Power Partnerships:
Grow Your B2B Success Through Co-Marketing

Expert Marketing Advisors:
Hello! We’re just gonna give a couple of seconds here for people to go ahead and join in.

Expert Marketing Advisors:
Alright. How is everyone doing today? Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. Depending on where you are joining us from today. Today we have our very own Stephen Banbury talking about the Power of Partnerships: Grow your B2B Success with Co-marketing.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, thanks, BreAnne. Thanks for the intro. And thanks to everyone who’s taken the time out of their busy schedules out of their day to join us today. I’m excited that joining me today on today’s webinar from Minneapolis is HubSpot, Senior Core Partner Development Manager, Justin Kallberg, welcome.

Stephen Banbury:
Justin. It’s great to have you here today. I’m looking forward to this next sort of 30 min or so, but perhaps before we start you can take a couple of minutes to introduce yourself.

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate the quick intro. I appreciate the invite to be part of this. I am Justin Kallberg. I’m a Senior Core Partner Development Manager with HubSpot based here in Minneapolis, partnerships are something that are near and dear to my heart. So really excited to be here today. I’ve been with HubSpot for 2 years now, and really have been prior to being at Hubspot, was a partner of HubSpot and prior to that was at a software startup where I helped build a partner program from the ground up. And really it all tailors back to partnerships, really, I know, are a key to scaling business and a key to really being aligned with the right folks to affect change. And really, further your mission as a company so super excited to dig in today.

Stephen Banbury:
That’s great. Thanks so much, Justin. So you know, for everyone on today’s webinars if you have any questions that you might have for us, please put them in the chat, and we’ll absolutely do our best to answer them as we go through this.

Stephen Banbury:
Let me get into the slideshow. So according to a survey, Justin, right on the state and future of partnerships. And this was done by partner eyes and web research. They said that over half of companies say partnerships generate 20% or more of their company’s revenue.

Stephen Banbury:
So I guess my question to you is, should we be surprised about how big the contribution is from a partner, the partner ecosystem, or you’re like no, we shouldn’t be surprised at all?

Justin Kallberg:
I mean, I think personally, I’m surprised it’s not a bigger number than this, just because of my tie in with the partner world. How many partners? I know that a lot of their makeup and a lot of what they do has a partner associated with it. But I think this is probably when you really step back and think about companies holistically.

Justin Kallberg:
You know, 54% say that partnerships generate 20% or more of the revenue. It’s not shocking whatsoever with rev share and profit share. Revenue share and commissions on different deals. I think it aligns really well with just some alternative revenue streams for companies. So it’s not a shock at all that this is a stat that we would find pretty easily.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah. So if companies aren’t doing it today, then obviously, they should really be considering doing it. And then, perhaps when we go through this we can. We’ll also be discussing best practices. But for people that do have partnerships, what are kind of the gotchas and best practices to generate even more revenue through these partner channels? And you know, in my experience, Justin, people use the term partner marketing and co-marketing somewhat interchangeably. And I’d suggest that partner marketing is like the broader term with co-marketing sort of a function of it. So I mean from your vantage point, how, how do you differentiate between the two?

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, I think that I think you hit the nail on the head. And I think, partner marketing and kind of partnerships are the overarching relationship. And I think co-marketing is a tactical piece of that puzzle, and the co-marketing end of it really allows, for a lot of the things that are laid out here of campaign focused, shared content, mutual promotion cost, sharing, lead sharing. So I think co-marketing is how we drive a lot of business for both parties in the partnership, and that’s where that co-marketing piece can really bring in that mutually beneficial. Both parties are pushing towards a common goal.

Justin Kallberg:
Whereas partner marketing is a lot of the onus is more on the partner within some of that. But like really, that long term collaboration. So I think you can have partner marketing without co-marketing. But you can’t have co-marketing, really, without the partner marketing end of the actual relationship. So I think co-marketing is a little more visible to the buying public. If that makes sense.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, yeah. And actually, that’s a really good distinction, too. So and obviously, we’ll, you know, when we look at sort of examples of co-marketing?

Stephen Banbury:
So there are plenty of activities that businesses can collaborate on. And when we were talking earlier, you mentioned, and we can dig into all these a few that have been successful for HubSpot and for you in prior roles from the different types of events, because there are obviously a multitude of different events. And you actually spent some time talking about sort of the Linkedin advertising, which I thought was pretty interesting, too.

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, absolutely. I think you know, throughout the kind of the list that we’ve got here on the co-marketing basics each one of these has really, I think, pertinent pieces to all of this. You know, from a LinkedIn standpoint, I think when you’ve got alignment with a partner and the company that you’re partnering with both parties are pushing the messaging together. It shows this unity amongst folks that are working together towards that common goal of delivering great service day in and day out via partnership. I think it’s huge.

Justin Kallberg:
In the past I’ve had great success at the software startup I was at. We did a ton of webinars where we did a lot of co-marketing with different partners that we worked with, and really being able to reach both audiences made such a big difference. And then some of the things that we did that I think moved the needle a ton were in person events as well where I would go as a representative of my company. I would go with a partner to an event that they might have been hosting, or a trade show or a conference they were at and go spend time in their booth with them, where I was there to really highlight them as a partner. But at the same time we could talk about how we work together, and how that affects change, for our shared customer.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, I mean, I guess with that we should probably sort of dive into spending some time talking about the benefits, Justin. So it’s probably no surprise to you that expanded reach is on the top of this list, right? So access to partners, audience, etc. So maybe you can walk us through and I can pile on top with some other thoughts as well.

Justin Kallberg:
Absolutely, I think as we run through the practice run on this yesterday, just looking and talking through these and thinking on the different benefits. I mean, these are so common sense. But the reality is they’re vital to a great partnership. So that’s a lot of the reasons why you do it. The expanded reach could go and pull a list out of a sourcing type software. And I could cold call a ton of people. Or I could go talk to a company that happens to have a great captive audience, and then by being associated a prime example being associated with eMa.

Justin Kallberg:
That gives me essentially a couple of steps ahead. If I were to go like we co market something together. It brings instant credibility within that audience cost efficiency. It’s gonna be far less expensive to market to a captive audience that’s already there. And that we just hit on the enhanced credibility. But when we can leverage each other’s networks and reputation, and really put each other in a great light, it’s mutually beneficial at that point because it gives you that enhanced credibility.

Justin Kallberg:
So we’ve all done sales at some point. We’ve all probably had a cold call made to us, or we’ve called somebody, and establishing credibility is one of the toughest things to do, and when there’s no trust because there’s not a track record, it’s really hard to build that quickly, and partnerships help, I think, expedite that entire process.

Justin Kallberg:
And then, the content. Diversity is going to be a huge one as well. So eMa is going to be able to do things that HubSpot may not be the best at, and vice versa, and be able to combine those together, and bring the best of both sides, or, best of multiple partners together. I think it allows for really concise messaging and a great delivery, and the people that end up winning. The most are the customers.

Stephen Banbury:
I think building on that sort of expanded reach. It allows you to explore, maybe new markets and customer segments which maybe weren’t there before, sort of increasing your market share and around credibility, you could add, maybe increase brand awareness because you’re associating those two trusted brands together which to a point enhances credibility. I’ve seen that previously with work I’ve done like Mcafee with some of the partnerships we had there, with Dell, Emisines, Toshiba and others.

Stephen Banbury:
I mean, this is an obvious one, Justin, but actually building relationships sort of just starts going beyond co-marketing. So you end up potentially with long term strategic partnerships. So fostering trust and cooperation between those initial campaigns.

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s the relational end of it. I mean, you can have a successful partnership where there’s not a deep human relationship. Obviously you can have that. But I think the partnerships that withstand the test of time and have the best success are the ones where there is a level of relationship between both parties and both sides.

Justin Kallberg:
I have a partner that I used to work with years ago, who actually attended my wedding, and we got to know each other through our partnership, like we ended up becoming great friends out of it.

Justin Kallberg:
Still, to this day they’re not a HubSpot partner, but still, to this day we brainstorm on a lot of ideas and different elements. And I think that’s the beauty of a partnership is that it goes far beyond just what you see in front of you today, and it can have lasting impact on both sides and both companies.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, I guess the next question is, where to start? So what are the key steps in developing a co-marketing experience? And to me it always starts with choosing the right partner, the right partner looking for companies that share your target audience? But obviously you’re not direct competitors, although I have been in situations where that’s a competition. You know, ensuring that the partnership is mutually beneficial, and aligns with those company values. So you know, Justin, when you are in your role as a partner developer and I know you’re dealing with the gold standard of partnerships over at HubSpot, like what does finding the right partner mean for you?

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, I think so. The way that we’re set up internally at HubSpot, we actually have a partner specialist team that goes out and they work really hard to find agencies or companies that could be a good fit as a HubSpot partner. There’s a lot of check boxes that go into that, and you don’t have to check every box to be a good fit partner.

Justin Kallberg:
I’ve been kinda, I don’t know if I would say the word lucky, but I’ve had the opportunity to bring on a lot of partners. So a lot of agencies and companies that I personally knew, and a lot of the reasons why I was able to bring them on as a partner is because I knew that what HubSpot does and how we work aligns really really well with their objectives and their goals as a company.

Justin Kallberg:
I think in order to have the right fit partner, as we’re calling and phrasing it, it’s got to be mutually beneficial. If HubSpot, using HubSpot as an example, if I bring on a new partner, I want to make sure that our software and what we do is gonna elevate what our partners do, and it allows them to deliver their services, maybe a little easier, a little better puts them in a position where they’re empowered because of that.

Justin Kallberg:
So I think when it comes to finding the right partner, and finding that right fit, it depends on which side of the equation you’re on now. HubSpot, we could be a great resource for any partner out there but if we’re not furthering your goals and your mission as a company, then it’s probably not the right fit partner. So I think it’s just picking, to the point that you made already, folks or picking companies that align with where you want to go, and that help put you in that best possible light.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, I spent some time at a company that’s very, very channel focused. And we had to really rethink that go to market because we were essentially paying all partners, all resellers the same, even though the value that they were bringing was not equitable. So we really had to think through who the high values that are really delivering and we’re most aligned with. So we had to do a revamp of that. So yeah, rewarding people for that was super important. So easy to work with. So you know determining before, I guess, before we go to set goals, it’s the messaging and the positioning.

Stephen Banbury:
And what are we actually gonna say together? What’s the value that we’re gonna bring? So how are you? Ha! I mean, obviously, maybe setting a budget as part of that. But you know, is it? How do you agree on what you’re gonna be pitching? Maybe it’s obvious because it’s like it’s HubSpot. But maybe there’s a component that you break out of because of who that partner is.

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, well, and I’ve seen it. So as far as what are we gonna be pitching? I’ve seen where some partners take the, hey, we’re a HubSpot expert, we’re a HubSpot advisor, and HubSpot’s kind of the I would say the focal point of the tactical piece, and then the partner comes in as the one that is the expert that can help execute on all the tactical elements. I’ve also seen where I had great success with a former partner where their program they built and their deliverable so like their package deal if you will. That was the highlight HubSpot happened to be mixed into that pretty heavily, but the focus was more on the end deliverable.

Justin Kallberg:
So I think it really boils down to kind of goes back to that the relational end of it, and knowing that whether you know the software or whatever the you know, HubSpot or replace it with any other software or the partners deliverable whichever one is going to be the focus, knowing that it’s really geared around the the ultimate deliverable to the customer, I think, really plays into knowing where the right pitch would come in, or the right content.

Justin Kallberg:
So it goes back to mutually beneficial and agreeing on. Where do we want to go with this, and there’s multiple different routes. You can do it as long as both sides align. I think you can do it really, really well.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah. I mean as you would do with any campaign you would want to set the goals or the KPIs and agree on those in advance. So what I mean, obviously, sometimes it is awareness right? And it may not be revenue for one. Maybe it’s revenue for one and awareness for another. Maybe those goals aren’t exactly the same for the partners. But clearly, when they’re aligned, you’re going to be more successful.

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah. And it’s, I think, with the setting of the goals. I think you hit it perfectly if you need to align those before you dive into anything. So, having your goal set before you like, pushing anything out to the buying public is such a vital piece of where? What do we actually want to get out of this? What are they? Who’s our target audience? How many people are we reaching out to? What avenues are we doing it?

Justin Kallberg:
A lot of times, I think mutually beneficial doesn’t necessarily have to be revenue for both sides to your point. It could be revenue and awareness where you know eMa and HubSpot, for example, we could be pushing something out. You know this webinar, for example, or anything of this nature, where it could be really great just planting seeds, or having conversations. And the ultimate goal is that we open doors, and then we cultivate. And when it’s the same thing in sales, same thing in anything I’ve taken an approach to is if it’s not mutually beneficial, and there’s not a win-win at the end. Then we’ve planned awareness. We’ve had great conversations, but the ultimate goal is to get to a point through the setting of the goals, where that awareness and ultimate long term engagement comes from.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, the measurement. I know in execution we’ve obviously got the planning, your building, you’re launching, you’re running. And then when you get to testing, I guess that really, then starts playing into the measurement of that, too. And the criticality of that. And I know we’re going to get deeper into that. But maybe we can touch on that too.

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, I think the execution is pretty self explanatory, because if we find the partner agree on topic set goals. We plan it, but we don’t execute. Then you’ve missed the ball completely, but I think the measure is the end of it. I really think it boils back to the goals. And what are we trying to get out of it? And so depending on what the activity is, depending on what the campaign is, that’s gonna determine what the measurement standpoint comes from.

Justin Kallberg:
And so, if it’s engagement, is it impressions? Is it attendees? Is it ultimately revenue? Ultimately, I think every partnership really revolves around how do we generate revenue together? And best serve our customers? So I think if you get all of those pieces, we have a measure right at the revenue end of it, because we’re doing it for the right reasons. I think the revenue end is going to follow suit. No doubt about it.

Stephen Banbury:
I mean, obviously, this slide is like where to start things you should be doing. Maybe and you know no need to name names here, Justin, but like what? Maybe we talk about some things not to do, some gotchas and traps to avoid as well.

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, I mean, I think I’ve said I’ve been around the partner world for a while now and started a partner program from scratch. If I think one of the biggest keys is, if you’re not mutually aligned on what your ultimate end goals are, and how you’re gonna get there together as a partner, being willing and knowing when to kind of back away or step away from a partnership if it’s really one sided is a big key of bad times. Where?

Justin Kallberg:
You know, I’m running things with partners, and they’re kind of going rogue, and it’s like we have we laid out, you know. We agreed on the topic. We set goals. We had a plan to execute, and then that’s where it kind of went off the rails, and knowing when to push back, call it, and again it boils back to the mutually beneficial piece. So I think the biggest trap to avoid is making sure that you are really aligned on what the ultimate end outcome is, and that both sides are there to win together, and if it’s not that, then you’ve got to have some. Really, I think just intentional conversations around that.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, I think sort of communication is really really important when on the two sides, if you’ve got marketing teams that are talking. But you know, to the exclusion. Maybe a sales team, for example, who may have to go execute and do that so kind of making sure that everyone is aligned and is aware, is critical. And I’ve seen a number of instances where it’s been a great campaign, but it sort of died on vine because it hasn’t had to buy in from the people that are actually going to be pushing it out, which is often the sales team.

Stephen Banbury:
So I mean clearly, we know we want to know as partners whether we’re hitting agreed upon goals. So the visibility into data and measurement is clean and imperative from engagement rates lead generation rates lead generation conversion rate. So I’d like you to get into those, Justin. But maybe you could start with attribution, as that’s the one that really jumps out on the page for me, seems like a key element.

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, I think that knowing HubSpot, for example, we’ve done a really really good job of, I think we’ve got one of the better defined partner programs that I’ve seen. And really it’s set up in a way to make sure that our partners get the full credit of what they should be getting, what they deserve, what they’ve earned, and so, having revenue growth where you can attribute it back to the partner and the co-marketing efforts, knowing, like having track ability into where somebody came from having to guess, give a little under the hood view of HubSpot. Like, if you go to create a shared deal, you create a shared deal. There’s a proof of involvement link that’s tied to it. That’s signed off by the customer buying, saying, I’m working with this partner. So you know, eMa creates a deal. There’s a proof of involvement link, and it’s really cut and dry as to where the credit goes.

Justin Kallberg:
I’ve been around other partner programs where it’s a little bit blurry and a little foggy as to how you attribute credit for revenue growth, and I think that ultimately drives wedges, and it creates a lot of confusion. I think one of the biggest keys in measuring success is having it where it’s really simple.

Stephen Banbury:
Here I got a bit glitchy there, Justin, I think that was my connection. So tell, maybe I mean, obviously, there’s the platforms and visibility into the data, too. And I know you’ve touched on that before. What about when it comes to meetings, so like check into meetings. So I found when there’s been a QBR, for example, according to a business review, that’s been like a really good sort of get together or maybe I don’t want to say execs, but the team and others like key stakeholders. But then it’s like, you know you meet every week, every two weeks, every month. Like, what does that? How does? How’s that working for your HubSpot? And what would be some recommendations around that.

Justin Kallberg:
I think one of the biggest keys to, I learned this very quickly starting at HubSpot. One of the biggest keys is constant communication with partners. So in a dream world I would have a weekly standing call with every single partner in my partner book and each week would be a different topic that we would focus on. So one week, it might be lead generation, it might be what deals are they working on the next week. It’s around renewals, and you know who’s coming up for renewal and things like that. And then continue to just kind of work through, because I think communication is the biggest key, but like having a QBR. We call it a map. Call it a mutual action plan. Call where I love them personally, because the 1st column in it is, what are your goals?

Justin Kallberg:
And so I always encourage my partners. Tell me your goals outside of HubSpot’s part, let’s talk about it. But tell me, your overarching goals cause I want to be a catalyst for what you do and how you do it. And then we go into why it is important? How? How are we gonna close the gap? And how do we measure it? And I think just verbalizing in a QBR. Call or a map call, if you will, verbalizing where we want to get to, and having that common goal in place, for the partnership allows us to work in conjunction to get there, where, if I think where a lot of partnerships can go off the rails is like, if I have certain goals for you as a partner, and I don’t articulate those, and we don’t agree to them. But then I still try and hold you accountable to them like that’s not gonna work well at all, and vice versa, you know, if you’ve got goals.

Justin Kallberg:
I’m like, well, those don’t align with my goals, so I don’t really care. That becomes a big issue as well. So I think, having those QBR calls having a cadence laid out where we can build a foundation to go from and grow from is the biggest key to a partnership in any way.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, those we haven’t touched on sort of tools and techniques. But maybe you can cause one of the things that really resonated with me was when you talked about partnerships should be fact based versus emotionally driven. So we could talk a bit more, because that seems very important.

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, and that boils back. I think we were talking about tools and techniques. And having reporting and analysis we’ve got so many reports we can pull internally at HubSpot, and so many reports that are available for our partners in their portal within a HubSpot, where you should never jump. The thing I love is we should never jump on a call together where there’s a misalignment on the number of clients, activities, things that are happening because all of those are tracked.

Justin Kallberg:
So I think partnerships, you know, there’s gonna be obviously an emotional aspect of it because we have buy in. We’re excited about things of that nature. But when it comes to measuring success it should be 100% fact based, and it should be something where, you know in HubSpot I can go pull reports on any partner I work with at any time we can look at, you know? What have they sold in the last 12 months? Who are they working with? What are they managing? You know how many deals have they created? What leads do they have? And it’s all just factual information that’s available to both sides. And I think that’s another key is if it’s going to be based on facts. Those facts have to be available to both sides to be able to align.

Justin Kallberg:
And then, if the reporting and the facts aren’t lining up where we want them. Then it becomes, you know, what levers do we pull to? Maybe shift our focus? And you know A B test things and figure out, how do we get to where we really want to get to? But I think if you measure success on, I feel like I’m getting these results. It becomes way too objective. And it’s emotionally driven versus fact based.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, absolutely spot on there. Before we get to Q&A. I like to think about sort of like the takeaways, what I call the golden nuggets. So for the audience today what are like the one or two key takeaways that I should be taking away.

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah.

Justin Kallberg:
I think one of the biggest ones for partners is aligning yourself with companies that will help further your mission as a company and help you get to where you want to get to. I think alignment is one of the biggest keys ever if you’re not aligned. And it’s way too transactional or way too one sided. I think it’s going to hinder your growth and capabilities as a company.

Justin Kallberg:
I think the other piece is really evaluating what a partner program looks like. So what does it look like from a revenue share perspective? What does it look like from a support perspective? If you become a partner of HubSpot, we will help you. We put all partners through onboarding foundations. We do a ton of training. There’s a ton of resources available to help partners level up. And I’ve also seen the inverse of that where there’s partner programs where you sign on, and then it’s crickets. And you’re kind of left to figure it out on your own. And I don’t know that that’s really, unless you’ve got the knowledge and the resources internally. That’s a really tough road to go.

Justin Kallberg:
So I think yeah, those are probably the two big ones for me. Can this company I want to partner with help me hit my goals and my mission, and then what do they do to support me as a partner?

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, yeah, we’ve got to know. We’re coming up against the half hour, Justin. But I’ve got a couple of questions that maybe we can go through.

Stephen Banbury:
The 1st one is actually for you, Justin is about onboarding. So you know what are the keys to success, and say the first, st say 90 days.

Justin Kallberg:
Yup.

Justin Kallberg:
I think one of the biggest things for you know, again kind of inside view. At HubSpot, the first 90 days with a partner is critical. We’ve got our onboarding foundations that we work through. One of the big pieces there is just getting everything lined up as to how to. You know the basics of how to create a shared deal, how to create a confirmation link that you get out to your customers. We’ve automated that process. So it’s kind of nice now. But also getting that first sale under your belt in the first 90 days, and talking through that process, talking through how to execute on it, how to deliver and everything else. So I think the first 90 days are vital to a partnership. I’ve watched so many times where people sign on to something, and then it’s crickets for 90 days, and you lose all kind of forward momentum that you had, and it’s hard to get by, and when there’s not that level of communication and tie together.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah. And actually, a great question here from Jim, which is kind of a follow up to this, really. Which is how important is training to partner success? Is there something that you offer?

Justin Kallberg:
Yeah, I think training is huge. I think we have at HubSpot we have a bunch of certifications you can get for all of the different hubs within HubSpot at zero cost. We have our whole HubSpot Academy. So partners have unlimited. It’s the same resources we get trained on internally. So that’s kind of cool. So you can have your team really level up.

Justin Kallberg:
But I think training is one of the biggest keys, like I’m doing a call next week with a partner where we’re actually training on content Hub and what’s new about it? How does it fit? How to identify good fits with it. And if we’re not, I mean software constantly evolves. And if we’re not evolving with it and learning as it grows, you kind of get behind the 8 ball a little bit, and it makes it where again, it’s not that mutually beneficial piece. If you’re not training.

Stephen Banbury:
Yeah, that’s good. I know we’re out of time. We’ve actually put up our email addresses here. So if you’d like to reach out to Justin or myself cause we haven’t gotten to your questions, or you have questions that are going to come up as you think about what you’ve heard today. Please do reach out.

Stephen Banbury:
Justin, I want to thank you again for your time. You’ve been really generous with that, and your interns have been awesome. So thank you and HubSpot for making the time today. I really appreciate it.

Justin Kallberg:
It was a pure, pure joy to be here, so super excited.

Stephen Banbury:
Great. Good bye.