Nearbound Marketing: What It Is and How It Works
Demand generation that runs through partners by borrowing their trust, measured as pipeline.
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AI-Native PRM: What It Is and Why It Beats Bolted-On AI
What is an AI-native PRM? Short answer: An ai-native prm is a partner relationship management platform built from the ground up around AI capabilities rather than bolted on later. It treats the data model, the user interface, and the workflow layer as AI-first surfaces from day one. That distinction matters because traditional PRMs were architected […]
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Editor's Picks
MDF Programs That Generate Real Pipeline (Not Just Activity)
Short answer: most MDF (Market Development Funds) programs in B2B SaaS waste 50 to 70 percent of their budget. The cause is structural, not size. MDF gets framed too narrowly as marketing money. It then goes to partners who will not run the activity that drives pipeline. The fix is a defensible MDF program that […]
Joint Demand Generation: How to Run Co-Marketing That Converts
Short answer: joint demand generation campaigns with partners produce 2x to 4x the ROI of solo demand-gen when designed correctly. They produce 0.5x or worse when designed wrong. The difference comes down to four design decisions. You need a shared ICP, a single accountable owner, lead-level attribution, and a structured handoff motion. Get those four […]
Agentic Partner Ops: The Next Layer of the AI Stack
Agentic partner ops is the application of autonomous AI agents to the operational layer of partnerships work: agents that take actions, not just surface recommendations. Where AI partner manager (the previous generation) drafts emails for human approval and surfaces opportunities for human action, agentic partner ops executes the workflow end-to-end. Send the partner check-in email. […]
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Alex Buckles
Partner Activation: The Work That Turns Enablement Into Pipeline
Partner activation is the work of getting partner sellers, technical teams, and customer success people to actually run deals alongside the vendor. The industry calls this enablement; the work that produces revenue is activation. Most B2B SaaS partner programs invest heavily in enablement content (training portals, certification badges, recorded courses) and underinvest in activation (motion […]
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PartnerStack Alternatives in 2026: A Buyer’s Comparison
PartnerStack alternatives for 2026: Impact.com, Allbound, Kiflo, Impartner, Reditus, and Rewardful — when each fits, plus an evaluation framework.
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Alex Buckles
AI vs PRM: When to Replace and When to Layer
The “AI vs PRM” framing in 2026 is misleading because it collapses three different things into a binary. There are AI-native PRMs (Introw and Euler, purpose-built around AI agents and CRM-native architecture), traditional PRMs that have added AI features (Impartner, PartnerStack, ZINFI, MindMatrix’s Bamboo AI), and AI-native co-sell orchestration platforms that sit above the PRM […]
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Co-Marketing Campaigns That Actually Convert (and Why Most Don’t)
Co-marketing campaign design is where most partnership programs hit a wall. Two marketing teams with different brand voices, different audience targeting, different metrics, and different approval cycles try to ship a joint campaign in 6 weeks. The campaign launches late, both sides feel underserved, and pipeline attribution is unclear. The fix is structural: design the […]
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Alex Buckles
Conversation Intelligence for Partner Sales: Beyond Gong
Partner conversation intelligence is the application of AI-powered call analysis (the technology Gong, Chorus, and Clari pioneered for direct sales calls) to partner-facing conversations: joint customer calls, partner manager check-ins, joint discovery calls, and partner activation sessions. Unlike direct-sales conversation intelligence, partner conversation intelligence has to handle two distinct speakers from different companies, attribution of […]
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Head of Partnerships: The 2026 Role, Scope, and Hiring Guide
Head of Partnerships in 2026: what the role does, when to hire one, how to structure the role, and how to run a hiring process that doesn’t miss.
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Alex Buckles
Channel Marketing Agency: When to Hire One, How to Pick One in 2026
Channel marketing agency in 2026: when to hire one, how to evaluate one, the four practical agency categories, and the pitfalls that kill engagements.
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Alex Buckles
What Is PRM Software? The Honest Definition
PRM software is the most overloaded acronym in partnerships. It is one category of four, with specific leaders and specific use cases. Here is the honest definition and what gets confused with it.
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Alex Buckles
Partnerships Agency: What They Do, When to Hire One, How to Pick One
Partner agency in 2026: the four practical categories, when to hire one vs. build in-house, and how to evaluate without falling for the credentials slide.
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