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High tech channels are restructuring due to the emergence and convergence of social, mobile, big data, and cloud based solutions. These forces are expected to cause a substantial churn in the channel. IDC predicts turnover of 25,000 to 50,000 infrastructure partners in North America by the end of 2013. This is a major wake up call for high tech channel marketers. Three years from now your channel community, the solutions they sell, and the most profitable routes to market will be very different than they are today. Vendors that see a net gain in channel capacity over this time frame will be the ones who diligently accomplish the following three objectives: 1. Redefine relationships: Vendors will need to be both more strategic and more tactical in support of their channel. The business planning process must incorporate strategic issues such as helping partners acquire new skills, building partner networks, funding acquisitions, and driving multi-vendor alliances into the channel. At th

Tech marketing leaders constantly search for better ways to align with sales and IT as well as gain greater influence at the executive table. To improve this capability, Marketo's newest board member, Sue Bostrom, offers an intriguing suggestion – keep the language of marketing a secret. Sue Bostrom is one of the Silicon Valley's most accomplished marketers. A former executive vice president and CMO at Cisco , she serves on the boards of Marketo , Varian Medical Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Stanford Hospital & Clinics, and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; and advises several prestigious organizations.  At the recent Marketo User Summit, Sue shared with the enthusiastic fan-base practices that contributed to her success. One piece of advice - consider the language of marketing a "secret language", one that we use when only when we talk to other practitioners.  When we talk to others, use ordinary language. Since I speak the language of marketing ever

Any number of healthcare organizations are looking to increase admissions or sell to drive revenue and volume by associated physicians. Sales staffs are popping up all over like weeds-in-a-field, complete with goals and objectives, territories and sales quotas for specific docs along profitable clinical-lines and disease-states. In most cases they are managed by people who have never sold anything in their life. Little understanding of the relationship sales cycle, what is important to the physicians, their needs and ultimately their patients. The first time the sale person comes back to the organization with "This needs to change" request, it all breaks down because nobody internally wants to really change anything. We just want volume and revenue. What's wrong with this picture? To sell too physicians successfully, you need more than office lunches and how are the kids kind of conversations. Its about their experience in admitting, treating and referring patients to you

Is nearly everyone missing the most important piece of the marketing puzzle to generate demand, revenue and market share in outpatient healthcare? Especially with the market competition heating up between hospital owned physicians/ clinics and the private sole practitioners/multi-specialty or single specialty group practices and retail clinics. One area that is greatly lacking in most outpatient healthcare marketing, is an intelligent dialogue on your outcomes with your audiences. Payors', pharma and medical device, have recognized this and are leading in the use of quality and outcomes data to drive decision-making. It is time for the rest of the healthcare industry to catch up. And in my experience, it works, driving demand, volume, revenue and market share. Where is the outcomes and quality data? I maintain that even in this economy, there are healthcare dollars out there. Healthcare consumers willing to spend those dollars, if only that had a compelling reason to do so. With a

What is the reality of Social Marketing adoption? Does usage match up to the hype and high expectations? Or is this already an over-blown marketing fad, even in these early days? IDC is beginning to see excellent examples of use, where Social Marketing is moving beyond  experimentation and is beginning to put down roots as a "value-adding" contributor within the marketing-mix. Our latest research from shows that 84% of IT buyers are accessing social media to keep up with trends and stay connected. However, of that same 84%, only 19% believe that social media has influenced how they interact with vendors and make purchase decisions. It would seem that tech vendors and tech buyers are inhabiting many of the same Social media spaces, but Social Marketing as a more intentional effort to influence buyers still needs work. Tech marketers are learning that they must give before they expect to receive, and focus on creating social media interactions that are highly relevant and provi

With a dynamically changing healthcare industry, employment of physicians is making a big comeback to the hospital industry. Born of necessity, hospitals and physicians are being driven by reimbursement declines, effectiveness and efficiency pressures, retail clinic competition and new opportunities. The drive to create ACOs in a value-based payment environment demands a different type of physician relationship.  With this new opportunity to reinvent, revitalize and recapture what previously before had been an adventure on the part of hospitals with mixed results, it's time to discuss how one goes about marketing the employed physician. First break from the past...... It's easy to look at this and say we'll just do what we did in the past in promoting employed physicians and be done with it. That is a dangerous mistake. Healthcare consumers/patients are making physician choices based price, location and convenience due to increasing co-pays and rising deductibles. If you

What's the most commonly heard word in marketing organizations today? It is “Transformation.” Dramatic transformational change is sweeping through marketing functions in most industries. And the main "change agent" is the customer. Or what we at the IDC Executive Advisory like to call the "New Buyer" . Our customers and prospects today are crafting their own routes to learning about products and services. They are motivated and skilled at educating themselves and learning from peers. They travel through numerous digital pathways in their exploration process. And by the time they come to a meeting with the vendor sales person, they are smart and savvy. They are empowered. Marketers need to ask and answer these questions: Where did our Buyers come from? What do they know already? And above all: How do we  add new value to where they are in the process of discovery about our product or service? The New Buyer dynamic creates volumes of new data and customer intellig

In the new world of healthcare where price, quality and a consumer paying more out-of-pocket costs for healthcare, social media and online marketing represents an opportunity that can be used advantageously to meet healthcare consumers demands for a better experience. Social and online represents a great opportunity for patient/consumer/business directed healthcare organizations to break from the pack, by creating a social/online healthcare experience that is memorable, exceeding an individual, business or families experience and expectations. Most healthcare organizations are still stumbling with using social media and the online experience to drive differentiation, meaningful information and experience. In any case, when you look at your social media strategy and online presence, does it: Delight your customer? Create sustainable differentiation? Is adaptable to new opportunities? Leverages your investment? Deliver in every situation? Or, is it just pushing out information that is th