You’ve Inherited a Cloud Marketplace Listing. Now What?

Take your Cloud Marketplace listing to the next level

Maybe you’re in a new role at your ISV, or possibly someone at your company has just tasked you with the responsibility of “doing something” with a Cloud Marketplace listing that hasn’t been performing as expected. Whatever the reason, you now find yourself wondering, “Well, I’ve got this Cloud Marketplace listing … what’s next?” 

If that scenario sounds familiar, you’re in luck. Here is a blueprint for taking your Marketplace listing to the next level.

 

Setting expectations

First off, congratulations: You’ve got a Cloud Marketplace listing. That’s an important first step — and a necessary one in order to reach today’s software buyer and also potentially tap into new budgets (and new customers). In fact, Tackle’s State of Cloud Marketplaces Report found that 48% of buyers say drawing down on committed spend with Cloud Providers is the top reason they purchase third-party software through the Cloud Marketplaces. So with that listing, you’re on the right path to capture those budget dollars.

Read more: The Cloud Marketplace Playbook  

That’s all good news, but listing on a Cloud Marketplace is only the first step, and the journey certainly doesn’t end there. And just because you have a listing, doesn’t mean that customers will be pounding at your virtual door. The Field of Dreams maxim “If you build it, they will come” does not apply to Cloud Marketplaces (or to most baseball fields, for that matter). 

Rather, it takes strategy, collaboration, technology, and consistent effort to make the most of your Marketplace listing—so you can reach more buyers, more effectively.

    

The bigger picture: Your listing is part of a larger Cloud GTM strategy

Your listing doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Ideally, it should be part of a Cloud GTM strategy within your organization.

In the simplest terms, Cloud GTM is the strategy a software company employs to leverage Cloud Provider ecosystems to drive lift to their revenue strategy. Cloud GTM helps sellers meet customers where they want to buy while nurturing strategic partnerships that can lead to more, higher-value sales opportunities for ISVs.

Learn more: Infographic: The Dawn of a New Go-to-Market Age

With Cloud GTM, software sellers leverage the Cloud Provider ecosystems (AWS, Google, and Microsoft) to drive revenue. By selling through and with one or more of the Cloud Providers, software sellers gain access to a broad pool of enterprise buyers—along with their billions of dollars’ worth of committed spend.

Your Marketplace listing is an integral part of that strategy, and is the mechanism by which your customers will purchase your product. However, in order to make the most of the listing—and drive meaningful, scalable revenue—it should be optimized to your pricing, packaging, and the way your sellers sell, and it should be seen as one part of a Cloud go-to-market strategy. 

Learn more: Tackle on Tackle: How We Drive Revenue Through Cloud GTM

There are three ingredients to a successful Cloud go-to-market:

• Deciding who to target. Data gives you the opportunity to assess your pipeline and understand which accounts are most likely to buy from the Cloud Providers so you can build your Cloud go-to-market focused on the best-fit accounts. 
• Leveraging co-sell. With co-sell, plan and collaborate with Cloud Partners on targeted accounts to show buyers how your solution fits into their current ecosystem. Successful co-selling helps you strengthen access to new buyers, new budgets, and build meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships with the Cloud Providers. 
• Transacting. Marketplace gives you the vehicle through which to execute co-sell deals in a way that fits with the way B2B buyers want to buy: leveraging their cloud budgets, with fewer bills and vendors, and from ecosystems they trust, like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft. 

Build a foundation: C-suite buy-in is critical

For any Cloud GTM strategy to work, it’s imperative to get adequate support and buy-in from your C-suite.

Why? Because a Cloud GTM strategy is most successful when the C-suite integrates it into the company’s business model, and that kind of direction best comes from the top. Additionally, C-suite support makes it much easier to break down silos and get your alliances, revenue, finance, and other teams talking — another important facet of a successful Cloud GTM strategy. 

Your C-suite may have incorrect notions about how Cloud GTM works and how it can drive value and revenue to the business. Or your C-level decision makers may not even be familiar with it at all. You may need to build a business case and demonstrate that Cloud GTM is a winning route to market (and more companies are headed in that direction every year). In fact, according to Battery Ventures State of Cloud Software Spending, 63% of enterprise companies already buy SaaS via Cloud Marketplaces. 

There are no signs of slowing down, as buyers continue seeking more convenient digital means of buying, especially those that have a positive net impact — and the best way to reach those buyers is through a carefully orchestrated Cloud GTM strategy.

The most crucial point is this: The end goal is not getting listed in a Marketplace; it’s integrating Marketplace into the way you do business. That’s why the C-suite conversation is so pivotal: Cloud GTM is more than just a new channel, it’s a way of doing business that opens new doors and opportunities.

Next steps: What to do with that Cloud Marketplace listing

With a Cloud GTM strategy in motion, now it’s time to get your Marketplace revenue channel up and running. Here are a few suggestions for your next steps:

 

Get your revenue team up to speed on Cloud GTM.

Taking your Marketplace listing to the next level absolutely depends on ensuring that your sales team is properly briefed on Cloud GTM and they have all the tools they need to get the job done. Begin a regular cadence of sales enablement, education, etc. and build internal alignment on the importance of Marketplace and how Cloud GTM works. It may be advantageous to work with an internal L&D team to incorporate cloud selling into your existing enablement curriculum. Some helpful resources:

• Busting Myths about Listing, Selling, and Managing a Cloud Marketplace Business
• One Team, One Dream: How to Align Sales and Alliances for Revenue Success
• How to Build a Winning Marketplace-First Sales Strategy

Leverage data to find best-fit customers.

Cloud buyer-intent data is the key to a great Cloud GTM strategy, and a powerful tool that helps you answer questions such as which Marketplaces your prospects are most likely to transact on, how many opportunities in your pipeline are most likely to transact through the Marketplace, and which prospects have existing cloud budgets that can be used to purchase third-party software through Marketplace. Leverage this data to boost Marketplace success. Some helpful resources:

• Tackle on Tackle: How a Data-Driven Sales Strategy Boosts Efficiency
• Leveraging Tackle Prospect to Identify the Right Buyers
• Revenue Pulse: Who Is Buying in the Cloud Marketplaces?

Build a plan.

If you don’t already have a plan in place for optimizing the Marketplace listing (or if you have one that isn’t working) now is the time to create a plan for how your organization will implement a Cloud GTM strategy. The plan should include key KPIs, along with processes for aligning key stakeholders—notably sales, finance, marketing, and alliances. Some helpful resources:  

• A Roadmap to Your Cloud Marketplace Journey: Positioning, People, and KPIs
• Organizing for Marketplace Success

 

Key tasks to include in the plan:

1. Hone your “better together” story. Get sales and alliances together to create a comprehensive “better together” narrative. A successful Cloud GTM strategy hinges on a strong better together story. Here is a template to help create one. 
2. Take advantage of Cloud Provider programs and incentives. Research and sign up for Cloud Provider programs that can help you build stronger relationships with the clouds and access co-marketing and co-branding opportunities, such as webinars, case studies, etc. Some helpful resources:

• Tackle’s AWS Marketplace Seller Guide
• Tackle’s Microsoft Commercial Marketplace Seller Guide
• Tackle’s Google Cloud Marketplace Seller Guide

Ramp up your co-sell motion. 

Co-selling with Cloud Partners is an essential ingredient for Cloud GTM. Through co-selling, you build the necessary relationships with the Cloud Providers to find access to new budgets and the opportunity to take advantage of numerous Cloud Provider co-marketing benefits. Examine your ISV’s co-sell motion and look for ways to improve or accelerate it. Some helpful resources:

• The Alliance Leader’s Cloud Co-sell Playbook
• Happily Ever After: Craft a Co-sell Success Story
• Co-selling 101 for Startups: Stand Out in a Crowded Field

Scale operations.

Ensure that you have properly linked people, processes, and technology to take full advantage of Cloud GTM and Marketplace to keep the Cloud GTM flywheel in motion. Explore channel partner and CPPO options. Some helpful resources:

• Level Up Your Cloud Marketplace Game
• How to Scale Your Cloud Marketplace Revenue
• Top 5 Marketplace Tips from Successful Sellers

Report and re-align.

Assess your progress and match to goals. Are you headed in the right direction? Analyze reporting and insights and make needed adjustments. Report progress to key stakeholders to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Make necessary changes in order to keep on track. 

Beyond a Marketplace listing

A Cloud Marketplace listing is an excellent pathway for your buyers to transact quickly and easily through the clouds. However, leveraging your listing as part of a broader Cloud GTM strategy is the best way to scale revenue efficiently through the clouds.  

Building a Cloud GTM strategy that unites people, processes, and technology takes time. But having the right tools can go a long way toward unlocking the potential of Cloud GTM. Armed with cloud buyer data that helps define the co-sell opportunity, along with streamlined workflows for co-sell and Marketplace transactions, an ISV will be well-equipped to handle Cloud GTM.

Interested in seeing what a seamless solution uniting co-selling, buyer intent data, and Marketplace solutions can do for you? Schedule a demo today.