How does the Partner Marketing function work? Which metrics do you focus on and how do you collaborate with different teams internally?

Partner Marketing at Snowflake was about scaling Marketing for Snowflake with Partners. So we focused on scaling various functions Marketing and measured accordingly. Typically Partner Marketing will have yearly targets around partner involvement in Marketing activity like joint pipeline, joint customer success examples, and investments in activities. And then it is important to focus on quarterly targets which focus on large initiatives. Collaboration with different teams is dependent on how bought in is the leadership on commitment to partners. At Snowflake we were lucky that the leadership was very committed to partners. Thus from the beginning all teams collaborated and thought about bringing in partners. It is important to have strong collaboration with the Partner team, demand generation teams (online and field marketing), and product launch teams (PR, Product Marketing etc). At Snowflake we would make sure to share our priorities, yearly targets and quarterly goals with all teams regularly. And at times the Partner marketing team set the goals 2 - 3 quarters ahead of every one else, thus making sure we were ahead of all campaign planning processes. We even shared our priorities with our partners before the beginning of a fiscal year, thus making sure any joint planning / execution can focus on these.

At Intercom, Partner Marketing is integrated deeply within the demand generation team (specifically Integrated Marketing), rather than being a standalone function. This setup fosters better collaboration, as the partner marketing lead is in tune with both the overall marketing strategies and the needs of the partnership team. This collaboration enables smoother planning and more efficient execution, allowing us to align partner activities with broader marketing goals, such as product launches or thematic campaigns. Collaboration is key: by working closely with content, product marketing, sales, customer success, and other teams, we can seamlessly integrate partners into existing marketing motions. This leads to more impactful campaigns and stronger alignment on goals. The key metrics we track include both sales and marketing indicators. On the sales side, metrics like referrals, source deals, and influenced ARR are essential. On the marketing side, we focus on acquired leads, reengaged leads, and the progression of these leads through the funnel (e.g., MQLs, S2s, closed deals). Integration installs and app usage are also critical, as they reflect direct engagement with the partner ecosystem. Over time, we track how deeper integration usage correlates with improvements in LTV, ACV, retention, and churn, helping us understand the long-term value of these partnerships. For teams just starting out, simpler metrics like event registrations and webinar attendance can provide early indicators of campaign success.