Unit economics measures the profitability of a single business unit — whether a product, customer or partner-driven transaction — by comparing its revenue to direct costs. For partnerships, this reveals whether collaborations like affiliate programs or co-selling deals are financially sustainable. A unit could be a partner-referred customer, where revenue from their subscription is weighed against acquisition and servicing costs. For example, if a partner generates a customer worth $1,000 annually but costs $300 to onboard and support, the positive unit economics justify scaling the relationship.

Leaders must analyze metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC) and lifetime value (LTV) to ensure partnerships drive efficiency, not just volume. A low-cost affiliate may deliver unprofitable customers if retention is poor, while a premium partner with higher CAC might yield better margins. By tracking unit economics per partner, revenue teams can allocate resources wisely, renegotiate underperforming deals and double down on high-value collaborations — turning data into scalable growth.

Upselling is the act of persuading a customer who is already making a purchase to switch their lower tier choice for a more premium option.
Upselling is a common sales tactic in both B2C and B2B marketing. Upselling is similar to cross-selling, which is when a salesperson persuades a customer to add additional complementary products to their purchase.

In B2B SaaS, this might be a longer subscription, or a more premium package that offers additional features or add-ons. In partnerships, your ecosystem partners can upsell or cross-sell your SaaS product to their existing customers as an effective marketing technique. Upselling is particularly effective when two SaaS companies partner together to offer a more inclusive service package of their complementary products.

UTM stands for urchin tracking module. A UTM is a tool used to track the success of digital marketing campaigns. A UTM is a snippet of code attached to the end of a URL that can be used to pinpoint specific sources of traffic to a website. They generally include a traffic source, a medium, and a campaign code, but can include up to five parameters (campaign source, medium, name, term, and content).

UTMs can help you identify top-performing content pieces and determine which pieces of content are driving the most traffic to your site.