Jenny Chaffin

I recommend running an aligned launch campaign with your integration partner. This includes both companies publishing their integration pages, knowledge base articles, social media announcements, and—if applicable—a joint press release at the same time. What’s worked well for me is also launching a webinar, on-demand video, or short intro video where both sides speak to the value of the integration. Chances are, both of you already have a target audience in mind for this integration. A co-branded launch event—whether virtual or tied to an in-person workshop at a conference you’re already attending—is a great way to engage early adopters and identify those most likely to take action. Internal buy-in is often overlooked, but it’s critical. Your biggest integration advocates will be the people actually selling your solution. The more they’re enabled and incentivized, the stronger the adoption will be. We’ve seen success when integration partners train our sales teams directly and offer spiffs (small performance incentives). To keep this from becoming noise, we limit it to one spiff per quarter, and tie it to existing sales motions rather than adding extra work. For example, give each AE or CSM a breakdown of their territory highlighting accounts that are strong candidates for the integration. Then, simply add a checkbox for the integration in standard renewal, check-in, or opportunity calls—making it easy and relevant to incorporate.

I hate to say it, but in-person events consistently deliver the best results—across every organization I’ve worked with. The most impactful have been smaller customer enablement sessions or workshops often run by Customer Success teams. These settings create an ideal environment for deeper, more meaningful partner conversations. The key is inviting the right partner for the right topic. When partners are thoughtfully included in roundtables or panels, it’s a huge win for everyone involved. Bonus points if the partner can host the event at their own (ideally impressive) office—it elevates their credibility and significantly boosts customer trust and engagement. Another great strategy is to weave partners into your annual go-to-market campaigns. In ecommerce, for example, invite a partner to contribute a prize to your holiday campaign or include them in your key product launches. These are high-visibility moments that give partners meaningful exposure and a chance to collaborate with your internal teams. It also reinforces a sense of true partnership—showing them they’re not just an add-on, but an embedded part of your brand strategy.

Partner Marketing looks different in every organization I’ve been part of. Sometimes it rolls up to Demand Generation or Revenue teams, other times it sits within the Partner Sales org with dotted-line alignment to Marketing. In some cases, it lives under Product Marketing. The structure varies—but the value it brings should remain consistent. Regardless of where it sits, a strong Partner Marketing function should operate across three key pillars: Pipeline Driver: Acting as an extension of Demand Gen by using partners to generate new pipeline. Enablement Engine: Empowering partners to speak your language, understand your positioning, and effectively sell your solution—making them brand ambassadors in the market. Strategic Lever: Supporting Partner Account Managers by using co-marketing as a value-add to deepen relationships with key partners. Because of this broad scope, partner marketers end up collaborating with nearly every part of the business—Product, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and more. Measuring partner marketing impact is often one of the trickiest parts of the role. It’s critical to track both controllable metrics and overall influence. Ideally, you’re measuring pipeline that is directly generated by your campaigns and activities. But in reality, especially at organizations with limited CRM or reporting capabilities, that’s not always possible. In those cases, you need to tell a story of influence: for example, “We co-hosted an event with this partner, and since then, their contribution to pipeline has grown by X%.” It’s also helpful at the manager level to track activity volume—campaigns launched, events supported—and correlate that with partner performance in the region or segment. While it’s rarely a clean, one-to-one attribution model, a strong influence narrative supported by campaign data can effectively demonstrate Partner Marketing’s value.

The common challenges most partner marketers face are universal: bandwidth constraints, feeling like the “red-headed stepchild” in the org, and not having full control over resources. Often, one partner marketer is supporting 3–4 (sometimes more) partner managers—each managing 10–20 partners. Multiply that by the number of campaigns or initiatives per partner, and you quickly run into capacity issues. The partner manager is typically the quarterback, coordinating across teams, but they’re rarely the direct owner of the execution—whether that’s blog content, webinars, emails, or events. This lack of control can create friction and delays. Solving this requires leadership buy-in across the organization. Some of the most effective solutions I’ve seen include: Marketing allocating a dedicated budget for partner activities, with shared ownership between the field/event team and partner marketing. Sales carrying partner-influenced revenue goals. Product including partner engagement or integration success as part of their metrics. When partner impact is baked into cross-functional goals, it eases friction and increases collaboration. On a more human level, trust and goodwill go a long way. Don’t just make asks—contribute. Help proofread and shape the blogs you request, build the decks for partner webinars, support on logistics and backend Q&A.

We live in a world that expects customization—and that applies to events too. That three-day conference you held in Vegas won’t directly translate to a three-day event in the UK, where attendees are more accustomed to hopping on a train and heading home at the end of the day rather than booking a hotel. That said, the core topics that people care about often remain consistent across regions—maybe with a few regional nuances. My advice is to keep your high-level themes and messaging aligned globally, but customize the format, delivery, and tone to fit each local market—especially for in-person events. From a partner relationship perspective, local presence matters. Having a “man on the ground” that partners can meet in person is significantly more impactful than a 7pm Zoom call with someone across the ocean. Regional trust-building can’t be overstated—it makes all the difference in how those relationships grow.

I typically measure success across three key areas: partner relationship impact, pipeline influence, and brand impact. Partner Relationship Impact -Did this campaign strengthen the relationship? -Did the partner benefit from it? -Are they now more likely to send us leads, prioritize us, and deepen collaboration? -Did it build trust and keep us top of mind? Pipeline Influence -Did the campaign drive pipeline directly or indirectly? -Over a 3–6 month window, do I see an uptick in sourced or influenced opportunities tied to this partner? Brand Impact -Did our brand credibility grow because of this campaign? -Did we successfully amplify our value proposition by leveraging the partner’s external voice? -What was the reach? How much of a new audience did we access through the partner’s network? These three dimensions help paint a full picture—not just of campaign ROI, but of long-term strategic value.

Yes, you can—and absolutely should—say no to co-marketing when it’s not the right fit. Especially when it comes to content, I’m very clear up front: everything is subject to approval. Implementing a partner tiering system can help manage expectations. It clarifies who gets access to co-marketing opportunities and resources, and who might need to prove more value first. When evaluating whether a partner is ready for co-marketing, I ask a few key questions: -Do they have a dedicated point person leading the effort on their side? -Will this be a fair value exchange? -Can they promote the content through their own channels? -What’s their audience size and reach? -Have they seen success with similar campaigns before? These criteria help ensure you're investing your time and resources in partnerships that will actually move the needle.