The Partnership Economy

Unlock the enormous potential of strategic partnerships

You think you know partnerships, don’t you? But the nature — and growth potential — of partnerships for business has transformed in recent years. In The Partnership Economy, partnership automation expert and impact.com CEO David A. Yovanno delivers an insightful, actionable guide to navigating this newly defined era and growing your company’s revenue far beyond expectations.

Using real-life examples from well-known brands such as Fabletics, Target, Ticketmaster, Walmart, and more, the book offers practical frameworks on how to unlock the value of modern partnerships. Along with showing how partnerships build brand awareness, customer loyalty, and competitive advantage, Yovanno reveals the tremendous possibilities for growth when partnership agreements work in concert across all partnership types, such as influencers, commerce content publishers, business-to-business integrations, and affiliate rewards.

In this book, you’ll learn:

• Why and how the most innovative companies, both large and small, and across industries, invest in their partnership programs and consequently drive up to a third or more revenue for their organization
• How a variety of partnership types, including influencers, commerce content, traditional affiliate programs, and more, operate and how each can make a difference in your business
• Why you don’t have to wait — you can begin your partnerships strategy today, either in-house or through agency partners, with a point-by-point startup plan and roadmap for growth
• What partnership maturity means and how to diversify and grow your partnerships program to fully unleash your organization’s growth potential

Perfect for founders, executives, managers, and anyone responsible for revenue acquisition in any industry or sector, The Partnership Economy is an indispensable guide for anyone planning to grow their business and its revenue.

Preface: How Modern Partnerships Were Born

Part I: Welcome to the Partnership Economy

Chapter 1: Unlock Unexpected, Lasting Growth with Modern Partnerships — Featuring Sunbasket & Rastelli’s and Ticketmaster & Spotify

Chapter 2: Trust Is the New Black and Other Reasons Why Referral Partnerships Work—Featuring Booktopia

Chapter 3: How Partnerships Can Help You Meet Critical Business Goals—Featuring Autodesk, Revolut, Richer Sounds, and Uber Eats

Chapter 4: Engage Customers Wherever They Are on Their Customer Journeys—Featuring Walmart & Multiple Partners

Chapter 5: Six Building Blocks of Today's Partnerships—Featuring Harry’s

Part II: What Are Modern Partners?

Chapter 6: Coupon, Cashback and Rewards, and Loyalty Partners: Reach New Audiences, Drive More Sales—Featuring Ibotta & Kohl’s, Prodege

Chapter 7: Creators, Influencers, and Brand Ambassadors: The Powerful New Word-of-Mouth Play—Featuring Maria Catherine & Fabletics, LightInTheBox, Ivory Ella, Savage X Fenty, Patagonia

Chapter 8: Mass Media Publishers: When Old-school Advertising Doesn’t Work Anymore —Featuring Ziff Media Group and Better Homes and Gardens

Chapter 9: Mobile Partnerships: Be Where Your Customers Are All the Time —Featuring Uber, Patagonia, and Target & Samsung

Chapter 10: Strategic Business Partnerships: When Two Work as One—Featuring Qantas & Airbnb, Disney+ & Lyft, Hyrecar & Doordash, Tasty & Walmart, Spotify & Ticketmaster, Robinhood & TurboTax, Chase Sapphire Ultimate Rewards, and Hollister & Xbox

Chapter 11: Community Groups, Associations, and Caused-based Organizations: When the Higher Good Is Good Business—Featuring Giving Assistant, Kickstart & Banks & Retailers, Crocs & AAA, and Microsoft & Local Chambers of Commerce

Part III: Get Started in Partnerships

Chapter 12: How to Get Your Partnerships Program Started—Featuring Trust & Will and PartnerCentric

Chapter 13: How Does It Feel? Creating a Beneficial Partner Experience—Featuring Walmart, Blue Nile, eBay, Sur La Table, and Shopify

Chapter 14: What About Agencies? Your Partners in Partnerships—Featuring DMiPartners, Perform[cb] Agency, Gen3, Acceleration Partners, LT Partners , and JEB Commerce

Part IV: Unleash Your Partnership Potential

Chapter 15: What Is Partnerships Program Maturity and How Do I Get It? —Featuring Fanatics

Chapter 16 : Next Steps: Envision and Plan a Durable Partnerships Program—Featuring Lenovo and Blue Nile

Chapter 17: What’s Next? Prepare for Future Partnerships—Featuring HubSpot

Index

David A. Yovanno is the CEO of impact.com, the global standard partnership management platform that makes it easy for businesses to create, manage, and scale an ecosystem of partnerships with the brands and communities that customers trust to make purchases, get information, and entertain themselves at home, at work, or on the go. Dave and impact.com have been pioneers in establishing partnerships as a third channel for scalable and resilient revenue growth alongside sales and marketing.

Dave has provided strategic leadership to SaaS companies in the technology vertical for more than two decades, serving previously as CEO of Marin Software, a San Francisco-based global leader in paid search SaaS technology; as president, technology solutions of Conversant, a diversified marketing services company; and as CEO of Gigya, a customer identity management platform. He has also served on the board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau and as a lieutenant and CIO in the United States Navy.

The growth potential created by strategic business partnerships continues to increase at an unprecedented pace. Despite this, many executives, owners, and managers remain unaware of the foundational methods required to effectively create, manage, and scale partnerships to grow revenue, while at the same time becoming more relevant in the daily lives of today’s modern consumer.

In The Partnership Economy, partnership management platform expert and impact.com CEO David A. Yovanno delivers a groundbreaking, actionable roadmap to navigating the new era of partnerships, applying tried-and-tested techniques to grow your revenue beyond what you thought was possible.

Drawing on real-world examples from celebrated brands like Fabletics, Target, Ticketmaster, Walmart, and more, the book presents practical frameworks that unlock the value of modern partnerships. You’ll learn how to leverage partnerships to build brand awareness, customer loyalty, and a competitive advantage. You’ll also explore the possibilities created when partnership agreements work in tandem across all partnership types, including influencers, commerce content publishers, traditional rewards affiliates, and brand-to-brand partnerships.

The Partnership Economy demonstrates why and how the most innovative companies in the world today, both large and small, invest in their partnerships programs, and how you can start your own partnerships program from the ground up with a point-by-point startup plan and blueprint for growth. It explains how to achieve partnership maturity and how you can diversify your program to realize its full potential.

This book is an indispensable guide for founders, executives, managers, and other business leaders responsible for revenue acquisition in any industry segment. It’s a foolproof recipe for business growth, profit maximization, and strategic leadership.

Praise for The Partnership Economy

“The Partnership Economy is full of aha moments for anyone who’s been paying attention to trends in affiliate marketing like I have. It crystallizes why and how the affiliate model evolved into a new, distinct channel. The basic concept of referrals is the same, but the potential configurations, the consumer focus, and the lynchpin of trust are groundbreaking.

Especially exciting to me was the book’s discussion of partnerships for social good. It’s a smart blueprint every business leader should consider for combining business growth with positive impact.”

—Neil Patel, owner, NP Digital, and author of Hustle

“I’ve been in the business of growing companies for most of my career, helping to launch platforms like Slack and Salesforce. The Partnership Economy was an eye-opener. The quiet metamorphosis of affiliate marketing, the dramatic shift in consumer attitudes toward advertising—David A. Yovanno’s book unpacks all the factors that make partnerships an absolutely essential growth engine for brands today.

The business community needs to become fluent in the language of partnerships, and this book provides an outstanding introduction backed up by great case studies and solid data. It belongs on any executive’s bookshelf.”

—Bill Macaitis, former CMO of Slack, Zendesk, and Salesforce

“As the digital economy grows globally, partnerships will be the most important frontier. impact.com has been a leading light in creating a booming partnership economy. David A. Yovanno’s wisdom is prescient and timely.”

—Sunir Shah, CEO, AppBind and president, Cloud Software Association

“I’ve been immersed in partnerships for much of my career, especially on the B2B side, and finally we have the authoritative book on the subject. Partnerships are now one of the main drivers of business growth, and The Partnership Economy is the essential cookbook.

MBA candidates need this book as a go-to-market primer, C-level executives need it for growth strategy, marketers will get tactics and inspiration.”

—Michael McNerney, publisher, Martech Record