Put simply, a successful partnerships revenue strategy for any SaaS business depends on deep and diverse connections made with partners who all have their own engaged audiences. Relationships power growth in partnerships revenue, just as they have powered PartnerStack’s growth as a network for partners and SaaS companies.
What is the PartnerStack Network?
A partner network is made up of a SaaS company’s partners, of all partner types. At PartnerStack, we have our own network of connections that started with Customer ID number one. The PartnerStack Network is ultimately a digital hub of SaaS companies and partners transacting with each other to scale and grow revenue. It’s through this activity happening in the network that we can create growth and revenue opportunities for both vendors and partners as seen in our recent post about $1B in partner-sourced revenue in 2023. Today, PartnerStack's platform supports a network of more than 80,000 active partners and over 300 software companies that choose to scale their revenue through PartnerStack.
Where the PartnerStack Network began
The PartnerStack Network started when leading B2B SaaS companies chose PartnerStack to support their partner program, bringing with them their world-class partners. As the marketplace evolved, the PartnerStack Network was born as the action within the marketplace began to increase significantly — it became clear the opportunity for partnerships was starting to grow for both SaaS companies and partners.
In this open forum of revenue opportunity, our customers could list their partner programs and partners could apply to those programs. The PartnerStack Marketplace became a powerful tool for fostering connections between SaaS companies and partners.
The connections that vendors and partners continue to create with one another has scaled the PartnerStack Network into the single largest network for B2B partner-led revenue growth. But we’re not done yet. As we continue to grow and build momentum, we're adapting our approach to investing in our network's growth to prove that partnerships can be the revenue engine for SaaS.
See more: How partnership managers are redefining partnerships.
The future of the PartnerStack Network
The last year has shown big growth for our network, and the Network Team is here to foster that growth moving forward. As Nick Latus, PartnerStack’s Director of Partner Development puts it, “The PartnerStack Network presents the biggest opportunity for SaaS businesses and SaaS-invested publishers to grow. There is no other network in the world set up to power B2B success to the level PartnerStack is in 2023 and moving into 2024.”
PartnerStack as a managed network
As we’ve grown, we’ve continuously scrutinized how we uphold our values as a network. In doing so, we identified the opportunity to strengthen the way that partners and customers connect with each other by actively managing the partner side of our network. This move comes in the form of a network application process to support a deeper understanding of our partners. By introducing network applications, we are able to understand who our partners are, and how they work specifically with respect to B2B partnerships — a type of partnership that no other network fosters.
As of September 2023, PartnerStack has implemented a network application process for all partners who apply to the network partner programs listed in our PartnerStack Marketplace. This change allows us to get to know the business of every partner applying to new partner programs in our network while ensuring that we’re fostering an ecosystem of the best partners in B2B SaaS. As part of this process, each partner is manually reviewed to authenticate their business information.
“PartnerStack's Network Team is undertaking the huge task of getting to know every Partner signed up for PartnerStack. Serious,” confirms Latus. “We want to know what their business is all about, what they love writing about or creating videos around, vendors they want to work with — and our team wants to help facilitate those introductions.”
So what does that mean looking forward to 2024?
“We want to help our partners maintain an upward trajectory. We believe in being a network that can provide meaningful revenue streams for the established publishers, emerging B2B marketplaces, content sites and for emerging content creators,” says Latus. By introducing a network application, we’re able to actively maintain this upward trajectory through surfacing the right information about the right connections to SaaS customers across our ecosystem.
What the PartnerStack Network means for B2B SaaS companies
Our new network application process requires all partners to apply to the PartnerStack Network with their business information before they can apply to partner programs listed in the PartnerStack Marketplace. For B2B SaaS companies looking to scale their partnerships revenue with the right partners, this means only receiving applications through our marketplace from qualified, pre-vetted partners that represent the highest-caliber of B2B partners.
PartnerStack’s Director of Customer Success, Emma Sinai, elaborates: “We know that partnership managers are eager to build deep connections with current and prospective partners. Partnership managers want to understand partner audiences, their businesses, and the way they like to work. With the introduction of our network application process, we’re making this smoother than ever.”
Sinai continues, toting the benefits: “Partnership managers that list their program in our marketplace can expect to recruit and quickly understand the partners in our pre-vetted B2B partner network. Meaning, they can meaningfully shrink the time from recruitment to activation. These ideal SaaS partners are just a click away in our marketplace, waiting in application queues to fuel revenue growth across our network.”
With this change, customers can simplify their recruitment to scale their indirect sales revenue with the ideal partners for their businesses.
Related: The best strategies for Inbound and outbound partner recruitment.
What the PartnerStack Network means for partners
By hosting a selection of SaaS programs that offer some of the highest commissions in the industry, our network is any B2B partner’s destination for revenue growth. Our network application process has been designed to make partners’ businesses visible to partner program managers when applying to new partnerships. From individual web creators to established publishing companies, the network application process makes it easier and faster for partners to get approved and start earning a commission.
Plus, with the management practices that we’ve put in place, the world’s best partnerships are at the fingertips of every partner that is accepted into our network. Latus clarifies, “Our unique value is building B2B-specific partnerships. Our goal is for those partnerships to be long-lasting, transparent and create unheard-of earning potential.” With faster approval times, more information on our network partners and better partner discoverability, this network is built to help partners succeed.
What the PartnerStack Network means for the ecosystem
At PartnerStack, we measure the success of our network by the quality of connections that our ecosystem produces. Now more than ever, we’re prioritizing rich and meaningful partnerships with the updates that empower our network’s ecosystem of partners and vendors. We are proud that our ecosystem represents such a vibrant and invested group of B2B partnerships leaders. This network change signals our ongoing commitment to enriching our ecosystem with valuable connections for all.
As we look ahead at 2024, it's clear partnerships continue to be the key to growing and scaling revenue in B2B SaaS. The PartnerStack Network will continue to evolve so we can support the industry in the most effective ways. After all, no one should have to go at it alone — and anyone in partnerships knows this.
