Best of LinkedIn: Channel Marketing CW 41/42

00:00:00: This deep dive is provided by Commis, Allgaier and Frennus, based on the most relevant LinkedIn posts about channel marketing in calendar weeks, forty one and forty two.

00:00:09: Frennus 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.

00:00:22: Welcome to this deep dive.

00:00:25: We are jumping straight into, well, the strategic core of B to B channel marketing today.

00:00:31: Over the last couple of weeks on LinkedIn, the conversation, it really wasn't just about the usual tactical campaigns.

00:00:35: No, it felt deeper, didn't it?

00:00:37: Exactly.

00:00:37: It was much more about foundational change.

00:00:39: We're seeing, I think, a massive shift toward treating partnerships, not just as some kind of support function, but really as the core, the fundamental core of the go-to-market motion itself.

00:00:49: That's absolutely right.

00:00:50: And our mission today, really, is to cut through all that noise you see on the feed and deliver the operational intelligence that the industry leaders are actually sharing right now.

00:01:00: the content down into, let's say, four key operational themes or insights.

00:01:05: First, the foundational importance of trust.

00:01:08: Then, the nuts and bolts of co-sell execution.

00:01:11: Third, the non-negotiable role of getting compensation aligned.

00:01:15: And finally, the really game-changing impact of AI and that whole cloud marketplace revolution.

00:01:21: that's happening.

00:01:22: So, actionable takeaways you can use today?

00:01:23: Yeah, that's

00:01:24: the goal.

00:01:24: Things you can actually implement.

00:01:26: Okay, let's unpack this then.

00:01:28: First, major theme.

00:01:30: Building the foundation.

00:01:31: We're talking trust, leadership, and the operating model.

00:01:34: It seems really clear that before you spend even a dime on tools, success hinges on that strategic alignment and, crucially,

00:01:41: trust.

00:01:41: Exactly.

00:01:42: And the consensus we're seeing is that, well, frankly, many companies are still building things in the wrong order, you know?

00:01:47: Oh, so.

00:01:48: Well, Alaina Zapp pointed out that... Partner-led growth.

00:01:52: it has to be built into the GTM motion like embedded across sales marketing customer success Not just bolted on as some kind of side project or afterthought

00:02:01: not just a channel thing.

00:02:02: over there precisely

00:02:04: and Alan our Thompson really reinforced this she stressed the mistake of deploying say PRM tools and incentives before establishing that necessary foundation of trust and Importantly reliable processes because as she put it you simply cannot automate trust.

00:02:20: You can't automate trust.

00:02:22: I like that.

00:02:23: And that idea that foundational trust, it really has to start right at the top, doesn't it?

00:02:27: Oh, absolutely.

00:02:28: I thought Greg Portnoy's post, where he directly addressed C-suite executives, it was Particularly timely, he was urging them to stop his word gaslighting partnership leaders.

00:02:39: Strong word, but probably accurate in some cases.

00:02:42: Yeah.

00:02:43: His point was, you can't just set an impossible arbitrary revenue target, refuse to provide the resources needed for scalable processes, and then turn around and conclude that partnerships don't work when the goal is inevitably missed.

00:02:53: Right.

00:02:53: It's setting them up to fail.

00:02:55: Exactly.

00:02:55: True commitment means the C-suite has to build the strategy with the partnership leader, not just hand them a number and walk away.

00:03:02: That really is the core friction point, isn't it?

00:03:04: So, okay, if the C-suite is committed, what does that structure actually look like on the ground?

00:03:09: Good question.

00:03:10: If Eoma Egbuna gave us a really valuable benchmark here, she noted that even though something like seventy-five percent of B to B SA's revenue flows through partners globally.

00:03:20: Which is huge.

00:03:21: Massive number.

00:03:22: Yet, fewer than fifty percent of companies actually have a well-defined partner program.

00:03:27: And a strong program, well... That is the operating model.

00:03:31: It defines the partner value proposition, designs a smooth partner journey, delivers targeted enablement, and provides really clear incentives and measurement.

00:03:41: That

00:03:41: completely reframes partnerships, doesn't it?

00:03:43: It highlights they're not just, you know, another sales motion.

00:03:46: They're core business architecture.

00:03:48: Exactly.

00:03:48: And if you don't have that operating model right, everything else, every tool you buy, every incentive you offer, it's basically just wasted effort.

00:03:55: It really is about discipline structure first.

00:03:57: Precisely.

00:03:58: Which brings us quite nicely into theme two, activation, enablement, and co-sell execution.

00:04:03: Because once you have the strategy hopefully nailed down, the next big challenge is getting the teams out there on the street, both your internal folks and your partners to actually execute on

00:04:13: it.

00:04:14: Yeah, and execution is definitely the key word there.

00:04:17: Jorge Soto really emphasized that enablement needs to function as a revenue discipline.

00:04:24: not just a support role ticking boxes.

00:04:26: What did that mean in practice, a revenue discipline?

00:04:28: It

00:04:29: means having a dedicated real enablement strategy, providing dedicated resources, and, crucially, equipping partners with buyer-aligned collateral and ongoing training.

00:04:40: basically treating them functionally as an extension of your own internal sales team.

00:04:44: Okay.

00:04:44: Treating them like insiders, that makes sense.

00:04:47: But this is where the human element often comes in, right?

00:04:49: The sort of people problem of it all.

00:04:51: Absolutely.

00:04:51: Kathleen O'Neill offered a very memorable analogy for this.

00:04:54: She said teaching sellers to co-sell is, well, it's like puppy training.

00:04:58: Oh, slight

00:04:59: laugh.

00:04:59: Puppy training.

00:05:00: Okay, next point.

00:05:01: It requires huge amounts of patience, lots of repetition, and this is the most important part, positive reinforcement.

00:05:07: Ah, okay.

00:05:08: I love that analogy when I saw it.

00:05:10: It speaks directly to the psychological reality of changing behavior, doesn't it?

00:05:14: It

00:05:14: really does.

00:05:14: You have to recognize and celebrate those small co-sell wins, maybe almost immediately, to reinforce that culture of collaboration.

00:05:23: If you only celebrate the huge deal closure six months down the line, you lose that chance to turn the learning into an actual habit.

00:05:31: And Habits, as Kyle Schroeder points out, are what allow these motions to actually scale.

00:05:36: It has to become repeatable.

00:05:37: Right.

00:05:38: And Rob Moyer gave us the hard data to back this up.

00:05:41: He insists that partner managers shouldn't just be treated like, say, senior SDRs focused only on sourcing leads.

00:05:47: That misses the point.

00:05:48: So what's the real value then?

00:05:50: The real value is in the impact metrics.

00:05:52: The data clearly shows that partner sourced and COSIL deals consistently close at, get this, two to three times the win rate of direct deals.

00:06:00: Wow.

00:06:00: Two to three times.

00:06:01: Yeah.

00:06:02: And often with improved deal velocity.

00:06:03: Okay.

00:06:04: That's massive leverage.

00:06:05: So the takeaway is instead of just tracking say meetings booked, we absolutely need to be tracking deals impacted.

00:06:11: Exactly.

00:06:12: Deals impacted.

00:06:13: That's the key metric.

00:06:14: But when we talk about COSO, especially, you know, with the hyperscalers like Microsoft or AWS, the actual mechanic is often misunderstood, isn't it?

00:06:23: Oh, completely.

00:06:24: Roman Kirsanov provided some really essential clarity here.

00:06:27: He stressed that COSEL is not simply the cloud vendor cells for you.

00:06:31: That's a common misconception.

00:06:33: Right.

00:06:33: They don't just hand you deals.

00:06:35: No.

00:06:35: It's a dedicated joint effort.

00:06:38: The ISV... The software vendor typically brings the core opportunity.

00:06:43: And the

00:06:43: cloud seller brings immense value through their deep account intelligence, the trust they have built, and those established budget pathways often routed via the marketplace.

00:06:52: OK, so it's a team effort leveraging strengths.

00:06:54: Exactly.

00:06:56: And the alignment has to be laser focused on a specific sequence.

00:06:59: Customer outcome first.

00:07:01: That enables cloud consumption.

00:07:02: And only then does it lead to your outcome, your revenue.

00:07:06: Customer consumption, your revenue.

00:07:07: If you miss that sequence or get it out of order, the whole motion tends to fail.

00:07:12: That clarity on sequencing, it sets us up perfectly for theme three, incentives, measurement, and understanding true partnership value.

00:07:21: Because if COSEL is that effective, two

00:07:23: to three times the win rate.

00:07:25: What are we actually doing to make sure our teams, our sellers, actually do it?

00:07:29: Well, compensation, frankly, is where many partnerships die before they even get off the ground.

00:07:34: Really?

00:07:35: How so?

00:07:35: Raceberry warns specifically that Microsoft partnerships, for example, often falter if the internal compensation plan makes it harder or maybe just less rewarding for your own sellers to bring in deals through that hyperscale or ecosystem.

00:07:49: OK, so if there's friction in the comp plan, the path of least resistance wins out, which might be the direct sale.

00:07:55: Exactly.

00:07:55: So the bare minimum is ensuring your plan is at least net neutral for a partner-influenced or cosel deal.

00:08:02: but the best in class precisely.

00:08:04: And, you know, speaking of money and value, we also need to broaden how we define success.

00:08:10: It can't just be about raw revenue anymore.

00:08:12: Lincoln Axon introduced this really powerful concept he called the partner prism.

00:08:17: He argues that partnership success is inherently multi-dimensional.

00:08:21: You just can't capture the true value if you're only tracking a single linear revenue number.

00:08:27: interesting, the partner prism.

00:08:28: So what are the other dimensions that the other facets we should be focusing on?

00:08:33: Well, the prism includes metrics like brand reach, how partners extend your visibility, obvious ROI, of course, but also net new customers acquired via partners, value creation, the unique solutions built together, and critically, customer advantage, which often links to retention.

00:08:49: Right.

00:08:49: Like if you're not tracking customer retention that's driven by a partner, which Bernard Friedrich pointed out is often much cheaper than new acquisition, you're missing maybe half the picture.

00:08:58: Absolutely.

00:08:59: And Friedrich's also suggested we need to stop equating partnerships only with traditional sales channels.

00:09:05: We need to start looking at the client's full ecosystem.

00:09:08: Think service partners, data partners, other solution partners.

00:09:12: So expanding the definition of partner.

00:09:13: Exactly.

00:09:14: And Asher Matthew even noted that.

00:09:16: somewhat surprisingly, basic resale motions seem to be making a comeback.

00:09:21: Really?

00:09:21: Like traditional resale?

00:09:23: Yeah, but often coupled now with co-marketing and co-sell plays.

00:09:27: Think about pairings like sales loft and zoom info.

00:09:30: The driver seems to be faster monetization and delivering that bundled value for the end customer more easily.

00:09:36: Okay, that makes sense.

00:09:37: That shift from just channel to a broader ecosystem view.

00:09:42: It completely changes the marketing play, doesn't it?

00:09:45: It

00:09:45: really does.

00:09:45: And programmatic incentives must play a huge role in directing all that ecosystem activity.

00:09:49: Oh, absolutely.

00:09:50: Programmatic incentives are key for steering partner activity towards, say, strategic segments or maybe new product launches.

00:09:57: Joe McStravick shared a really tangible example of this.

00:10:00: Eight by eight announced their Escape to Excellence Dubai incentive.

00:10:04: Right.

00:10:05: It's for their top EMEA channel partners.

00:10:08: It shows how combining experiential rewards with regional can clearly live participation and conversion rates exactly where you need them most.

00:10:17: Very targeted.

00:10:18: Okay, that sets us up nicely for our final and maybe most forward-looking theme, the AI and Marketplace Revolution.

00:10:26: Let's start with AI because it feels like it's dramatically shifting the buyer journey itself.

00:10:31: It really is.

00:10:32: Christina Karstensen raised a critical point here.

00:10:35: AI is fundamentally changing how buyers find content, how they get answers.

00:10:38: How so?

00:10:39: Well, think about it.

00:10:40: If your partner content or even your own content, for that matter, isn't seen as a trusted, authoritative source by AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot, well, then your content basically becomes invisible in this new buyer journey.

00:10:52: Wow.

00:10:53: So we're moving beyond just traditional SEO, search engine optimization, into maybe what some are calling AEO, answer engine optimization.

00:11:00: That's a good way to put it, answer engine optimization.

00:11:02: It's a massive new requirement for partner marketing teams, really for all marketing teams globally.

00:11:06: And this whole strategic pivot is happening against the backdrop of, well, just massive platform consolidation, especially around AI infrastructure.

00:11:15: It is.

00:11:16: It's kind of staggering.

00:11:17: Alejandro Cananero defined.

00:11:19: this compounding strategy that companies really need to master to win now.

00:11:23: He talks about moving from product, focusing just on your product to offering a solution that solves a bigger problem than evolving that into a platform others can build on.

00:11:33: And finally, orchestrating an ecosystem, products, platform make ecosystem.

00:11:38: That progression makes sense.

00:11:39: And this is underscored by those huge AI infrastructure alliances that Juhi Saha highlighted.

00:11:44: Think about open AI collaborating with giants like Broadcom, AMD, Nvidia and Oracles reported three hundred billion dollar Stargate initiative.

00:11:54: The entire competitive landscape for tech and distribution is being redrawn right now fundamentally at the infrastructure level.

00:12:00: Incredible scale and this whole platform to ecosystem movement.

00:12:04: it seems like it's pouring rocket fuel on the momentum we're seeing in cloud marketplaces.

00:12:08: absolutely pouring rocket fuel on it.

00:12:11: The latest tackle.io, twenty twenty five state of cloud GTM report, which senior benefits Gerald and Jake Simpson shared insights from shows just massive acceleration.

00:12:21: The projecting thirty two percent of B to B tech revenue will flow through cloud marketplaces next year.

00:12:26: Thirty-two

00:12:27: percent?

00:12:28: Wow, that's up from what?

00:12:29: Maybe twenty percent just recently?

00:12:30: Exactly.

00:12:31: Huge jump.

00:12:32: And crucially, Darren Sharpe highlighted data showing that channel partners influence over forty percent of all marketplace transactions.

00:12:40: Over forty percent influenced by partners.

00:12:42: Yeah.

00:12:42: So the channel isn't being disintermediated by the marketplace.

00:12:45: It's actually the primary lever for marketplace growth.

00:12:48: That's a really key insight.

00:12:49: That forty percent influence number is probably the one number people need to take away regarding marketplaces and channels.

00:12:54: I think so.

00:12:55: But we do n- a bit of a warning based on what people were saying.

00:12:58: Marketplace is a multiplier.

00:13:00: It's not a magic shortcut.

00:13:01: Okay, what's the catch?

00:13:02: Yohann Asenach strongly advises that you absolutely need proven product-market fit first.

00:13:08: You need a solid product that people already want.

00:13:10: And you need a disciplined sales team ready and able to co-sell effectively before you jump into the marketplace.

00:13:17: Right, because if you have friction in your existing sales process.

00:13:21: The marketplace will just amplify that friction.

00:13:23: It won't solve it for you.

00:13:24: That makes perfect sense.

00:13:25: It multiplies what's already there, good or bad.

00:13:29: Fortunately, it does feel like the technology, the tooling is starting to catch up to the complexity of managing all these, you know, co-selling marketplace transactions.

00:13:38: We're seeing the rise of what some are calling PRM, two point oh solutions.

00:13:42: Exactly.

00:13:43: This new generation of tooling.

00:13:44: And we saw examples mentioned like hyperscalar GTM from folks like Curtis Brinkerhoff and Trevor Burnett.

00:13:50: They're really tackling that operational friction head on.

00:13:52: How are they doing that?

00:13:53: They're

00:13:53: essentially unifying the different pieces, bringing PRM, co-sell workflows, and marketplace transactions into one more automated deal flow.

00:14:02: Operationally, this is huge because it accelerates revenue realization, getting the money faster, and it drastically reduces that dreaded lead leakage Loic Van Dam talked about.

00:14:11: Ah, lead leakage, making sure opportunities don't just vanish into the abyss between systems, or worse.

00:14:18: get scooped up by a competitor because your process was too slow or clunky.

00:14:22: Right.

00:14:23: OK, so we've covered a lot of ground here.

00:14:24: The necessary structure and trust, the psychology and mechanics of co-selling, that critical link to incentives and broader value measurement, and finally the evolving tech stack with AI and marketplaces.

00:14:35: The common thread it feels like running through all four themes is this absolute necessity of moving from linear thinking.

00:14:42: Just focusing on your own efforts.

00:14:43: To embracing exponential ecosystem-led growth.

00:14:46: That really is the core takeaway, I think.

00:14:49: Maja Voje called ecosystem marketing the quiet multiplier behind the fastest growing sauce companies.

00:14:54: The

00:14:54: quiet multiplier.

00:14:56: I like that.

00:14:57: And this exponential growth, it's ultimately built on those harder to scale things.

00:15:01: Solid enablement, shared wins, deep trust.

00:15:04: It suggests that as AI automates more and more of the transactional stuff, the ability to build and sustain these human relational factors, well, that becomes your strongest competitive moat.

00:15:15: The unautomatable stuff is the differentiator.

00:15:18: A fascinating perspective.

00:15:20: The human element is the ultimate competitive advantage in an increasingly automated world.

00:15:24: If you enjoyed this deep dive, new additions drop every two weeks.

00:15:27: Also, check out our other additions on account based marketing, field marketing, AI and B to B marketing, more tech, go to market and social selling.

00:15:34: Thank you so much for joining us on the deep dive.

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