MindStudio.ai Director, Partnerships, Dannielle Sakheron Partner Activation

One of the most common pitfalls I observe is the North Star as number of partners, number of integrations, etc. A large tech partner ecosystem is certainly beneficial as a moat and competitive product advantage, but not a replacement for tracking direct business metrics like attributed ARR, LTV of shared customers, etc.

It depends. It's easy to track revenue from partnerships with direct revenue streams (revenue sharing, bounties, etc), so let's consider indirect revenue streams, like: - Attributed ARR: what is the ARR of accounts that use the integration? - LTV, reduced churn: how does the LTV of accounts that use the integration differ from accounts who do not? - Revenue from referrals: what is the revenue attributed to the new customers that this partner is driving back to us? This is a starting point: reflect on how you make money, and be intentional about how your partners will be a meaningful part of your business model.

Evergreen marketing > campaign-based marketing Whenever possible, highlight tech partners with always-on, evergreen marketing, such as a dedicated email in drip series or in-product messaging during onboarding. This allows the partner to grow as you grow, versus flash in the pan co-marketing like on social or events, and is particularly impactful if you have a strong PLG motion.

Consider the end-to-end adoption funnel. - Top of funnel: app installs/auths - Middle of funnel: varies depending on the use case. Track events that show an intent or attempt to use the integration. - Bottom of funnel: DAU, successful "runs"

For activating newly recruited partners: 1. Define what "activation" is meaningful to you. 2. Establish a checklist of how they can get there. 3. Reward the partner at every step along the way: both completing the checklist and achieving activation. Let's use an example: 1. A partner is considered activated when their integration has 10 users. 2. To attract new users, partners should a) announce the new integration to their email list and b) make the integration discoverable in their product UI 3. Once the partner completes the email and in-product messaging, they get a lightweight co-marketing perk, a social media tweet about our partnership. Once they "activate", i.e. reach 10 users, they advance to the next tier of the partner program.

I was responsible for selecting Grammarly's first-ever technology partners. I applied the product prioritization framework "RICE" to this process. Here's how I made it work for partnerships: - Reach: What is the partner's audience (# customers)? Will they support us with co-marketing to expand our reach? - Impact: Does the partner's audience fit with our ICP? Does working with the partner unlock valuable new functionality for our customers? - Confidence: How confident are we that we can get this partnership over the finish line? - Effort: What is the level of effort to get this off the ground? Do we need to build an integration? How complex is it? Adding quantifiable scores to these indicators made prioritizing the most impactful partners easy, and using a familiar framework made it easy to align with product leadership and stakeholders.

A basic program for tech partners: 1. Agreement: don't make enemies with your legal team! Have a basic agreement in place that governs your tech partner program. 2. Documentation: Publish high-quality API documentation and help articles to guide tech partners as they build with your product. 3. Enablement: Share training materials customized to your partners on your product and partner program. 4. Support: Create an open line of communication to provide ongoing support to partners, via email, office hours, or recurring syncs. Once you have these basics, you may consider evolving your program to include additional support, tiers/perks, and more. Also consider why your company and customers need tech partners and how that might inform the non-negotiables of a basic program for you.

Great question! Consultants/experts should be prepared to share the tangible results they've delivered to their clients, whether it's time savings, new revenue unlocked, or another way that your services have helped move the needle for your clients. I came across a marketing agency that does this in a fantastic way right on their website recently: https://www.lean-labs.com/ Client trust is paramount, and data/results is a crystal clear way to articulate that you have it. Bonus points if your services already leverage your partner's technology/product, because that then opens up an opportunity to be spotlighted in a success story or other co-marketing opportunities.