PartnerOptimizer Glossary of Terms

A guide to common terms in the software and technology industry.

AI :

Artificial intelligence, or machine intelligence, is the field developing computers and robots capable of parsing data contextually to provide requested information, supply analysis, or trigger events based on findings.

B2B :

B2B is a marketing term that means “business to business.” B2B refers to when companies are marketing to businesses or companies rather than marketing directly to consumers.

Channel activation :

Channel activation is designed to build long-term business relationships between a vendor and a technology partner or reseller. This process helps build success to activate channels for both new and established vendors that are seeking to attract new partners to new and existing segments of their portfolio.

Channel enablement :

Channel enablement involves utilizing resources to ensure that current channel sellers have all the tools they need to be successful—and that the organization can track the success of their efforts—to increase operational efficiency and improve alignment.

Channel incentives :

Channel incentives are incentives offered to channel partners, and they are usually performance-based and aim to improve the yield, reach, or mix of a group of partners. Common incentives include volume rebates, new customer bonuses, sales performance incentive funds (SPIFs), market development funds (MDFs), activity-based rewards,

Channel management KPIs :

Channel management KPIs are key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure a channel’s performance based on specific performance metrics such as Cost of Partner Acquisition and Partner Lifetime Value, etc.

Channel marketing program :

A channel marketing program is a marketing plan designed to identify, nurture, and recruit channel partners. It can include but is not limited to digital marketing, print advertising, special offers, online and live events, and other campaigns. Moreover, a channel marketing program also incorporates the building of collateral, campaigns, and offers market development incentives to enable and support channel partners’ go-to-market activities.

Channel partner :

A channel partner is an independent company or other entity that sells products and/or services on behalf of a manufacturer/vendor. In the technology sector, those products may include but are not limited to hardware, traditional software, Software as a Service (SaaS), cloud infrastructure, communications, telecom, networking, business productivity solutions, marketing technology (Martech), HR tech, fintech, and more. A channel partner is considered to be part of a vendor’s indirect sales force.

Channel recruitment :

Channel recruitment is the process of recruiting potential partners to join your network of channel partners. A channel partner recruitment process must be able to convince prospective partners to be advocates of your product.

Channel sales :

Channel sales, unlike direct sales, involve a middleman or third-party that helps your company distribute a product or service. Channel sales can include any type of third-party vendor who helps you, in some way, sell your product or service.

Cybersecurity :

The protection of internet-connected systems such as hardware, software, and data from cyber threats. Cybersecurity is used by individuals and enterprises to protect against unauthorized access to data centers and other computerized systems.

Ideal partner profile :

An ideal partner profile is the basis of the PartnerOptimizer platform. An Ideal Partner Profile is a set of terms and phrases that, when combined, explain the many business attributes of a partner company that could successfully sell your product/solutions to their customers. The PartnerOptimizer platform helps build an optimized Ideal Partner Profile by (a) incorporating your channel team’s preferences; (b) extracting and aggregating data-driven insights of your best-performing partners by profiling each of them; and/or (c) taking a grassroots iterative approach to find companies you approve of and then aggregating their data-driven insights.

IT :

IT or Information Technology is the study or use of systems (especially computers and telecommunications) for storing, retrieving, and sending information

Partner activation :

Partner activation refers to how active or engaged a current channel partner is with your organization. It’s a metric that shows which partners are activated. It’s possible for it to appear as if partners seem like they’re carrying out intended behaviors such as logging into your partner communication tools on a regular basis. Without hard data, however, it’s impossible to tell whether they’re driving results. The PartnerOptimizer platform helps measure partner activation for your current partners to determine which ones are the most engaged.

Partner discovery :

Partner discovery is the process of leveraging your Ideal Partner Profile or other queries to identify new reseller channel partners that are not currently in your partner ecosystem.

Partner ecosystem :

A partner ecosystem is the network of channel partners you are currently partnering with or growing by adding new or more ideal partner matches.

Partner loyalty :

Partner loyalty is critical to transforming the relationship between a company and its channel partners. Partner loyalty is a long-term relationship built on mutual trust, respect, and benefit to both parties, and it is critical for both to succeed in a competitive market.

Partner Match :

A “Partner Match” is a company identified by PartnerOptimizer based upon business attributes that match your search query. The search query is most typically based on your Ideal Partner Profile, but can otherwise be based on any campaign strategy you need at the time. The profile of each Partner Match is delivered to you within your PartnerOptimizer user account.

PartnerOptimizer :

PartnerOptimizer by SaaSMAX platform that enables users to quickly identify new best-fit channel partners to recruit and activate, and/or recognize undervalued partners to better engage within their partner ecosystem. The proprietary profiling engine is programmed to identify more than 50,000+ channel-related terms and phrases and is constantly profiling partners globally.

SaaS :

SaaS stands for “Software as a Service.” SaaS is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and hosted. It’s sometimes also referred to as on-demand software, web-based software, or web-hosted software, like our PartnerOptimizer platform.

SEO :

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines by targeting common search terms and keywords. SEO targets unpaid traffic rather than direct traffic or paid traffic and helps improve searchability for a web page.

SEM :

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing strategy used to increase the visibility of a website on search engine results pages. (SERP)

SERP :

Search engine results pages are the pages that come up when someone types in a keyword or search term on the internet. Examples include Google or other search engines.

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