The Most Underrated Marketing Discipline

TL; DR Summary

• Partner Marketing Manager: Focuses on creating materials that highlight how selling specific products benefits partners’ businesses.

• Distinct from Partner Program Management: Targets specific product promotion and empowers partners, rather than just providing general sales resources.

• Gap in Product Marketing: Product Marketing is customer-focused, leaving a need for dedicated Partner Marketing to address partner-specific needs.

• Content Gap Case Study: A marketing summit exposed a lack of partner-focused content, emphasizing the need for dedicated Partner Marketing efforts.

• Recommendations: Companies should invest in a Messaging Specialist and a Creative Resource to support and empower partners effectively.

When people think of marketing, they often picture advertising. However, marketing is a vast field with many specialized disciplines. The most underrated—especially in B2B technology companies with a strong channel partner focus—is the role of the Partner Marketing Manager.

What Does a Partner Marketing Manager Do?

A Partner Marketing Manager is responsible for developing materials that persuade partners to sell a specific company's products. Unlike traditional marketing, which focuses on how a product meets customer needs, Partner Marketing Managers emphasize how selling a particular product benefits the partner's business. This role is vital but often under-resourced. It is typically staffed by individuals with field marketing expertise but needing more content creation or product marketing experience.

How Partner Marketing Differs from Partner Program Management

Partner Marketing is distinct from managing a partner program. While partner programs focus on total sales and benefits like tiered discounts and brand affiliation, Partner Marketing is about targeted sales and specific product promotion. The goal isn't just enabling partners with resources but empowering them to choose and prioritize your products over competitors. Empowerment requires developing specialized content that speaks directly to the partner's business needs, not just repurposed customer-facing materials.

Why Product Marketing Doesn't Fill This Role

Product Marketing teams focus on understanding customer pain points and positioning the company's solutions to address those needs. While this is crucial, it leaves little time or resources to create different messaging that directly addresses partners' needs. Product Marketing rarely has the bandwidth to dive deep into the specifics of how partner programs operate or the unique business challenges partners face. This gap in understanding and focus is why Partner Marketing Managers are essential—they bridge the gap by crafting targeted messaging that aligns with both partner and company objectives.

The Content Desert: A Case Study

A few years ago, during a company-wide marketing summit, we set out to map our content capabilities across different teams. Post-it Notes covered the walls on the customer-facing side, labeling a dense array of content—from top-of-funnel blogs and videos to mid- and bottom-funnel whitepapers and technical guides—each meticulously linked to stages in the customer journey. However, the contrast was stark when we turned our attention to the partner-facing side. The wall was nearly bare, with only a few repurposed customer materials and little to no content specifically created for partners.

This disparity highlighted a glaring gap in our marketing strategy. The Channel Marketing leader responsible for Partner Marketing was visibly alarmed as it became clear that partner content was grossly under-resourced. Despite pledges made during the summit to address this content desert, it was evident that without a dedicated Partner Marketing Manager, the organization would continue to neglect this critical area, leaving partners to struggle without the targeted support they needed.

What Can Be Done?

To address this gap, companies need at least two dedicated resources for Partner Marketing:

• A Messaging Specialist: This person should have product marketing experience and create content that empowers partners to sell specific products, aligning with the partner's and the company's goals.

• A Creative Resource: Whether in-house or outsourced, this role is crucial for developing bespoke content tailored to partners, ensuring clarity and focus that generic customer-facing materials can't provide.

Need Help Getting Started?

If your Partner Marketing efforts are struggling, I can help you define the resources you need and transform your content desert into an oasis that empowers your partners and drives sales.