Collaborating With Partners For Wider Reach

One of my favorite partner marketing frameworks was one I learned from Shanna Wagnor: Partner marketing has 3 pillars: Marketing TO partners Marketing THROUGH partners Marketing WITH partners Marketing TO partners: This is about attracting and engaging the partner themselves as the customer. Goal: Convince a potential partner to start a new partnership OR to eengage an existing partners through enablement and value add offers. Tactics: Education campaigns, incentive programs, newsletters, or exclusive offers targeted directly at the partners. Example: An AI B2B Company running a targeted outbound email campaign to recruit AI consulting firms by showcasing the potential business model and joint value proposition of a partnership. Marketing THROUGH partners: Through enablement and experiential learning, the partner becomes self sufficient and runs marketing campaigns on your behalf: Goal: Leverage the partner’s reach, marketing capabilities and credibility to drive demand with their customer base, without needing your help. Tactics: Co-branded collateral, MDF (market development funds), joint campaigns, sales enablement tools, and plug-and-play marketing assets for the partner to use. Example: A cybersecurity SaaS company providing turnkey webinar kits to its MSPs so they can run customer-facing events under their own brand. Marketing WITH partners: This is the most collaborative approach: Joint marketing efforts to amplify the results. Goal: Create and execute campaigns and customer experiences together that benefit both brands. Tactics: Joint webinars, CxO dinner roundtables, thought leadership content featuring both parties, bundled offerings, integrated campaigns, or shared sponsorships at conferences. Example: ISV #1 partners with ISV #2 to host a webinar and features a customer that is leveraging their integration to drive business outcomes. Both ISVs work together to build the content and promote the webinar, and likely end up getting more then 2X return on their efforts in top of funnel.

When your SaaS growth stalls, running more ads might seem like the best move. But what if, instead of paying for more attention, you could borrow it? Partners already have the audience you want to reach. Getting their help means you can reach customers who are already interested without the high cost of ads. ✅ Low acquisition costs (50-70% less than ads) ✅ Warm intros convert faster than cold outreach ✅ Referred customers have better retention If you're looking for a framework, try the 3 F's of Borrowed Attention. But remember, finding the right partners is just the first step. I've found offering value before asking for access to their audience is the best approach. The strongest partnerships feel like a win-win, not a one-sided transaction. Here are some Perplexity prompts I've played around with that might help you build better partnerships: 🤖 Partnership Mapping Prompt: "Create a list of potential partners in [YOUR INDUSTRY] based on these categories: Fund: Companies my ideal customers already purchase from Follow: Influencers, thought leaders, and content creators my customers trust Frequent: Communities, events, and platforms where my customers gather For each potential partner, include their audience size, contact info, and one specific value proposition I could offer them." 🤖 Value Exchange Prompt: "Create five partnership ideas for [PARTNER NAME] that would help their audience while introducing my solution. Focus on ideas that require minimal effort while still making them a trusted resource for their customers." 🤖 Relationship-Building Prompt: "Create a 90-day plan for building a relationship with [PARTNER NAME] that starts with giving value before asking for anything. Include specific touchpoints, content I could create for them, and a natural progression toward a formal partnership." Your best customers are already out there. The fastest way to reach them? Build the right relationships. What’s been your experience with partnerships vs. paid acquisition? P.S. I chose Perplexity because it gives you real-time insights, but of course, you can use these prompts with any AI. #partnerships #marketing #ai #perplexity

Here’s a Valentine’s Day gift for you 💝 Business owners tend to overcomplicate growth. They spend years building an audience from scratch—posting every day, hoping people notice them, waiting for sales to trickle in. There’s nothing wrong with that. It works. But there’s a FASTER way. Instead of building an audience, partner with people who already have one and yours will grow naturally. Let me give you an example. I recently gave this advice to a business owner who was shifting their business model. They had an info product (intellectual property) they wanted to sell, but growth was slow. Instead of grinding it out one sale at a time, I suggested something different: ➡ Find companies that are already serving your ideal customers (Who is on the accounts payable for your existing clients? Go talk to them!) ➡ Ask them if they’d be open to a test—a marketing campaign to their audience featuring your offer. ➡ If it works, structure a longer-term licensing or revenue-share deal. In their case, it was accounting-related, and if I were an accounting professional, I’d be looking at companies like Xero, Intuit, and Stripe—not as tools, but as potential distribution partners. These companies already have the exact customers I’d want to reach. But this strategy isn’t just for intellectual property. It works in almost any business. ✅ If you sell digital products, partner with influencers, professional organizations, or software companies that already serve your audience. ✅ If you run a B2B service, team up with VC firms, SaaS providers, or consultants that your ideal clients already trust. ✅ If you have an e-commerce brand, collaborate with gyms, subscription boxes, or established retailers to instantly reach buyers. ✅ If you own a local business, build referral partnerships with complementary service providers who can send you customers. It all comes down to one simple principle: Why build an audience from scratch when you can tap into an existing pipeline? People don't tend to think this way because they’re focused on getting attention instead of leveraging existing trust and distribution. If you have intellectual property, a proven service, or a product that solves a clear problem, you don’t need to grind for years building an audience. You just need to find the people who already have access to your ideal customers—and structure a deal that benefits both of you. That’s how you scale "quickly" without spinning your wheels. Have questions? Ask away 👇 Take care, Cam