I shared some of the lessons the Octane AI team has gained from building and growing a partner program in the Shopify ecosystem at the Shopify meetup in Toronto. Many of the attendees asked me if I would send them my slides. Instead, I've decided to publish the slides from my talk at Shopify, in the hopes that this knowledge will help other SaaS companies -- as well as agencies -- build successful partner programs in their ecosystems. Scroll down and you will find the slides. Covered in this deck: - The benefits of a partner program - How Octane AI grew 20-40% month-over-month by leveraging its partner program - How to start an agency and tech partner program - Partner program on-boarding and organization - Technology stack for managing partner programs - Integration strategy - Co-marketing strategy - Building loyalty and exclusivity

1. 7 Steps to Building and Growing an
Incredible Partner Program
Ben Parr, President & Co-Founder

2. Agenda
● Why Build a
Partner Program?
● How to Build a
Partner Program

3. Ben Parr
President and Co-Founder

4. What Is Octane AI?
Octane AI enables
ecommerce businesses to
automate marketing, support,
and sales conversations over
messaging apps.

5. We are Klaviyo for Facebook
Messenger

6. We Provide Messaging Automation
Throughout the Ecommerce Customer Journey
Octane AI generates 10-20% average lift for its customers

7. We Grew Really Fast in 2018
20 to 40 percent month-over-month growth, driven primarily by partners
Revenue
from
Shopify

8. 1,000+ Merchants Now Use Octane AI

9. The majority of our top customers
come from our agency and
technology partners

10. > 60% of Octane AI’s Revenue Comes
From Our Partners
40% Agency Partners
20% Technology Partners

11. Some of Octane AI’s Ecommerce Agency Partners

12. We signed 50+ agency partners in
the first 3 months of our partner
program

13. Why Agencies Are Working With Octane AI
● Increase revenue and decrease costs for their clients
● Offer new service (Messenger/bot management) to clients
similar to services they provide for email
● Revenue share
● VIP support
● Client referrals
● Placement in Octane AI’s partner directory
● Co-marketing with Octane AI, Chatbots Magazine, and
Ecommerce Magazine

14. “Our partnership with Octane AI is immensely valuable to
MuteSix's clients, and to our organization as a whole. Not only
do we stay at the forefront of Messenger marketing with the
training, support and product updates provided by Octane AI --
we've also grown our business through co-marketing
opportunities and thought leadership in the space.”
Rachel Tyers, VP Strategic Partnerships, Mutesix

15. “As an agency focused on helping our clients grow their e-
commerce businesses, we’re always on the hunt for new
technologies and interesting strategies. Octane AI is clearly
emerging as a leader in the messaging and conversational
commerce space, something that’s of great appeal to merchants
looking to expand their marketing automation beyond email.
Since joining their partner program, they’ve provided fantastic
support and resources to our clients.”
Ross Beyeler, Founder, Growth Spark

16. “We love that Octane asked what we wanted in a partnership
program, listened to the answers, and implemented the
solutions. The resulting partnership program, along with their
best-in-class technology, is why Hawke Media's Lifecycle
Marketing team chose Octane AI as our go-to FB Messenger
marketing solution. We move fast and stay on the bleeding
edge to make sure our clients have the best solutions available
to grow quickly and beat the competition, so having a partner
like Octane is a perfect pairing!”
~ Greg Portnoy, VP of Strategic Partnerships & Alliances -
Hawke Media

17. "For our clients, evaluating the right applications for their
businesses can be overwhelming due to the myriad of options.
Our partnership with Octane AI is driven by constant
communication, exchange of knowledge and learning. This helps
us to stay current and deliver impactful solutions faster.”
Johannes Weirather, Chief Executive Officer, Blackotter

18. Octane AI integrates top
ecommerce products, giving stores
and retailers an easy way to sync
their data and campaigns

19. Octane AI Technology Partners

20. Octane AI co-markets with its
integration and technology
partners, leading to new customers
and deals

21. "Good technology partnerships are built off first and foremost on
meaningful integrations that drive value for merchants. From
there, having a great team to collaborate with on marketing and
business development is crucial. Octane AI has both and we
have seen a lot of value from our partnership."
Stewart Wesley, Technology Partnerships, Yotpo

22. “Ben, Matt and the whole Octane AI team are innovating in
aspect of their business; from the marketing they produce down
to the product they deliver - including the first of it’s kind
integration with Smile. They’re a ton of fun to work with and
extremely knowledgeable, we couldn’t be more thrilled to call
them a partner.”
Stuart Arsenault, Partnerships, Smile.io

23. "The program that Octane AI has put in place shows that they
truly understand what matters to their technology and agency
partners. The Octane AI team is extremely responsive, moves
quickly on initiatives, and is constantly thinking of new ways
drive more value for their partners through co-marketing and
other initiatives."
Ali Aldrich, VP of Partnerships, Privy

24. "The Octane AI team understands that a true partnership is
about enabling success for both your integrated and services-
based partnerships. Octane AI provides both the personal
support and the materials to succeed with their technology. They
get it right."
Jamie Tharp, Vice President, Partnerships & Business
Development, Justuno

26. How do you build a great
partner program that drives leads
and sales?

27. 1: Establish a Consistent
Onboarding Process

28. Actual onboarding
email we send to our
agency partners to
simply the process.

29. 2: Build a Technology Stack for
Partners

30. Octane AI uses
PartnerStack for rev
share payouts and
PartnerPage.io for our
agency and partner
directories

31. 3: Set up Shared Slack Channels
with Your Partners

32. (We got the idea from
our partners at
Smile.io)

33. Benefits of Shared Partner Slack Channel
● No need to switch between Slack accounts
● Build shared sense of community and camaraderie online
● Efficient way to brainstorm and hop on phone calls
● Solve customer problems in real-time
● Reduce email!

34. 4: Integrate, Integrate, Integrate

35. The Most Ecommerce Integrations
Yotpo ReCharge Klaviyo Gorgias YextShopify
Smile.ioPrivy Justuno
Our integrations are the #1 reason ecommerce brands choose to work with us.
(Actual slide in our
sales deck)
Shopify merchants
choose Octane AI
because it has the most
(and best) ecommerce
integrations

36. Integrations (Smile.io)
Automatically drive more customer referrals through Facebook Messenger
The Smile.io integration sends a message to people
14 days after they make a purchase, asking about
their purchase. If the response is positive, the bot
will reward them (with points or discounts) if they
share the product directly ini Messenger.

37. 5: Innovate on Your Co-Marketing

38. Instead of webinars,
Octane AI teaches an
Ecommerce
Messenger Master
class
1,000+ students joined
the Master Class in
the first month

39. ...which they then share,
which drives leads!
We interview our partners
in the Master Class...

40. Partners can write
for Ecommerce
Magazine, a
publication Octane
AI created to
educate consumers
on ecommerce.

41. Octane AI also owns
Chatbots Magazine --
300,000+ monthly
pageviews

42. 6: Make a Joint Case Study Your
Key Objective

43. New case study page
Octane AI just published,
featuring Mutesix, one of
our first agency partners

44. Joint case studies give our partners
an easy way to promote the ROI of
our product to their customers

45. 7: Create Exclusivity and a
Mythology for Your Partners

46. This is Octie, our
adorable robot mascot
who helps your store
grow!
There are only 3 ways to
earn an Octie:
- Make $1,000+
using Octane AI
- Join Octane AI’s
Partner Program
- Be an Octane AI
employee or
investor

47. Octie playing
foosball at
BVAccel, a top
Shopify Plus
agency

48. Octie doing his Simba
impression with Octane
AI CEO Matt Schlicht
(left) and Smile.io
partnerships manager
Stuart Arsenault.

49. The first Octie
being personally
delivered to
Klaviyo at its HQ
in Boston

50. Octie with ReCharge
Head of Growth Chathri
ali

51. Octie with Shopify Plus
partner manager Gerard
Pinto!

52. Look out for Octie at ecommerce
conferences!

53. Conclusion
● Partners can dramatically amplify your marketing and sales
● Your partner program must be organized
● The most beneficial partners care about the relationship,
not the rev share
● Your customers care about integrations
● There is no better piece of content than a joint case study
● Make your partners feel special (because they are!)
● Always make your partners look good, especially in front of
their clients and customers

54. Email Me If You Want to Partner
(And earn an Octie!)
ben@octaneai.com
business@octaneai.com