It used to be that marketing was basically a one-way street down which marketers directed customers so that sales could close the deal. No more.

Seth Godin

Digital transformation has moved the channel from transactional marketing – creating awareness of and a perceived need for your product or service to facilitate the sales process – to relationship marketing, in which the focus is on creating long-term interaction with the customer and providing ongoing business value. Today’s marketing integrates a number of functions – from research and analytics to communications and education, and sometimes even an element of public relations – all working in concert to help you differentiate yourself from the competition in the bustling digital marketplace.

“In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure,” said entrepreneur, dot-com veteran and blogger Seth Godin. “In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.”

Content marketing is key to making yourself visible in the digital marketplace. Those channel partners that already strive to position themselves as trusted advisers are familiar with the process: engaging clients and prospects on a personal level and offering insights, information and expertise to establish your credibility and stimulate interest in your products and services. The best way to do this is with storytelling.

iMarket2’s Mary Stanhope

“Engage potential customers with a narrative,” said Mary Stanhope, founder of iMarket2, marketing communications specialists. “Our brains are actually designed to retain information provided in a story narrative. Rather than list a handful of generic data points about benefits, paint a picture with words and images that explain what it is like to use your services.”

Of course, the stories you tell have to be relevant and valuable to your audience. And even though they’re your stories, don’t make yourself the hero.

“Make the customer the hero,” said Stanhope. “Then introduce yourself as the trusted adviser, the guide that can help them achieve their goals.”

In the gallery below, we’ll consider 10 tips for creating, executing and evaluating a marketing strategy and creating a marketing plan that will make you stand out in the busy technology marketplace.