Best of LinkedIn: Channel Marketing CW 51 - 02

00:00:00: This episode is provided by Thomas Allgeier and Frennis based on the most relevant LinkedIn posts about channel marketing in calendar weeks, fifty one to two.

00:00:08: Frennis is a B to B market research partner helping enterprises translate market, customer and competitive insights into actionable strategies that drive growth and success across their channel and partner ecosystems.

00:00:21: Welcome to the deep dive.

00:00:24: Today, we are immersing ourselves in strategic B to B channel marketing.

00:00:28: We've aggregated insights from leaders across LinkedIn, specifically during that crucial planning period of calendar weeks, fifty one through two.

00:00:36: Yeah, that time frame is so telling.

00:00:38: It really is.

00:00:38: It gives us a highly focused snapshot of the road ahead.

00:00:41: And what we saw, I mean, it was this massive shift in focus.

00:00:44: The discussions moved almost entirely away from, you know, simple tactical execution.

00:00:50: Exactly.

00:00:50: A move toward these foundational structural changes.

00:00:53: So if you're a leader, you really need to understand this new operating model where partner strategy, cloud marketplaces, and AI are all converging.

00:01:01: It's

00:01:01: not three separate initiatives anymore.

00:01:03: Not at all.

00:01:03: It's one connected motion.

00:01:05: Absolutely.

00:01:06: So our mission today is clear.

00:01:08: We want to extract the actionable insights you need to move your partner strategy from being, say, a nice to have alliance into a mission critical revenue engine for the year ahead.

00:01:17: We're skipping the fluff.

00:01:18: Straight into what the most informed people in the ecosystem are betting on.

00:01:22: Okay, let's unpack this with the first massive trend, the cloud marketplace.

00:01:27: The conversation confirms it's no longer an alternative channel or some side project.

00:01:32: It is undeniably a prime And

00:01:35: it demands a dedicated strategic focus.

00:01:38: What's fascinating here is just the sheer velocity and scale that Eric Hensley was highlighting.

00:01:43: Yeah.

00:01:43: He noted that marketplaces are really transforming co-selling into a vital revenue engine for ISVs.

00:01:49: And he's estimating the ecosystem will hit a staggering four hundred billion dollars by twenty twenty five.

00:01:53: Four hundred billion.

00:01:54: I mean, just in twenty twenty four, the gross merchandise value, the GMV hit thirty billion dollars.

00:02:00: That's a hundred and fifteen percent year of year growth.

00:02:02: This isn't a slow shift.

00:02:03: It's a sudden massive acceleration.

00:02:05: That growth rate is astronomical.

00:02:08: But doesn't that massive scale and, you know, the complexity of the platforms, doesn't that create a noise

00:02:14: problem?

00:02:15: It does.

00:02:16: I mean, how does a smaller ISV, for instance, avoid getting completely drowned out?

00:02:20: That is the critical challenge.

00:02:22: But the data suggests the incentive is worth fighting for.

00:02:26: Hansely also pointed out that sixty two percent of ISVs are reporting marketplace transactions as being net new revenue.

00:02:33: Okay.

00:02:33: That's a crucial validation.

00:02:35: It is.

00:02:35: It confirms these deals are bringing in new buyers or maybe accelerating existing deals rather than just displacing revenue that would have come through a traditional distributor anyway.

00:02:45: Right.

00:02:45: And when you see that CSP fees are around three percent, which is comparable to distribution costs, the whole ROI calculation starts to change.

00:02:53: and fast.

00:02:55: So if the opportunity is validated, then winning comes down to the basics of digital marketing.

00:02:59: Just apply it to the platform itself.

00:03:01: Exactly.

00:03:01: And Hensley gave some really specific actionable advice here.

00:03:04: He said, treat your listing like a compelling landing page.

00:03:07: I mean, actively soliciting reviews, optimizing your visuals, using buyer pain point keywords, all to boost visibility.

00:03:15: They saw visibility jumps of thirty to fifty percent just by applying these GTM fundamentals.

00:03:20: It's basically an SEO game on a closed platform.

00:03:23: And we're seeing the major cloud providers adapting their own systems to make this easier.

00:03:28: My lady, Stombu and Juhisaha, they noted Microsoft's announcement of resale-enabled offers, REO.

00:03:35: Right.

00:03:35: at Ignite.

00:03:37: That simplifies the whole multi-party transaction.

00:03:39: So channel partners can resell ISV solutions at scale.

00:03:43: No more custom private offers every single time.

00:03:45: So it removes friction.

00:03:46: A ton of friction.

00:03:47: And we also saw significant innovation from the AWS side, which Tim Hanrahan and Matt Yankeeshin highlighted.

00:03:53: Things like agent mode.

00:03:54: the conversational AI search.

00:03:56: Yes, and Express Private offers.

00:03:58: Amy Belcher summed up the impact really well.

00:04:00: She said, this allows ISVs to transform from just being pure software providers into end-to-end solution companies.

00:04:06: So they can bundle their software and their services in a single marketplace motion.

00:04:10: Right, giving the customer a true unified solution.

00:04:13: That packaging, I mean, that sounds like the ideal state for the buyer.

00:04:17: But Brian Kobler pointed out where this often breaks down, adduction stalls if the commercial motion isn't set up early enough in the sales cycle, specifically when you're dealing with finance leaders who have no idea what a MSCC agreement is.

00:04:32: That's a massive point.

00:04:33: And just to clarify, a MSCC agreement, that's a minimum Azure or AWS commitment.

00:04:39: It's upfront funds a customer has already committed to the cloud provider.

00:04:43: And you want to burn that down.

00:04:44: Exactly.

00:04:45: Getting your solution purchased through that agreement simplifies procurement dramatically.

00:04:50: But if the finance team only hears about this MSCC possibility late in the quarter, they just default to what they know.

00:04:55: A direct invoice.

00:04:56: A direct invoice.

00:04:57: And the marketplace opportunity dies on the vine.

00:05:00: It's a procurement issue masquerading as a channel problem.

00:05:04: So if we connect this dramatic marketplace growth to the broader strategic view, we see this consensus moving, moving from measuring quantity to measuring quality.

00:05:13: That's theme two, and it's so crucial.

00:05:15: Craig Booth's idea is now, I think, core doctrine.

00:05:19: Revenue is created by active sellers, not by the overall size of the ecosystem.

00:05:24: If you have a thousand registered partners, but only fifty, you're generating pipeline.

00:05:29: The insight isn't to give fifty more partners.

00:05:32: It's to figure out how to get the other nine hundred and fifty to adopt the best practices of your top fifty.

00:05:37: Otherwise you're just multiplying cost and complexity.

00:05:39: That's it.

00:05:40: So the whole logo collection approach is definitively out.

00:05:43: Paul Lyons emphasized that partner-sourced revenue is a design choice.

00:05:47: Not a happy byproduct.

00:05:48: Exactly.

00:05:49: Not just some happy accident from having alliances.

00:05:51: Yeah.

00:05:52: He noted, this is particularly relevant for PE backed companies who often inherit these big unstructured programs that just generate a lot of noise, but zero actual leverage.

00:06:02: And making that choice requires real executive fortitude.

00:06:05: It does.

00:06:06: Craig Leason stressed that successful strategy starts with the decisions executives are willing to make to enforce internal change.

00:06:12: It's not just about hiring ahead of partnerships.

00:06:14: If your direct sales, your marketing, your enablement teams don't fundamentally change their behavior.

00:06:20: to support the partner motion.

00:06:23: All you have is partner theater.

00:06:24: Culture eats strategy for breakfast.

00:06:27: Especially in the channel.

00:06:29: And that clarity has to extend to the tricky reality of co-opetition.

00:06:34: Ashok Sankiren explained, you can co-sell, coexist, and compete in the same week.

00:06:40: That's just modern business.

00:06:41: So how do you make that work?

00:06:43: He argued the key is making the rules explicit up front.

00:06:47: Competition doesn't break trust.

00:06:49: Surprise does.

00:06:50: You have to lay out the lanes clearly for everyone.

00:06:52: And to make sure you're choosing the right partners.

00:06:54: to begin with, Laneazap provided an eight-factor framework for building a partner value proposition.

00:06:59: Which

00:06:59: is so important.

00:07:00: Right.

00:07:01: She stresses that partners don't choose your program because they like your brand.

00:07:04: They choose programs that help them grow faster and serve their customers better.

00:07:07: Your value prop has to solve a problem for them.

00:07:10: Whether that's revenue potential, brand leverage, or just access to new customers.

00:07:14: That shift toward focused quality strategy leads directly into theme three, the operational craft of co-selling.

00:07:21: Yes.

00:07:22: So a strategy is about quality.

00:07:24: The next question is, how do we execute that quality and make it repeatable?

00:07:28: It

00:07:28: all comes down to discipline.

00:07:29: Rob Moyer's stress that co-sell success requires a concrete, thirty-sixty-ninety-day execution plan.

00:07:36: clear ownership, not just some fuzzy strategy deck that sits on a shelf.

00:07:40: Sales reps execute plans, not strategy decks.

00:07:43: Precisely.

00:07:44: And Alexander J. Buckles hammered this home.

00:07:46: He said, if you can't identify who owns the next action, the COSEL program is basically non-existent.

00:07:51: It's just an idea.

00:07:52: It's

00:07:52: just an idea.

00:07:54: If an overlap is found and there isn't a dedicated resource to action that insight within twenty-four hours, The opportunity just dies.

00:08:01: It's a cadence and discipline problem.

00:08:03: Matt Fairman shared a great Coastale playbook, pulled from his experience with HubSpotReps.

00:08:08: Yeah,

00:08:08: that's a good one.

00:08:09: The top move he identified, bringing the partner in early in the deal, well before the proposed solution calcifies.

00:08:16: Then, setting clear lanes on who owns what.

00:08:18: Who owns a platform versus who owns the process and architecture.

00:08:21: I think that's the secret to getting that outcome.

00:08:23: Benjamin Moley described, where he closed a large deal with HubSpot and said it felt like one team.

00:08:29: Yes, exactly.

00:08:30: By bringing the partner in early, the buyer doesn't feel like they're being handed off between two different companies.

00:08:35: They feel like they're getting one holistic solution.

00:08:38: But all of this operational effort, it can break down silently if the compensation is wrong.

00:08:43: Oh, absolutely.

00:08:45: InnerW and Tracy Rich highlighted this.

00:08:48: Misaligned comp plans are the quiet killer of partner strategy.

00:08:53: Because if a direct sales rep makes less money or if it complicates their quota when a partner is involved.

00:08:59: The motion is designed against the desired outcome.

00:09:03: It doesn't matter how beautiful the strategy deck is.

00:09:06: Sales reps are rational economic actors.

00:09:08: They will protect their income and they will prioritize the direct deal every single time.

00:09:12: That is a perfect segue into our final critical pillar, theme for The Imperative of Data, RevOps, and AI.

00:09:20: The operational backbone.

00:09:21: This is what supports all the structural changes we've been talking about.

00:09:25: It absolutely is.

00:09:26: We're moving from gut feeling to data-driven justification.

00:09:30: Greg Portnoy shared that horror story of partnership leaders losing budget conversations.

00:09:35: Wait.

00:09:36: Not because they weren't driving results, but because they spent fifteen hours manually pulling data from six different spreadsheets.

00:09:43: Meanwhile, every other GTM leader had a real-time dashboard ready to go.

00:09:48: So partnerships lose credibility at the executive table.

00:09:51: Instantly.

00:09:52: when they can't prove their impact.

00:09:53: Kyle E went even further.

00:09:54: He listed fifteen rules for ecosystem tech, and the first one was, if it doesn't connect to money, don't build it.

00:10:01: I love that.

00:10:01: He said spending half a million dollars on systems that track engagement scores, but don't tie that to pipeline and revenue.

00:10:07: That leads to executives making decisions based on grandiose delusions.

00:10:12: If you can't show the money... The system is useless.

00:10:15: Exactly.

00:10:15: And Rob Moyer confirmed this urgent need for RevOps discipline.

00:10:19: He emphasized that partnerships fail because the internal systems, your CRM, your automation tools, they just can't see route or measure partner impact.

00:10:27: So

00:10:27: what's the stack you need?

00:10:29: He laid it out.

00:10:30: You need crossbeam for shared account intelligence to find the overlaps.

00:10:34: You need gong for tying pipeline to real deal conversations, specifically setting up triggers to detect those hyperscaler signals.

00:10:42: Mentors of MACC agreements, AWS budgets, and

00:10:46: flagging that opportunity for the Alliance team immediately.

00:10:49: And you need tools like Chili Piper for ensuring clean instant handoffs, no drop balls.

00:10:54: So the lesson here is that technology isn't just about efficiency, it's about validating the entire channel.

00:11:00: investment to the CEO.

00:11:01: Yes,

00:11:02: and this is where AI moves from being an experiment to becoming real operational leverage.

00:11:08: Colleen Brown shared how AI prompts are reducing a massive amount of administrative friction.

00:11:12: So using AI to turn raw ideas into structured GTM frameworks.

00:11:17: Or summarizing those long technical documents into a concise one-page executive brief.

00:11:21: It means the partnership team spends less time on administrative and way more time building relationships and closing deals.

00:11:27: And the shift in partner enablement reflects this perfectly.

00:11:30: It really does.

00:11:31: Alex Richards noted that enablement is moving away from optimizing for the sheer volume of certifications.

00:11:37: to

00:11:37: optimizing for measurable revenue behavior.

00:11:41: Roman Kirsanov shared the playbook from Laura Ripens at Datadog.

00:11:45: She scaled their marketplace motion to over two billion dollars by embedding alliances training into new, higher onboarding.

00:11:53: So

00:11:53: from day one,

00:11:54: from day one, they taught sellers to follow the money, those cloud commitments.

00:12:00: Enablement is about driving outcomes and behavior, not just maximizing attendance.

00:12:05: That was a comprehensive deep dive.

00:12:07: We've covered a huge amount of ground from the immense scale of the marketplace to the necessity of internal revops discipline.

00:12:14: The central thread here, and Theresa Karagall observed this, is that this year is truly a convergence year.

00:12:19: You can't manage your partner program, your marketplace strategy, and your AI tools as separate silos anymore.

00:12:25: It has to be one connected disciplined operating model.

00:12:29: That's it.

00:12:29: Ultimately, this all returns to those fundamental questions of design and measurement.

00:12:33: Are you focusing on partner count or are you strategically engineering the performance of your active sellers?

00:12:39: Are you enabling certifications or are you driving measurable revenue behavior?

00:12:44: Those are the pivots that will separate intent from real execution this year.

00:12:48: If you enjoyed this deep dive, new episodes drop every two weeks.

00:12:52: Also, check out our other editions on account-based marketing, field marketing, AI, and B to B marketing, MarTech, go-to-market, and social selling.

00:13:00: Thank you for listening.

00:13:02: And here's a provocative thought for you to explore, raised by Asher Matthew.

00:13:06: What happens when AI becomes the front door for software buying?

00:13:10: I mean, if conversational AI can identify, vet, and recommend solutions directly, will the cloud marketplace just fade into the background as a billing engine?

00:13:19: Or will the hyperscalers fight fiercely to maintain control of distribution through their existing platforms?

00:13:25: Something to consider as you design your GTM motions this year, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss our next deep dive.