Partner marketing manager

The partner marketing manager develops and executes the marketing plans a company runs with its partners. They connect a joint value proposition to campaigns, launches and content aimed at defined audiences. They track the results of these activities, including their contribution to current sales opportunities, also known as the pipeline. Their role is to make marketing cooperation feasible and measurable.

Partner marketing can combine several formats: webinars, joint announcements, emails, campaign pages or case studies. The manager coordinates their preparation with the partner’s marketing contacts and the relevant internal departments. They may also prepare resources that help the partner’s teams present the joint offering. This activity does not mean they manage those teams’ sales.

The role works with sales, marketing operations and product marketing. Its autonomy needs to be defined: which plans can the manager develop, which campaigns must they deliver, and who approves spending? The reporting line depends on the organisation. Canonical, for example, places this role under a Head of Partner Marketing. This is not a mandatory reporting structure.

Partner marketing manager, partnerships manager and product marketing manager: who does what?

• The partner marketing manager is responsible for marketing cooperation: joint plans, campaigns, usable content and tracking results.
• The partnerships manager works on the partnership relationship. To define the two roles, specify who is responsible for business development, negotiation and concluding agreements.
• The product marketing manager provides information about the offering and its positioning. The partner marketing manager uses this in joint activities, in coordination with them.

This distinction describes responsibilities to clarify, rather than identical boundaries in every company. This profile mainly covers joint campaigns in a B2B context. It distinguishes their coordination from lead generation alone and from partnership business development.

A joint campaign involves two organisations whose priorities, schedules and resources may differ. Recruitment therefore needs to focus on the ability to organise their work as well as on marketing design. A convincing plan offers little value if nobody is available to produce the content, approve it or follow up the contacts collected.

The first challenge is consistency between objectives and activities. When defining the role, distinguish campaigns intended to raise awareness of a joint offering, those seeking sales opportunities, and programmes that support the use of partner resources. The indicators need to make the objective clear. Event participation, engagement and conversions do not answer the same question.

The second challenge is continuity between marketing and sales. The manager tracks performance and explains the contribution to the pipeline with the teams that organise the data and sales follow-up. Good coordination requires clarity about who takes over the contacts after the campaign. Avoid treating every recorded contact or opportunity as a result caused by the partnership.

The third challenge concerns budget decisions. The role may recommend changes to activities or resource allocation based on results. This ability does not automatically give the manager authority to commit expenditure. Clarify the approvals required before assigning several campaigns to them.

Fictitious example: a company and its partner are preparing a joint webinar. Each expects the other to write the emails, while nobody is responsible for following up participants. To prevent this situation, assign responsibility for producing each item of material, approvals and contact follow-up before launch.

Choosing the wrong profile can therefore leave cooperation at the planning stage or produce reports that are difficult to interpret. Adapt your recruitment criteria to the tasks actually assigned: creating content, coordinating its production and managing several programmes require different levels of autonomy.

• Define the objectives and audiences of joint campaigns with partners.
• Develop joint marketing plans around a shared value proposition.
• Coordinate the delivery of campaigns, announcements, launches and webinars with partners.
• Produce or adapt case studies, emails and pages for co-marketing activities.
• Help partner teams use the available messaging and marketing resources.
• Track campaign performance and its contribution to sales opportunities.
• Recommend adjustments to activities or budgets based on results.
• Depending on the programme, track resource use and partner engagement with the relevant teams.

Experience in B2B marketing and campaigns run with partners provides skills directly useful for the role. It can prepare a candidate to turn a shared objective into coordinated activities, then explain the results achieved. To assess their background, look at the responsibilities they have held rather than a number of years considered in isolation.

One area of experience concerns campaign design. The candidate needs to be able to connect an audience, a value proposition and suitable materials. A campaign comprising a page, emails and a webinar offers several opportunities to demonstrate this consistency. Also seek to understand their role in production: did they write, adapt content or coordinate specialists? These responsibilities do not provide the same evidence of autonomy.

A second area concerns cooperation between organisations. Useful experience includes preparation with partner marketing contacts, organising contributions and explaining results to internal teams. A third concerns analysis: interpreting performance and recommending campaign or budget adjustments.

Degree requirements vary. LifeSpeak asks for a bachelor’s degree related to business, sales or marketing. Canonical also states that it recruits people who have not attended or completed university studies. These two practices do not justify imposing a single degree requirement on the profession.

Further development can also involve resources specific to a partner programme. AWS Marketing Central offers digital courses and campaign materials ready to adapt, among other resources. Access depends on the criteria of the relevant AWS programme. This example complements a training background without constituting a qualification needed to perform the role.

To assess this profile, adapt the following stages to the partner campaigns and decisions you want to assign to the role.

1. Set the criteria for the role

Define the expected deliverables: a joint plan, campaign content, coordination of contacts and a report on results. Specify whether the candidate will need to produce the materials themselves or organise their production.

Separate essential criteria from those that can be acquired in your environment. Also describe the decisions they can make independently and the budget approvals required. Use these same criteria to compare candidates.

Involve the marketing manager in analysing campaigns and a sales contact in reviewing opportunity tracking. If you lack internal expertise, have a partner marketing professional examine the deliverables.

2. Examine a past campaign

Ask the candidate to present a joint campaign using documents they are authorised to share. Ask them to specify the objective, partner, audience and their personal contribution.

Examine a plan, an item of material and a results report rather than a general presentation of successes. Ask how the content was adapted to the joint value proposition.

Look for a clear connection between choices and results. A positive sign is the ability to distinguish what the candidate designed, coordinated and measured. Pay attention if their personal contribution is difficult to identify.

3. Propose a case close to the planned work

Fictitious example: your company is preparing a webinar with a partner that has limited marketing resources.

Ask for a short plan specifying the audience, joint message, materials and production responsibilities. Ask them to identify the necessary approvals and the person responsible for contact follow-up.

Then introduce a constraint: one piece of content will not be ready on time. Ask which activities they would retain, simplify or postpone, and why.

Assess the plan’s consistency and feasibility with the stated resources. A schedule full of activities without identified owners should prompt you to seek clarification. Limit the exercise to abilities useful for the role.

4. Discuss indicators and adjustments

Ask which indicators would help assess the webinar and decide on the next activity. Ask the candidate to distinguish participation, engagement, conversions and sales opportunities.

Discuss the data available and the data missing. Ask how they would work with marketing and sales operations to track results.

Look for an explanation of attribution limits. Tracking parameters can identify interactions without demonstrating on their own that a campaign caused a sale. Excessive confidence despite incomplete data deserves further discussion.

5. Assess coordination and references

Ask how the candidate secures a contribution from a partner whose team they do not manage. Ask them to explain a disagreement over priorities or content approval.

For a role involving team management, add questions about organising production and allocating tasks within the team. Distinguish this management from coordination between companies.

With the candidate’s permission, speak to a referee who worked on a campaign they presented. Ask for details about their contribution, communication and approach to difficulties.

Compare this evidence with the initial criteria. A persuasive presentation becomes more credible if the candidate also explains adjustments and uncertain results. Document the points still to clarify before making your decision.