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6 minute read
Want to accelerate B2B growth? Few strategies offer the same growth potential as partnerships. Especially for marketers in mid-sized tech companies, working with channel partners can unlock new audiences, expand brand credibility, and lower the cost of customer acquisition. But here’s the catch: actually producing partner content — on time, with impact — is rarely simple.
At Clariant Creative, we’ve helped several clients co-create content with their partners. Along the way, we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the surprisingly effective. To deepen our perspective on partner-led content marketing, we spoke with Alex Rhodes, who leads the partner program at SMS platform Sinch, and Christi Williams, a partner marketing leader at HubSpot. We also opened the floor on LinkedIn and heard from marketers who’ve led successful partner campaigns themselves.
The result is a practical guide that blends strategic insight with tactical know-how designed for marketers who want to get more value from their partnerships without spinning their wheels.
Why Partner-Led Content Marketing Works (and When It Doesn’t)
Co-marketing with a partner can feel like having a second marketing team at your disposal. When two brands combine forces, the payoff can be impressive: Campaigns reach larger audiences, carry greater credibility, and split the workload.
The reality is more complicated. According to Christi Williams of HubSpot, success depends on treating partner marketing not as a one-off collaboration, but as a core part of your strategy.
"Partnerships are a strategy, not just a channel,” she told us. “A lot of marketers treat it as a one-time campaign or an experiment. But when you invest the time to find alignment with the right partner — someone who shares your ICP (ideal customer profile) and your goals — you open up opportunities that can grow over time. It becomes not just co-marketing but co-selling and co-strategizing. That’s where the real value is."
Too often, partnerships falter because the foundational pieces aren’t in place. Teams dive in before confirming who they’re targeting or why their message matters more together. Without internal buy-in or clear roles, what starts with energy ends in confusion.
Alex Rhodes from Sinch has built partner programs at multiple companies. He’s seen what happens when marketers rush ahead.
“Just because our ICPs overlap doesn’t mean there’s chemistry,” Alex said. “You’ve got to align strategically first, then build the campaign. There’s this temptation to rush to a webinar or an email push, but you haven’t laid the groundwork. If your teams aren’t aligned, if you don’t know how you’re solving a real problem together, then even the best-looking campaign can fall flat.”
Step 1: Align on Your Audience and Joint Value Proposition
Every strong partner-led content marketing campaign starts with clarity around two things:
- Who you're both targeting
- Why your offering is stronger when presented together
This is where identifying your ICP and building a Joint Value Proposition (JVP) comes in.
The ICP is your shared sweet spot. It's not enough to say, “we both sell to mid-sized businesses.” You need to look at industry, job titles, business pain points, geography, and platform usage — and find where your audiences genuinely intersect.
To do this, Christi recommends using a tool like Crossbeam. Crossbeam is a partner ecosystem platform that allows companies to securely compare customer and prospect lists, identify overlaps, and reveal partnership opportunities. It’s especially useful when determining whether a partnership has real go-to-market potential.
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Once you’ve identified your shared audience, define your JVP: What unique benefit can your two companies provide together that neither could deliver alone?
Alex gave the example of Sinch’s partnership with Attacat, a HubSpot integrator. By pairing Sinch’s SMS solutions for HubSpot with Attacat’s HubSpot implementation offerings, they can deliver a natural synergy for their joint HubSpot clients.
“We have a clear overlap with Attacat’s audience, and we know from our own research what those HubSpot customers need,” Alex explained. “And as Attacat is having conversations with their clients, they're able to ask questions about how the client is connecting with their customers or internal employees out in the field. Sinch slides into that conversation very well with our SMS platform that integrates with HubSpot.
“So we landed on education as our angle. Our campaign isn’t about just selling; it’s about helping our mutual customers implement HubSpot more effectively. That kind of campaign doesn’t just happen — it comes from doing the hard work upfront.”
Step 2: Clarify Who Owns What
Even the most promising partnership can fall apart in execution if responsibilities aren't clearly defined. It’s a story Christi sees all too often: Two companies agree to co-host a webinar. Weeks pass. Then someone realizes — oh, no one built the landing page. Or worse, both companies did.
“You’d be surprised how often that happens,” she said. “The idea is strong, the intent is there, but the execution fails because no one stopped to ask: Who’s writing the emails? Who’s promoting? Who’s tracking success? That’s why we spend time in the Accelerator program getting into the weeds — not because it’s fun, but because that’s where the work lives.”
To avoid this, successful teams document every deliverable:
- Who’s writing the emails?
- Who’s promoting on social media?
- Who owns the webinar platform?
- Who’s tracking leads and attribution?
Alex recommends assigning roles early and staying in close contact during execution. At Sinch, his team works from a shared list of deliverables, broken down by vertical. That way, when an opportunity aligns, they’re ready to go.
Brand consistency matters, too. Rick Flores, Senior Manager of Partner Strategy and Operations at Smartsheet, chimed in on LinkedIn to also suggest using co-branding guidelines that clearly define how each partner’s logo, tone, and messaging should appear.
Step 3: Choose the Right Format for the Right Goal
Not every partnership needs to start with a major campaign. The format should match your goals — and your bandwidth.
- If your objective is awareness, then a joint blog post, podcast guest appearance, or short-form video might be perfect.
- For lead generation, consider a co-hosted webinar, downloadable resource, or online workshop.
- When targeting conversion, co-branded case studies or product demos can move the needle.
“You don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Christi said. “A lot of companies already have successful formats; they’re just not thinking about how to plug in a partner. For example, if you already run a quarterly webinar or a blog series, that might be the perfect place to invite a partner to join you. It feels less like a heavy lift and more like a natural extension of what’s working.”
One of the most effective ways to start? Invite your partner into an initiative you're already planning. Add a guest speaker to a webinar. Include them in a guide. Or simply swap quotes in a blog post. Start small, and build trust over time.
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Step 4: Communicate Often — and With Purpose
Successful co-marketing requires frequent communication, both real-time and asynchronous. Weekly calls help keep projects on track, but Slack channels, shared Google Docs, or even Trello boards allow teams to collaborate seamlessly between meetings.
Christi noted that the most effective partners in HubSpot’s Growth Accelerator program met outside of the official training sessions to plan together. Those relationships led to stronger execution and better results.
“The partners who went beyond the training and met one-on-one? They saw real traction,” she said. “It’s not about spending more time — it’s about spending the right kind of time. Talk through campaign ideas, align on goals, and be honest about capacity. The more transparent you are upfront, the smoother execution becomes.”
Consistency also sets the stage for scalability. As a partnership matures, marketers can graduate from campaign-by-campaign planning to creating joint service offerings — packages that combine their capabilities and offer even greater value to shared customers.
Step 5: Track the Right Metrics (and Manage Expectations)
Yes, partner-led content marketing does take longer. Unlike internal campaigns, you’re coordinating across teams, calendars, and systems.
That means you need to set realistic expectations. Alex estimates that it can take six to 12 months from the first exploratory meeting to tangible revenue.
“It’s a long-term play,” Alex emphasized. “This isn’t ‘send an email and close a deal.’ You’re building something with a partner that ideally brings 10 more deals over time. But that only happens if the first two go really well. You need sales, onboarding, customer success — everyone needs to treat these as high-stakes moments.”
To track progress, look at:
- Campaign metrics (registrations, downloads, leads)
- Partner-sourced or influenced pipeline
- Net-new opportunities from joint outreach
Another metric to monitor: internal engagement. Did your partner's sales team get excited? Did your own customer success team see traction? These are early signals of momentum.
Voices From the Field: What Other Marketers Are Saying
We posed the question on LinkedIn: What makes a great partner content experience?
Tracy Graziani, Owner and Geek Executive Officer (😊) of Graziani Multimedia shared her success at a tradeshow co-hosted with Kixie. “Clear expectations made all the difference,” she said. “Everyone knew what they were responsible for.”
Rick Flores of Smartsheet emphasized having a co-branding execution plan. “It’s not just about logos,” he wrote. “It’s about presenting a unified voice.”
Aldrey Cabrera, Co-Founder and CEO at Vixure, offered a tool tip: “Shared Airtable templates have been a game changer. Everyone stays aligned and knows what’s next.”
Avoid These Common Pitfalls
The marketers we spoke with agreed: Even the best partnerships can go sideways without structure.
Watch out for:
- Undefined expectations: Clarify early and confirm who owns what.
- “Partnership theater”: Don’t celebrate a partnership before you see results.
- Internal misalignment: Loop in leadership and sales.
- One-and-done campaigns: Build systems so you can repeat what works.
Partner-led content marketing isn’t a shortcut — but it can be a force multiplier. For B2B marketers trying to drive growth with limited time and resources, it’s one of the smartest ways to scale effectively.
By choosing the right partner, aligning on strategy, and executing with discipline, you can build content that’s more than collaborative. It’s catalytic.
Your Quick-Start Checklist
Ready to get started? Use this framework:
✅ Define your shared ICP
✅ Develop a clear JVP
✅ Choose a format that matches your goals
✅ Assign owners and deadlines
✅ Document the plan
✅ Track results and refine
Start small. Start clear. Start with one partner. And see where it goes.
Want help creating a high-impact partner content strategy?
