Okta

That’s a great question. Let me start with some background. In many traditional large organizations, partner marketing teams up with system integrators (SIs), large area resellers (LARs)/licensing solution partners (LSPs) and a variety of resellers. These would make the bulk of your partner sales. Hence organizations focused on the relationship with the best SIs, LSPs and resellers. Independent software vendors (ISVs) only played a minor role. In today’s SaaS world, organizations realize that marketing and selling with other technology partners (ISVs) is as important. This is often accomp...

If partnerships are a focus for the organization, partner PMM as a dedicated team is crucial. Within the team, there can be individuals supporting for technology partnerships, cloud alliances and traditional SIs, LSPs & resellers. Depending on the organization and the existing and planned partnerships, the number to support each one could differ. In addition to the typical partner marketing, there can be additional resources geared towards technical marketing.

I follow the following steps to drive a successful GTM motion with partners. Be Strategic: Every partnership does not necessarily warrant the same effort. Develop tiers for each partner type. Set strategic goals for each tier. Collaborate: Deep collaboration with product, business development and sales is a must-have for any partner product marketing plan to succeed. This is in addition to other collaboration across the rest of product marketing and marketing. Plan: Develop a calendar based on launches to co-market with partners. Measure and learn through each campaign and apply the lear...

Generally speaking, partner marketing influences sales pipeline and revenue. Not different from product marketing in this aspect. With each partner, there should be specific quarterly and annual goals to influence this. Details related to conversion rate based on campaigns planned make these goals operational. There can often be additional goals based on MDF funds given out for specific launches.

SaaS companies start by selling to customer with their existing sales teams. Partnerships increase product stickiness thus increasing adoption and retention, driving long-term growth. Partner PMM is a requires someone who can wear many hats 1. Product marketing – core product marketing skills including messaging positioning, content creation etc. 2. Partner marketing: Understand co-marketing and be able to build external relationships within the partner ecosystem 3. Collaboration & Execute: Strong ‘can-do’ attitude to collaborate internally with business development, product, rest of mar...

Partner marketing can be a huge growth driver for the business, if prioritized. With the right partnerships, co-marketing and co-selling can drive a significant part of organizational revenue. I would think about partner marketing early during the GTM cycle to ensure coverage with the right partners based on product/feature releases.

In order to get the best attention from the sales teams, it is important to create a plan in conjunction with them. Early buy-in drives engagement through the process. Also, as with any product marketing engagement with sales, it is an ongoing collaboration and discussion to apply the best learnings and keep the feedback loop going.

Totally agree with this comment. The response varies a little based on the stage of the business and GTM motion (e.g. self-serve vs sales-lead). That said, I think the top areas would be (in no particular order)  1. Messaging and positioning  2. New product introduction (launches)  3. A core set of field-facing materials (e.g. Pitch Deck) Other honorable mentions for me might include:  * Sales enablement / training * Demo flow and script * Product adoption and engagement * Pricing and packaging * Competitive

Ah, that's tough. When you're competing with an internal candidate, you're up against someone who has considerable product, market and organizational intel. They won't take a long time to ramp, and they have minimal cultural risk too.  So - to counteract this, you have to come prepared - and I'm not just talking some Google research. I would develop a compelling outside-in perspective that is deeply informed. Prepare some provocative questions, have recommendations for positioning on the website and maybe flag some big market or competitive moves that inform your opinions. Bonus points if ...