Initially introduced with Microsoft, Avnet socialondemand is a social media service which syndicates and disseminates targeted social media content from Avnet supplier partners to the social media connections of its business partners. Avnet is able to input, categorise and target social media content and then control and track what, when and where it is published, for example, via business partners’ Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.
Linda Patterson, marketing director, Avnet Technology Solutions, UK said, “Avnet looked for a way to provide its business partners with a valuable source of social media content they could easily post as their own. Avnet socialondemand makes Avnet and supplier developed content go further and allows partners to decide how and when to target customers, while tracking exactly when, where and by whom the content is being read. End-users want to work with a trusted advisor to solve their IT challenges and this constant flow of information helps position Avnet business partners as trusted advisors at a technical, practical and social level.”
Avnet first began working with purechannelapps™, the developers of socialondemand, in March 2012. The aim was to simplify the process of spreading supplier end-user messages through the channel and to help Avnet’s business partners influence decision making by increasing their credibility and visibility via social media.
Patterson continued, “Business partners often have stretched resources particularly in terms of their use of social media and yet they appreciate its value. A survey of Avnet partners in early 2012 showed that 82% used at least one social media account and they had thousands of connections. This was a way to maximize those connections and directly influence the end-user buying process and drive incremental business. Avnet’s Microsoft business unit in the UK was recently awarded an Avnet Marketing and Communications (MAC) award for the socialondemand initiative and now suppliers taking advantage of the service include Brocade, EMC, F5, IBM, Juniper and Veeam.”
Samantha Mudd, director at the business partner Phoenix Software concluded, “Since signing up for Avnet socialondemand our social media activity has been augmented by its content and the pressure of creating and writing posts is far less stressful. We look forward to continuing to develop this powerful communication channel with Avnet’s help.”