Partner pilling Dave Gerhardt

Miranda Babbitt, Senior Partner Marketing Specialist at Zapier, recently went on Dave Gerhardt’s Exit Five podcast to share how Zapier scales partner success.

That’s a big deal.

Exit Five, if you haven’t heard of it, is a leading marketing podcast and community that spotlights top industry figures—CEOs, CMOs, and VPs—to shape B2B marketing strategies.

Miranda’s sharp—no doubt about it. But Dave didn’t bring her in just because she’s clever. He brought her on because her title and expertise as Senior Partner Marketing Specialist are increasingly relevant to his audience.

This podcast shapes decisions for the biggest players in the business world. So, Dave featuring Miranda? It’s a sign that partnerships are taking center stage.

Because as Miranda put in the episode,

Partnerships is absolutely having a moment.

Keep reading to learn how Zapier scales partner success.

How Zapier scales partner success

Zapier scales partner success through a key strategy called “lifecycle marketing.”

Lifecycle marketing is a strategic approach companies use to understand and cater to a customer or partner’s needs at various stages of the relationship.

Lifecycle marketing is commonly used in B2B to enhance customer experience, but it’s not widely adopted in partnerships.

Miranda explains,

Marketing often neglected partners, missing out on the potential benefits they bring. Partners are complex. You need to understand them in personas the same way you understand customers.

When Miranda Babbitt came into her role as Senior Partner Marketing Specialist, Zapier had already begun mapping out their partner lifecycle.

She stepped in and got to work optimizing it.

Step one: learn as much as possible

She began by learning about the product, the existing partner lifecycle, Zapier’s existing partner program, the partner support inbox, and anything else she could get her hands on.

Step two: revisit the partner lifecycle & uncover more ROI

Next, she set out to complete her first project—revamp the partner lifecycle.

She wanted to identify which areas of the journey offered the most ROI and evaluate how they were talking to partners at each stage.

It’s not about what we want to say, it’s about what partners want to hear and what they want to learn.

Here’s a simplified look at Zapier’s partner lifecycle.

Step three: optimize the highest ROI phase

Miranda and her team identified the “Build Phase” as their highest-impact area.

She highlighted two ways they could uncover more value for partners in this phase:

1. Giving partners what they want
   Engagement often plateaued after partners set up the integration.
   
   To fix that, Miranda started asking — What do partners want? How can Zapier become so integral we inform a partner’s strategy and roadmap?
   
   She learned that partners wanted the data around how their users were interacting with the integration. That was an easy fix—they started making that information more accessible.
   
   Additionally, they started helping partners understand why that information was important.
   
    

2. Segmented emails
   To keep partners informed, Miranda and her team send monthly segmented emails to partners. These emails are super scrappy, plain-text emails that include resources, opportunities, and new features.
   
   She shared that some of their best emails get a 70%+ open rate and a 30%+ reply rate.
   
   That’s crazy good!

They also send even further segmented emails to help high-performing partners uncover more value.

Finally, the best messages and learnings get turned into evergreen messages.

The impressive impact of Zapier’s lifecycle marketing with partners has been:

• 2.5x the number of nurture series going out to partners across the lifecycle

• 4x average CTR on outreach campaigns

• 78% of mid-tail partners engaged with their Dev Platform in the past 6 months, a 16% increase signaling enhanced partner trust and collaboration

Partnerships are the easiest way to do more with less, and the best companies, like Zapier, are going all-in.

Watch the recording, listen to the podcast, and follow Miranda Babbitt on LinkedIn for more on partner marketing.

Optimize the journey (free report)

Quantum Metrics put out a cool resource to help you optimize the 5 pillars of the digital customer journey.

Use this tool to optimize your customer journey and partner lifecycle.

Here’s an example of how I’d use this resource as a partner pro.

The first pillar of the customer journey is discovery.

In digital, first impressions really matter. That’s why it’s so important to design a first-impression experience and provide a clear roadmap of your site for the customer to search, navigate, and understand your value.

Ask yourself:

What micro-experiences are partners getting in their first interactions with you?

Maybe a partner’s first interaction with you is your marketplace listing or your website. 

Are those touchpoints optimized for partners?

What data could be an indicator that they are or are not?

Then, take action where necessary.

Read the resource to get ideas on how to optimize different stages of your partner lifecycle.

Stuff you don’t want to miss!

• Nearbound Summit 2023 Recordings—The future of GTM is Nearbound. Watch the recordings to hear how B2B leaders across departments unite with Nearbound strategies and tactics. Listen here.

• Jan 3rd, 2 PM EST—How Technology Partnerships are Key for SaaS Company Growth—Join Scindia Balasingh (Head of Global Marketing Partnerships at Multiplier) and Scott Pollack (CEO at Firneo) as they unlock the potential of strategic technology partnerships in the SaaS industry! Register here.

• January 25th— CEO Summit—Join Pavilion and many more companies to be part of expert-led educational sessions, covering top-of-mind issues for CEOs and Founders. Learn about the latest sales insights, building a pricing strategy, and co-selling. Register here. 

• Feb 5th-7th in Miami—Impartnercon 2024—Partnerships are the future of growth. Join partner leaders to learn what it means to build the future of business, together. Register here.

• March 19-20th—Affiverse’s Amplify Summit—Join them for a 2-day virtual event to help affiliate businesses amplify their performance. Learn about digital, partnership, and affiliate marketing. Register here. 

Partnerships is having its moment

Shout it from the rooftops! Share this with a partner pro.