What does a channel marketing agency do?

A channel marketing agency generates demand for technology vendors and distributors through their partners. The work covers partner recruitment and activation, to-partner and through-partner campaigns, MDF-funded programs, and reporting that ties partner activity to sourced pipeline. We do this for IT vendors, distributors, and the managed service providers (MSPs) and resellers they sell through.

How is channel marketing different from direct B2B marketing?

Direct marketing addresses the end customer. Channel marketing works with three audiences: the partners you recruit and activate, the end customers those partners sell to, and the distributors in between. We plan for each layer so demand created by the vendor 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 can use the same programs as the basis for vendor-funded partner campaigns.

Which vendors and ecosystems do you work in?

We are a Microsoft Solutions Partner, and our Microsoft Copilot adoption research is conducted on behalf of Microsoft. We also run programs for cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, networking, data, and AI vendors, and for the distributors that carry them.

How do you measure channel marketing results?

On partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline, activated partners, deal registrations, and closed revenue. The client dashboard shows which partners, campaigns, and regions are producing pipeline, and reach and engagement figures sit beneath those.

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

Most programs go live inside 30 days, with the first qualified leads within 5 days of launch. A qualified lead is a verified decision-maker who is evaluating now, delivered with the buying trigger, the stakeholder map, and the intent history.

For IT vendors and distributors

The channel marketing agency for vendors that sell through partners.

Partner recruitment, activation, and through-partner campaigns for IT vendors and distributors, with each deal registration tracked to partner-sourced pipeline.

Book a scoping call Explore the four programs

For IT vendors and distributors

The channel marketing agency for vendors that sell through partners.

Partner recruitment, activation, and through-partner campaigns for IT vendors and distributors, with each deal registration tracked to partner-sourced pipeline.

Book a scoping call Explore the four programs

Overview

Partner activity reported as pipeline.

We run channel marketing for technology vendors and distributors, and report what partners do as partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline.

125M+

Qualified pipeline created for clients to date

400K+

IT decision makers reached via vettdd.com

15 years

In the technology channel

How the channel moves

How demand travels through the three channel layers.

A vendor sells to partners, partners sell to end customers, and a distributor sits between the two and often funds partner marketing. Demand created in one layer becomes revenue only after it passes through the others.

Where the gaps between layers sit.

The gaps sit in three places: partners who join and do not sell, marketing development funds (MDF) left unclaimed, and demand that reaches an unprepared partner. Each gap sits between your marketing spend and your channel revenue.

Recruitment campaigns bring in partners who fit your ideal customer profile (ICP). Activation programs give them campaigns to run and support on the first deal. Through-partner campaigns put in-market end customers in front of the partner best placed to close, with the deal registered to you.

Your channel team sees which partners are selling, because reporting splits pipeline into partner-sourced and partner-influenced, by partner and by region.

The channel revenue path

Recruit partners who fit

Partners profiled by customer base, technical capability, and vendor overlap before they are invited.

Activate signed partners

Enablement, ready-to-run campaigns, and support on the first deal, so a signed partner starts selling.

Create end-customer demand

Intent signals such as research surges and renewal windows surface in-market accounts. Through-partner campaigns reach the buying committee with the partner's name attached.

Route and register

Each lead is routed to the best-fit partner and the deal is registered to the vendor, so two partners do not claim one deal.

Report on pipeline

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

Three problems channel leaders raise

Three gaps between partner activity and revenue.

Channel chiefs at vendors and distributors bring these three problems to a scoping call. Each card names the program we run in response.

Signed partners who do not sell

Your program lists more partners than are producing revenue. Partners who signed for the margin, took the training, and went quiet are the activation gap.

What we run

Partners profiled for fit before recruitment, and activation programs with campaigns and first-deal support that work toward a first registered deal.

MDF unclaimed or unproven

Funds sit unclaimed when partners lack the capacity to run campaigns. When funds are used, finance asks for proof of execution and the pipeline the spend produced.

What we run

Fund-compliant programs run on the partner's behalf, with documentation, proof of execution, and pipeline reporting included.

Through-partner demand you cannot see

Campaigns run and partners report activity, but the CRM shows no pipeline against them. Deals close later with no line back to the program, and the board sees only the cost.

What we run

Each lead routed, registered, and tracked to close. Your client dashboard shows partner-sourced pipeline by region, partner, and campaign.

Programs for vendors and distributors

Four programs for channel revenue.

Run one program or combine them. Each draws on our data platform of 2.2 million verified data points across demographic, firmographic, intent, and behavioral data.

Through-partner lead generation

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

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Partner program and GTM consultancy

Partner profiling, program design, recruitment, and activation plans built on market data from our data platform.

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Executive thought leadership

Bylined commentary and speaking slots for your channel leaders, aimed at the partners you want to recruit.

Explore the related service

Advertising and placement on vettdd.com

Vendor and partner campaigns placed on vettdd.com, our owned channel reaching 400K+ IT decision makers.

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Results

How Growth Marketing grew a mid-market IT reseller's inbound leads 9x.

Apex Technology Solutions, a mid-market IT reseller, grew its inbound leads 9x in 12 months on a Growth Marketing program.

inbound lead growth (12 months)

54%

lower cost per qualified lead

41%

of pipeline marketing-sourced

Read the Apex Technology Solutions case study

How the program is built

Six parts of our channel marketing program.

Each card names a part of the program your channel team works with: the people, the data, the funding rules, the reach, and the reporting.

Channel experience

Our founder was chief revenue officer at one of Europe's largest IT distributors. Partner tiers, MDF, and deal registration are the program's working terms.

Each layer in one program

Vendor, distributor, partner, and end customer sit in one program, so demand created by the vendor reaches a partner prepared to close it.

Proprietary partner and buyer data

Our data platform profiles partners by capability and customer base, and flags end customers showing intent signals such as research surges.

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, our owned channel, puts your vendor and partner campaigns in front of 400K+ IT decision makers.

Pipeline-tied reporting

Partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline by partner, region, and campaign, shared with your channel team on the client dashboard.

FAQs

Questions about channel marketing

If your question is about your own market or service lines, ask it on a scoping call.

Talk to xpandly

Start here

Tell us which accounts you need to reach.

Send the service lines you want to grow and the buyers you sell to. On the scoping call we set the ideal customer profile (ICP) and the channels a program would use. You will hear back within one business day.

Response within one business day

No commitment required

Most programs go live inside 30 days

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