/iblai-marketing-co-marketing

Find co-marketing partners, plan joint campaigns, and structure partnerships that earn pipeline for both sides.

Step 0: Context Check

Read .agents/product-marketing-context.md (or .claude/product-marketing-context.md on older setups) first. Only ask for what isn't there.

When to Use

• Finding potential co-marketing partners
• Brainstorming campaigns with a specific partner
• Planning joint launches or promotions
• Evaluating partnership fit
• Structuring co-marketing agreements

Partner Identification

1. Audience Overlap Analysis

The best partners share your audience but don't compete for the same budget.

Ideal partner characteristics:

• Same buyer persona, different problem solved
• Adjacent in the workflow (before, after, or alongside your tool)
• Similar company stage and customer size
• Complementary, not competitive

Questions to identify partners:

• What tools do your customers already use?
• What do they use before/after your product?
• Who else is selling to your ICP?
• Which integrations do customers request most?

2. Partner Scoring

Rate candidates 1-5:

3. Where to Find Partners

Integration ecosystem:

• Your existing integration partners
• Tools in the same app marketplace category
• Platforms your product plugs into

Adjacent categories:

• Tools that solve the problem before yours
• Tools that solve the problem after yours
• Tools used by the same role but a different workflow

Community signals:

• Same podcasts/newsletters sponsored
• Same conferences exhibited
• Same communities active in
• Whose content your audience shares

Data sources:

• Crossbeam or Reveal for account overlap
• Customer surveys ("what else do you use?")
• G2/Capterra category neighbors
• Job postings mentioning your tool + others

Campaign Types

Content Partnerships

Webinars & Events

Product & Integration Marketing

Community & Social

Brainstorming Partner Campaigns

When working with a specific partner, line up:

1. Shared Audience Moments

• Trigger events that matter to both audiences
• Seasonal moments that align with both products
• Industry trends affecting both customer bases

2. Combined Value Propositions

• What can customers achieve with both tools that they can't with one?
• What workflow does the combination unlock?
• What pain point does the integration solve?

3. Unique Assets Each Brings

4. Idea Prompts

• "What would we create if we had to launch something in 2 weeks?"
• "What content do both our audiences desperately need?"
• "What would make customers say 'finally, someone did this'?"
• "What exclusive thing could we offer together?"
• "What data do we both have that would make a compelling story?"

Approaching Partners

Cold Outreach Template

Subject: [Your Company] + [Their Company] co-marketing idea

Hey [Name],

I'm [Role] at [Your Company]. We [one-line description].

I noticed we share a lot of the same audience—[specific observation about overlap].

I have an idea for [specific campaign type] that could work well for both of us: [one-sentence pitch].

Would you be open to a quick call to explore?

[Your name]

What to Bring to the Call

1. Account overlap data (if available via Crossbeam/Reveal)
2. 2-3 specific campaign ideas — not just "let's do something"
3. Your audience metrics (list size, traffic, engagement)
4. Examples of past partnerships — proves you can execute
5. Clear ask — what you want from them, what you'll provide

Structuring the Partnership

Align On

• Lead ownership — split or shared?
• Promotion commitments — what does each party do to promote?
• Asset creation — who creates what? Who approves?
• Timeline — when does each phase happen?
• Success metrics — how will you measure?
• Follow-up — more together if it works?

Co-Marketing Agreement Outline

1. Campaign description — what you're doing together
2. Responsibilities — who does what
3. Timeline — key dates and deadlines
4. Lead handling — capture, sharing, follow-up
5. Promotion — minimum commitments from each side
6. Branding — logo usage, approval process
7. Costs — who pays for what (if any)
8. Metrics sharing — what data you'll share post-campaign

Measuring Success

Quantitative

• Leads generated (total and per partner)
• Lead quality (MQL/SQL conversion rate)
• Revenue attributed
• Audience growth (new subscribers, followers)
• Content engagement (views, downloads, shares)

Qualitative

• Ease of collaboration
• Partner responsiveness
• Audience reception
• Brand lift
• Relationship strengthened for future campaigns

Checklist

Partner Identification

• List tools your customers already use
• Check Crossbeam/Reveal for account overlap
• Score top 5 potential partners
• Research past co-marketing activities

Campaign Planning

• Agree on campaign type and goals
• Define lead sharing arrangement
• Assign responsibilities and deadlines
• Set success metrics

Execution

• Create shared assets (landing page, content, etc.)
• Coordinate promotion schedules
• Brief both teams on talking points

Post-Campaign

• Share metrics with partner
• Debrief on what worked/didn't
• Discuss future collaboration opportunities

Task-Specific Questions

1. Looking for partners, or planning a campaign with a specific partner?
2. Most interested in content, events, integrations, or community?
3. Audience size? (Email list, social following, traffic)
4. Existing integration partners?
5. Done co-marketing before? What worked/didn't?
6. Timeline and budget?

Tool Integrations

See the [tools registry](../../tools/REGISTRY.md). Key tools:

Related Skills

• iblai-marketing-referral-program — Customer referral and affiliate programs (customers referring customers)
• iblai-marketing-launch-strategy — Product launches with partners; covers co-marketing as a "borrowed channel"
• iblai-marketing-content-strategy — Content planning, including co-created content
• iblai-marketing-sales-enablement — Partner-facing collateral and enablement materials