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Research

State of Partner Marketing Study

For the fourth year, this research aims to provide a benchmark for partner marketers in the technology industry – outlining current partner initiatives, benefits, and challenges.

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68%

view partner marketing as a necessary marketing tactic that provides great value

89%

of organizations have some version of a partner marketing strategy

74%

say that planning and executing within partner funding timelines is a challenge

Key findings

Partner marketing value builds investment

Sixty-eight percent view partner marketing as a necessary marketing tactic that provides great value. This has steadily increased over time as it rose six percentage points since 2019. Due to this realized value, 37% of overall marketing budget was spent on partner activities last year and 62% expect this to increase over the next year as marketers invest in social media presence, demand generation, and content development. While partner funds contribute to budget, ¾ say that planning and executing within the timelines is a challenge. Marketers must address this moving forward to capitalize on revenue opportunity.

 

Successful programs lead to positive ROI

The top three partner marketing success metrics used in 2024 are overall number of qualified leads generated, increase in the number of actual customers, and growth of market share. Lead measurement jumped as a metric this year, from 5th in 2022. The results this year show that effective partner marketing programs generate positive ROI, specifically for social media, lead generation, and content development. Marketers should know that there is value in having a formal partner marketing strategy set, as those with one see increased ROI satisfaction in all areas.

Overcoming partner engagement barriers

Due to the nature of partnerships, it’s inevitable that measuring engagement is a challenge. The top three barriers to measuring partner engagement are data integration and quality, limited visibility into partner activities, and privacy and data sharing regulations. To help foster engagement, marketers are turning to a variety of strategies, including working with media agencies and investing in self-service partner portals. The value of agencies is further enhanced as 80% agree that greater results are produced when working with agencies compared to those run in-house.

Podcast

Insights from partner marketing experts

Tune in as Rick Currier unpacks the results and shares practical advice from past On the Road guests.

More partner marketing resources

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As your partner programs grow, they become more complex. We help craft, execute, and measure them, working hand-in-hand with your team to deliver targeted, customized activity that can scale.

Scale your partner programs
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Hondo L. Lewis, Sr. Director of Sales, shares insights, stories, and tips from our exclusive partner marketing gathering in the Boston Seaport.

Read the insights

Join Rick Currier and Aimee Catalano as they explore partner marketing at Google Cloud. Aimee shares her journey in building a successful global partner marketing organization and overcoming challenges as a woman in tech.

Listen to Aimee’s On the Road podcast