner recruitment, partner activation, to-partner and through-partner campaigns, MDF-funded programs and the reporting that ties partner activity to sourced pipeline. xpandly does this for IT vendors, distributors and the MSPs and resellers they sell through.

How is channel marketing different from direct B2B marketing?

Direct marketing has one audience. A channel marketing agency works with three: the partners you need to recruit and activate, the end customers those partners sell to, and the distributors in between. Programs that only address one layer stall. We build for all three so demand created at the top reaches a partner who can close it.

Can you run MDF and co-op funded programs?

Yes. We design programs to meet vendor MDF and co-op requirements, deliver the proof of execution and reporting that claims require, and run them on behalf of distributors and partners. Distributors frequently use our programs as the foundation for vendor-funded partner campaigns.

Which vendors and ecosystems do you work in?

Our deepest experience is in the Microsoft ecosystem, where we are a Microsoft Solutions Partner. We also run programs across cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, networking, data and AI vendors, and for the distributors that carry them. The data platform is vendor-agnostic.

How do you measure channel marketing results?

On partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline, activated partners, deal registrations and closed revenue. Weekly dashboards show which partners, campaigns and regions are producing pipeline. Vanity metrics are tracked but never the headline.

How long does it take to see results from a channel program?

Recruitment and activation campaigns produce engaged partners within the first 30 days. Through-partner demand programs deliver first qualified end-customer leads within 14 days of launch. Meaningful pipeline impact shows by month three, and we report weekly from day one.

For IT vendors and distributors

The channel marketing agency that turns partner ecosystems into pipeline.

Connect partners, MDF and end-customer demand to measurable pipeline. Recruit the right partners, activate them quickly and track every deal registration.

Book a scoping call See our programs

For IT vendors and distributors

The channel marketing agency that turns partner ecosystems into pipeline.

Connect partners, MDF and end-customer demand to measurable pipeline. Recruit the right partners, activate them quickly and track every deal registration.

Book a scoping call See our programs

Overview

Partner activity that shows up as measurable pipeline.

xpandly is the channel marketing agency for technology vendors and distributors who want partner activity to show up as measurable pipeline.

125M+

Qualified pipeline created for clients to date

400K+

IT decision makers reached via vettdd.com

15 years

In the technology channel

We know how the channel actually moves

Why generic agencies stall in the channel, and why a specialist channel marketing agency wins.

A vendor sells to partners. A partner sells to end customers. A distributor sits between the two and funds much of the motion. Demand created in one layer has to travel through the others before it becomes revenue. Most agencies market to one layer and wonder where the pipeline went.

Three audiences, one revenue outcome.

Partners join programs but never activate. MDF gets allocated but never claimed. End-customer demand gets created but lands with a partner who is not ready to sell. Every one of those gaps is a leak between your marketing spend and your channel revenue.

We built our model to close them. Recruitment campaigns bring in partners who fit your ICP. Activation programs get them selling inside the first quarter. Through-partner demand puts in-market end customers in front of the partner best placed to close, with the deal registered to you.

The result is a channel that behaves like a sales engine, with the reporting to prove it. That is the job of a channel marketing agency, and it is the only job we do.

The channel revenue path

Recruit the right partners

Partners profiled by customer base, technical capability and vendor overlap, not by who replied to a webinar invite.

Activate inside 90 days

Enablement, campaigns-in-a-box and first-deal support so a signed partner becomes a selling partner.

Create end-customer demand

Intent data surfaces in-market accounts. Through-partner campaigns reach the buying committee with the partner's name attached.

Route and register

Leads routed to the partner with the best fit and the deal registered to the vendor. No leakage, no double claims.

Report on pipeline

Partner-sourced, partner-influenced and closed revenue by partner, region and campaign. Weekly.

The three problems every channel leader faces

If any of these sound familiar, we should talk.

We have sat across the table from channel chiefs at vendors and distributors for 15 years. Three problems come up in every conversation. Our channel marketing agency model solves all three.

"Most of our partners never sell."

Your program has hundreds of partners on paper and a handful producing revenue. The long tail signed up for the margin, took the training and went quiet. Recruitment numbers look healthy. Sourced pipeline does not.

Our outcome

Partners profiled for fit before recruitment, and activation programs that get them to a first registered deal inside the first quarter.

"MDF goes unclaimed or unproven."

Funds sit in the program because partners lack the capacity to run campaigns. When funds are used, the proof of execution is thin and the pipeline attribution is missing. Finance asks what the money did.

Our outcome

Turnkey, fund-compliant programs run on the partner's behalf, with documentation, proof of execution and pipeline reporting built in.

"We cannot see through-partner demand."

Campaigns run, partners report activity, and the CRM shows nothing. Deals close months later with no line back to the program. Your board sees a cost center, not a growth engine.

Our outcome

Every lead routed, registered and tracked to close. Live dashboards show partner-sourced pipeline by region, partner and campaign.

Programs for vendors and distributors

The four programs that move channel revenue.

Run one or combine them into a single channel growth program from one channel marketing agency. Each is built on our data platform of 2.2M+ firmographic, intent and behavioral data points.

Through-partner lead generation

In-market end customers identified, engaged and routed to the partner best placed to close. Deal registered to you from the first touch.

Explore program

Partner program and GTM consultancy

Partner profiling, program design, recruitment and activation plans built on market data rather than a template from the last vendor.

Explore program

Executive thought leadership

Position your channel leaders as the voices partners want to build a practice around. Recruitment gets easier when partners come to you.

Explore program

Advertising and placement on vettdd.com

Reach 400K+ IT decision makers on our owned channel. Vendor and partner campaigns placed in front of buyers already researching.

Explore program

Results

How a channel marketing agency program grew a UK IT reseller's inbound leads 9x.

Inbound qualified leads increased 9x within 12 months. Cost per qualified lead reduced by 54%. Marketing-sourced pipeline grew to represent 41% of total new business by month 12, restoring confidence in the marketing function.

inbound lead growth (12 months)

54%

lower cost per qualified lead

41%

of pipeline marketing-sourced

Read the Apex Technology Solutions case study

Why vendors and distributors choose us

Six reasons channel leaders pick xpandly as their channel marketing agency.

These are the reasons vendors and distributors tell us they chose xpandly after evaluating other options, and the reasons they stay.

Channel-native team

Our strategists have run partner programs, distribution and MSP marketing before. We know the deal registration conversation from the first call.

All three layers covered

Vendor, distributor, partner and end customer in one program. Demand created at the top arrives with a partner ready to close it.

Proprietary partner and buyer data

2.2M+ data points profile partners by capability and customer base, and surface end customers already in market.

Fund-compliant delivery

Programs designed to MDF and co-op requirements, with the proof of execution and reporting your claims need.

Owned reach

vettdd.com puts your vendor and partner campaigns in front of 400K+ IT decision makers without renting someone else's audience.

Pipeline-tied reporting

Partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline by partner, region and campaign. Weekly, live and shared with your channel team.

FAQs

Questions about channel marketing

Can't find what you're looking for? We're happy to discuss your specific situation directly.

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Speak with a senior GTM strategist today - no jargon, no obligation. We'll be direct about whether we're the right fit for your business.

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