Managed service providers (MSPs) offer additional services on top of a vendor’s SaaS product in exchange for a recurring fee. They are able to carve a revenue stream by providing customers with technical support for the product. Working with MSPs typically mean agreeing to longer term contracts because of that ongoing support (in comparison to working with value added resellers that provide more transactional work).

Also see: "value added resellers."

Noun

[mar-ket-ing duh-vell-up-mint fun-dz]

Marketing development funds (MDFs) are resources (most often monetary, sometimes knowledge-based) that a business grants to its channel partners to aid in their sales and marketing efforts.

Marketing development funds can be used by marketers to fund a range of initiatives, but some of the most popular include brand awareness, covering the cost of sales lead list rentals, or supporting efforts like webinars and lunch-and-learns.

Marketing development funds may be distributed only to top-performing partners, or a company may employ a proposal system where all partners can apply for funding. Funds are usually given within an agreement wherein partners must be able to report on their use and ROI, which can help build a case for future or continued MDF investment.

Example: The marketing team at Lotus applied for MDF dollars from their vendor to pay for a series of radio ads. The funding led to a marked increase in brand awareness, so they decided to apply for the funding again next quarter.  

Also known as an affiliate partner. A marketing partner drives traffic to your properties through tracked links, and earns a cut of your profits when that traffic converts. They are able to expand the reach of your brand by promoting to their respective niche audiences.

Also see: Affiliate partner

‍

A metric used to track how many new partners join your program on a monthly basis.

A measure of the partner-sourced revenue that's generated on a monthly basis.