Note: This article was created to support the integration phase for Marketplace Vendors. If you're ready to get started as a vendor, we'd love to hear from you. Apply to join the Marketplace!
Requirements Checklist
General Settings: Category, Product Name, Card Image, Icon Image
Types of Marketing and where they appear
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End-user
- Public Store in Business App, & embedded on resellers website.
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Reseller
- Discover products
- But also importantly, in Sales & Success Center, and thus files should contain sales resources
- General needs for positioning, assume the reseller can sell anything, but won’t spend a considerable amount of time learning about your product.
- Vendasta cannot be mentioned anywhere in reseller marketing or URLs used for your support and sales calendars.
- Reseller marketing is turned off by default.
- When you turn it on, it will auto-duplicate what is in the end-user marketing
Category
It is important to select the correct category for your product as this is how a Reseller will find your product to sell on the Partner Center Discover Products page.
In Vendor Center, you will see the category selection here within the Reseller (Partner) facing marketing:
Product Name
The name of your product is one of the first things both the Reseller and the End-User will see.
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Make it memorable (unique and easy to remember)
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Keep it short and simple
Your product name should not exceed 30 characters. The best names are between 10 and 20 characters.
Card Image (Banner Image)
The card image is one of the first things both Resellers and End-Users will see when clicking into a product or exploring a public store. When designing your card image, use a professional graphic that communicates the value of your product. Below are three examples of ideal card images:
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It should work for both Resellers and end-users
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Don’t include text
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Avoid white space
Required format: 1124px x 372px; jpg or png (3:1 aspect ratio)
Maximum size: 5 MB
Icon Image
When Resellers are browsing in Marketplace > Discover Products, the icon image is one of the first things they will see, so it is important to make a strong impression that communicates your product's quality and purpose.
When creating your icon image, keep the following in mind:
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Keep it simple and abstract.
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Use recognizable symbols, but be unique.
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Do not use text.
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Avoid using the same icon for multiple Products.
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Ensure it fits in a circle.
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Do not use GIFS
Recommended format: 240px by 240px (1:1 aspect ratio); jpg. or png. A circle.
Maximum size: 5 MB
Short Description / Tagline
Your Product’s short description is an opportunity to make a powerful first impression beyond your Product’s name.
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Make it memorable
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Do not use the tagline for other purposes, such as special offers or pricing
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Do not include your company or product name
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Use correct punctuation
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Keep it under 75 characters
The following examples explain the Product, what it does and how it provides value. They are concise and include punctuation.
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End-User Marketing
End-user marketing is marketing that targets the Reseller’s client. As such, you will want to format it in such a way that you are speaking directly to the customer. Do not mention Vendasta anywhere in the material as it will break white label within the Vendasta platform.
Below is what the End User Marketing Page looks like within Business App:
Long Description
Provide a concise and captivating description that communicates what your app is, how it’s unique, and why end-users will love it. Some tips:
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Use familiar terminology
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Keep it under 3000 characters
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Use a video! A short 30 to 90 second marketing video to describe your offering.
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Use HTML formatting if necessary. If your description requires formatting or multiple paragraphs, use HTML tags. Otherwise, your content will appear as plain text.
- Do not copy/paste images. Use the Insert/Edit Image within the WYSIWYG editor to include the image source.
- Do not include pricing
User Benefits (Key Selling Points)
Provide 3-6 unique value propositions about your Product.
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Consider explaining:
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How your Product solves the end user’s problems.
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How your Product delivers specific benefits.
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Why end-users should choose you over your competition.
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Keep each point under 500 characters
FAQs
FAQs are the final section on your product page. This is your opportunity to provide end-users with the nitty-gritty details they may need to know in order to make a buying decision. Tips:
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You MUST explain:
- Any unique onboarding requirements, or expectations
- How user seats work if applicable
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Consider answering:
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What languages are supported?
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What countries are supported?
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What happens after the sale?
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Is there support available?
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Answer real questions. Include questions that real customers have asked or questions that you anticipate real customers might ask.
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Use HTML formatting if necessary. If your FAQs require formatting or multiple paragraphs, use HTML tags. Otherwise, your content will product will appear as plain text.
- Do not use pricing information
Gallery Images
The Gallery section is for screenshots of your Product. Include professional screenshots or images to showcase the user experience. Consider the following when adding in your gallery images:
- It is shared between the End-User and Reseller marketing, so ensure images uploaded can be consumed by both personas.
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Use a high-resolution monitor to take your screenshots.
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Don’t combine multiple screenshots into one image.
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Only use graphic overlays when you need to provide extra context.
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Avoid including pricing in your screenshots, as pricing is already shown on your product page.
If you are providing a service that does not have a user interface, you could upload some images that give a visual representation of how your service work.
Recommended format: 1920px wide by 1080px high (16:9 aspect ratio); jpg or png with a maximum file size of 5 MB.
Files (Resources)
At this point, end-users have read through your description and selling points and they’re interested. The Resources section is your chance to showcase the user experience.
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Upload at least 5 pieces of marketing material
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Videos
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Brochures
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Case studies
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Sample reporting
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Be professional with your file names
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Make sure all resources are specific to your Product
Make sure Vendasta is not mentioned in the name of your file.
Reseller (Partner Marketing)
Once you have finished your End User Marketing, you will want to toggle on your Reseller Marketing. The material you’ve added into your End User Marketing will be copied over.
As such, you will want to change the format in such a way that you are speaking directly to the Reseller. Do not mention Vendasta anywhere in the material as it will break white label within the Vendasta platform. This marketing should explain the basics of your offering and why they should consider selling it to their clients (end users).
Below is what the Partner Marketing page looks like. Note that aside from the above, the main differences between the two are:
- The formatting and information regarding which persona you're displaying the information to.
- The end-user will see retail pricing and the reseller will see wholesale pricing.
- The Need Help? section is only completed in the Reseller marketing.
- Reseller marketing needs to be infographic based - our Resellers and sales teams will be navigating to see the distributed product in the marketplace and need to immediately understand how to sell your product.
- Also include videos, battle cards, & case studies.
- We are now requiring vendors to provide a walkthrough video on how to sell your product.
Long Description
While a lot of the material on your Reseller Marketing Page can be the same as the material on the End User marketing page, you will still want to make a few revisions to the Product Description that the Resellers will see. You will want to make sure that it targets the Reseller, focusing on why they will want to resell your services and how it will benefit their clients. You should also focus on how your product compares to competitors inside the Vendasta Marketplace.
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Explain the basics of your offering
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Why the Reseller should consider selling it to the end user
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A competitor matrix that highlights the key differentiating features between your solution and your competitors.
- Do not copy/paste images. Use the Insert/Edit Image within the WYSIWYG editor to include the image source.
Key Selling Points
Instead of Key User Benefits, the Reseller Marketing page needs Key Selling Points.
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How your Product solves the Reseller's or their client's problems.
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How your Product delivers specific benefits.
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Why Resellers should choose you over your competition.
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3-5 core differentiators around what makes your product unique.
Keep each point under 600 characters.
FAQs
The FAQ section on the Reseller Marketing page should focus less on questions end-users have asked and instead focus on questions that real Resellers have asked or questions that you anticipate real Resellers might ask. Avoid using the FAQs as key selling points. Do not include pricing information in the FAQs.
Some general questions you should consider answering:
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What languages are supported?
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What countries are supported?
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What happens after the sale? (Service Level Agreement)
Files & Documents
The files and documents section is your chance to provide Resellers with the sales materials they need. In addition to the case studies, videos, case studies, brochures, and sample reporting you’ve added to the End User Marketing, you’ll want to include files and documents that are specifically for the Reseller's Sales Team, such as:
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Sell Sheets
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Sales presentations and scripts
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Competitor matrix/graph.
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Please be sure to educate your team on the competing products in the Vendasta Marketplace. Understanding the competitive landscape is essential when speaking to partners and our sales teams.
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- A brochure (or one-pager), sales presentation, and case study (or testimonial) are all great assets for Reseller Marketing.
Recommended format: Almost any file type is accepted—pdf, jpg, png, mp4, docx, pptx.
Maximum size: 30 MB per file
Glossary
Marketplace
An online marketplace of products and services that are available for channel Partners to purchase and resell to their SMB clients.
Vendor Center
Vendor Center is the area of the platform where Vendors can go to build out their marketplace offering and connect with Resellers.
Partner Marketing
The marketing page displays to the Reseller.
End-User Marketing
The marketing page that displays to the End-User.
Channel Partner
A Channel Partner is a reseller who has signed up under Vendasta’s subscription model and will resell Marketplace products to their clients. In the Vendasta ecosystem, Channel Partner, Reseller, and Agency are used interchangeably.
SMB
An SMB is a small-medium-sized business. Most of Vendasta’s Resellers sell to SMBs. In the Vendasta Ecosystem, SMB, end-user, and client are used interchangeably.