Don't Get Left Behind: The Ecosystem-Led Marketing Train
The GTM Newsletter
The tracks are laid.
The train is in the station.
All aboard!
But don’t worry, it’s not leaving.
The adoption of an ecosystem-led approach to growth is integrating into the go-to-market environment as an entire motion. So while I say train… it’s not a one-off, it has many trips.
Today, we’ll look at how ecosystem-led growth specifically manifests in marketing.
Let’s get into it.
Interested in learning how we’re partnering with sponsor companies? Reach out to sophie@gtmfund.com
Ecosystem-Led Marketing (“ELM”)
Ecosystem-led growth has been and continues to gain momentum as a go-to-market motion. How this impacts marketing specifically 👇
What this means:
Ecosystem-led marketing is defined as “a strategy in which two or more companies collaborate on GTM motions using second-party data to generate leads and create highly targeted, personalized, and effective customer experiences. This marketing approach leverages second-party data, which is first-party data that is shared, not sold, between two trusted companies” (Crossbeam).
As JK Sparks (Head of Marketing at AudiencePlus) expresses, “ecosystem-led marketing is inherently collaborative. Implementing this strategy taps into partnerships that leverage the strengths and innovations of various players. It also allows brands to align themselves with other players in their industry, boosting recognition and awareness within their target audience.”
ELM “In The Wild”:
Marketing with this ecosystem-led approach has been snowballing with momentum. In 2024, the snowball is looking like it will be a full-fledged snowman.
Forrester states that “the most popular priority of B2B marketing leaders for the next 12 months is an increased focus on achieving B2B revenue and growth via the partner ecosystem/channel.”
ELM campaigns can be seen and provide inspiration for others looking to implement this strategy.
Taking an ecosystem-led approach has become the standard for all new integration launches at RollWorks. Their playbook is not only focused on driving integration adoption among mutual partner customers, but also on building partner-sourced pipeline by targeting prospects who are customers of partners. More on the ELM campaigns RollWorks ran with Drift to come to this conclusion here.
JK Sparks and the AudiencePlus team regularly collaborate on events and content with other brands. JK shares that this approach is valuable in two ways:
It brings more value to AudiencePlus’ audience and market. By sharing success, failures and learnings, they can help move the industry forward.
It aligns the AudiencePlus brand with other respected brands, building credibility and establishing trust across our shared audiences.
Ved Rasic, CEO at LeadDelta, who has adopted ELM campaigns nicely summarizes: “Success is generated in the agency of others. Maintain your professional relationships balance in surplus, pay it forward, and your network will reward you with great returns.”
Ecosystem-led growth is on the rise in 2024, opening up exciting opportunities for marketing.
👀 More for your eyeballs:
Partnerships is a big part of overall ecosystem-led growth and Partnership Leaders just released The CPO Report 2023, a report on the current state of the Chief Partnership Officer role and the route for VPs to progress to the C-Suite.
👂 More for your eardrums:
Daniel Weiner is a former agency executive turned Founder. He started YouShouldTalkTo in 2020 amidst the madness of the pandemic and 3 years later has turned it into a 7-figure business. In this episode, you will learn how to assess what type of external support is the best fit is for you (agency/fractional/freelancer). Additionally, Daniel details a playbook for vetting agencies upfront and making process as efficient as possible.
Keep your eardrums open for two upcoming special edition episodes!
🚀 Start-ups to watch:
Dan Wright (Co-Founder and CEO of Armada / former CEO of DataRobot) and Jonathan Runyan (Co-Founder and COO) released their startup to the world this week: Armada, the world's first full stack edge computing platform. Their mission is to bridge the digital divide and bring connectivity, compute, and AI to the most remote corners of the globe. Read more in Forbes’ article or watch the video on their website.
🔥 Hottest GTM jobs of the week:
Mid Market Account Executive at Vividly (Remote - US)
Account Executive at Vanta (Remote - US)
Business Development Manager at Owner (Remote - US/Canada)
Customer Success Lead at Gorgias (Toronto, Canada)
Revenue Operations Manager at Vividly (Remote - US)
See more top GTM jobs on the GTMfund Job Board.
That’s it, that’s all.
Final push of the year! We just had our team holiday dinner last night, which made the horizon of 2024 feel extra real.
Any guesses what we had?
…🍝🍝🍝…!
(3 emojis because, well, we ate a lot).
Have a great weekend ahead.
Barker ✌️