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.
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
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