SKILL.md

Co-Marketing Partnerships

The best partner shares your audience but not your revenue line: same buyer, different problem, adjacent step in the workflow. Everything else is scoring, logistics, and follow-through.

Workflow

Load context. If a product marketing context file exists in the repo (.agents/product-marketing.md or .claude/product-marketing.md), read it first. Only ask for what it does not cover: ICP, audience size, existing integrations, past partnerships.
Build the candidate list. Sources, in order of signal strength: existing integration partners, tools customers use before/after yours, requested integrations, same-category marketplace neighbors, companies sponsoring the same podcasts and conferences, account-overlap tools if available.
Score each candidate 1-5 on six criteria: audience fit, audience size, brand alignment, engagement quality, reciprocity potential (can you offer equal value?), ease of execution (do they have a partnerships team?). Rank, take the top 5.
Pick the campaign format. Match effort to relationship stage using the format catalog in references/campaign-formats.md. First collaboration: start low-effort (newsletter swap, joint webinar). Proven partner: escalate (research report, co-hosted workshop).
Pitch. Draft outreach using the template in references/campaign-formats.md. Bring 2-3 specific campaign ideas, your audience numbers, and a clear ask. "Let's do something together" gets ignored.
Structure the deal. Align in writing on: lead ownership, promotion commitments per side, who creates and approves assets, timeline, success metrics, follow-up plan. Agreement outline is in references/campaign-formats.md.
Measure. Leads generated per partner, MQL/SQL conversion, attributed revenue, audience growth, plus the qualitative read: was the partner responsive, would you run it again.

Verification

Do this before pitching any partner list: for each of the top 5, state in one sentence why their audience matches your ICP and what you offer them in return. Expect a concrete answer for both halves. If the reciprocity half is empty ("exposure"), cut the candidate or find a real trade, unbalanced pitches get declined.

Good vs Bad

Bad: "Partner with a big brand in your space and do a joint ebook." Ignores reciprocity: a company 50x your size has no reason to split leads with you.

Good: "Partner with the scheduling tool your customers mention in onboarding surveys. Similar list size, complementary workflow step. Open with a newsletter swap (each keeps own leads, zero legal overhead), and propose a joint webinar if the swap performs."

Footguns

Partnering with a budget competitor. Same buyer persona is good, competing for the same line item kills the deal downstream. Fix: check that the products co-exist in a customer's stack.
Lead-split ambiguity. The most common post-campaign fight. Fix: agree lead ownership in writing before any asset is built.
Effort mismatch. A high-effort research report with an unproven partner burns a quarter. Fix: first campaigns are always low-effort formats.
No promotion commitments. One side builds, the other side ghosts. Fix: minimum promotion commitments per side, in the agreement, with dates.

Completion checklist

[ ] Context file checked before asking questions
[ ] Candidates scored on all six criteria, top 5 ranked
[ ] Reciprocity sentence written for every recommended partner
[ ] Campaign format matched to relationship stage
[ ] Deal terms cover leads, promotion, assets, timeline, metrics

Any box unchecked: not done. Fix or say so.

co-marketing