New ServiceNow Partner Program Brings Fresh Marketing Opportunities

Determining the most impactful way to allocate marketing budget and resources can be a challenge for partners in the ServiceNow ecosystem. 

But changes to ServiceNow’s partner program open the door for partners to work smarter at promoting the unique value they can deliver to customers.

ServiceNow says the recently-announced revamp of its partner program is the biggest step yet in a multi-year transformation aimed at simplifying and deepening partner relationships. It says the changes will support what it believes is a $500 billion market opportunity for the Now Platform and associated partner services.

The revamp includes focusing on a “co-creation” approach, aimed at better tapping into the wide variety of knowledge, expertise and experience partners bring to the table.

As part of this approach, there are new opportunities for partners to better leverage their marketing spend, especially around showcasing their specialist expertise within the ecosystem.

What’s changing?

The new partner program, which officially launches in March, will see the end of the current partner categories—Sales, Service Provider, Services, Technology, and Training.

These are being replaced with a framework of four modules, with partners able to align themselves with as many as are appropriate for their business:

• • • Consulting & Implementation – a program for partners providing implementation services

    • Service Provider – for those providing outsourcing and/or managed services

    • Build – for developers of ServiceNow apps and integrations

    • Reseller – for those reselling ServiceNow products and solutions

Through this new partner program, ServiceNow will be investing in new initiatives that “facilitate and expand partners’ expertise, differentiate their skills, and maximize their unique contributions” to the ecosystem.

ServiceNow appears to have consulted widely while building the new program and, as a result, it’s been well received by the ecosystem. Max White, chief executive officer, APJ at elite partner ValueFlow, is quoted saying the new program offers partners “the opportunity to evolve their capabilities and drive and own new business within markets and industries where they can clearly demonstrate domain expertise, while building long term customer relationships”.

Partner marketing opportunities

The new program provides several ways partners can collaborate with ServiceNow to leverage the effectiveness of their own marketing efforts to better target prospects who fit their specific experience, skills and expertise:

1. The Partner Development Fund

This is a new fund partners will be able to access through the revamped program. It’s described as a co-funded investment program that enables partners building on or with the Now Platform to create joint marketing and awareness campaigns with ServiceNow.

2. ‘Built With ServiceNow’ and ‘Built On ServiceNow’

The company says it is making additional marketing investments for offers branded as “Built With ServiceNow” or “Built On ServiceNow”.

According to Erica Volini, ServiceNow’s senior vice president of alliances and channel ecosystem: “Built With ServiceNow is when a partner puts their thought leadership side-by-side with our platform for a specific industry. Built On ServiceNow is when a partner adds their own IP (intellectual property) on top of our platform.”

3. ‘Co-create’ opportunities

ServiceNow defines its current go-to-market with partners as “co-sell and co-deliver.”
But under the new partner relationship model, it wants to foster “co-create” opportunities.
This means “we want to show up with our partners when there’s an opportunity,” Volini says.

“We want to sell that opportunity together and then our partners deliver the majority of our implementations, but we want to partner with them now make it successful.”

Discussing the concept last year at Knowledge 2022, she said: “when I say ‘co-create,’ that means we need to marry the partners’ thought leadership, the partners’ IP, the partner sales motions around transformation alongside the power of our platform to help educate the market on what ServiceNow can do.”

4. ServiceNow Partner Marketing Center

The ServiceNow Partner Marketing Center (PMC) gives partners access to marketing tools and resources, along with customizable ServiceNow campaign content.

The PMC is being expanded as part of the partner program revamp, meaning it’s set to become an even more valuable resource for partners to tap into.

Making the most of these opportunities

While the new partner program will unlock enhanced marketing opportunities, partners will still need to drive their own marketing initiatives.

Taking advantage of co-creation opportunities with ServiceNow requires partners to document their specific subject matter expertise and the customer success stories that differentiate them from the rest of the ecosystem.

Ahead of the launch of the revamped partner program in March, now is an ideal time for partners to start thinking about how they can best position themselves in the ecosystems, and how they can use their unique knowledge, skills and success stories to do so. 

• Simon Hendery is the founder of Think Points, an agency specializing in technical and marketing content for the ServiceNow Ecosystem. Simon has more than 20 years’ experience in IT marketing and has worked with ServiceNow partners since 2018. He is a ServiceNow Certified Implementation Specialist (Risk & Compliance) and a Certified System Administrator.