Global Channel Marketing

Global Channel supports global channel sales objectives and provides support to the GitLab channel partner community and customers.

Our Team

Global Channel Marketing team is a team of professionals whose job is to build marketing plans to grow the channel business worldwide. We think about our Channel Marketing program in terms of marketing to the channel partners, marketing through the channel partners, and marketing with the channel partners.

Marketing to the Channel

This team is responsible for the development of channel marketing campaigns that leverage GitLab’s go-to-market campaigns. We work with partners to help them understand what the campaigns are, how to use them to help drive partner sourced opportunities, how to leverage upcoming GitLab webinars/webcasts to drive conversion and how to generate trials for GitLab that they can nurture with prospects. Part of this program includes a Partner Leadership Summit, which is an in-person event meant to connect our channel partner leadership & GitLab direct leadership to share the GitLab vision and the important part our channel partners play in the success of our business.

Marketing through the Channel

The Global Channel marketing team provides support to partners by creating different campaign assets into leverageable go-to-market programs called Instant Campaigns that partners can easily pick up and run with their customer or prospect lists. GitLab channel marketing is also responsible for the development, rollout and management of trial enablement programs by which partners can generate trials of GitLab directly from their website, and passing or providing trial leads generated from GitLab’s own website to be worked and converted by partners.

Our Channel Marketing Managers support the channel go-to-market efforts through our MDF funding and management program and are responsible for ensuring they are building a strategic marketing plan with our marketing-ready partners (up-to-date SF report of marketing-ready partners - internal).

Marketing-Ready

Marketing-ready means:

  1. Partner has an approved business plan with GitLab
  2. Has a list of focus accounts mapped with GitLab
  3. Has a joint value proposition statement with GitLab
  4. Has a dedicated person who manages leads sent to the partner by GitLab (Partner Prospect Admin)
  5. Acknowledges the lead passing and recall process
  6. Has a dedicated marketing responsible person to work on the joint activities with GitLab
  7. Has regular calls with the GitLab Channel Marketing Manager (CMM)
  8. Acknowledges the MDF Policy and requirements for MDF process (requests & claims)

Channel partners are ultimately responsible for the execution of these campaigns.

Joint Marketing with the Channel

The Channel Marketing Manager works with the Field Marketing team to identify upcoming field marketing events and activities that channel partners can participate in for joint go-to-market activities. Both the Channel Marketing Managers or the Field Marketing Managers can suggest campaigns for marketing-ready channel partner participation. Requirements for this joint marketing can be found here.

Current Service Offerings

For an in-depth look at the programs and tools we offer our partners, see our marketing menu of services page.

  • Administering Marketing Development Fund (MDF) to provide financial reimbursement for APPROVED partner marketing campaigns and events. Requests must support GitLab GTM initiatives and adhere to the MDF Request Process detailed below. MDF reimbursement will be at 50% of the total campaign costs. There are three approval levels and each level has 2 business days to review and approve/decline the MDF proposal.
  • Turnkey, integrated instant marketing campaigns provide the collateral materials partners need to run a demand-generation campaign.
  • Provide review and approval for local/regional field marketing plans with partners
  • Build marketing plans with Marketing-Ready partners.
  • Build a repeatable, predictable, sustainable and desirable model enabling partners to receive, accept, nurture and close GitLab leads leveraging the GitLab Partner Portal and Deal Registration system.
  • Enable channel partners to add “GitLab free trial” functionality to their websites with marketing tools and lead passing to allow partners to effectively generate and nurture their own leads. This will serve as partner primary CTA within demand generation efforts.
  • For Marketing Ready partners, participate in partner QBRs and provide input and ideation on successful go to market campaigns and initiatives to help partners drive more business with GitLab.
  • On a monthly basis, provide marketing content and input to the Global Channel Operations team for use in the global channel communication/newsletter
  • On a quarterly basis, host global marketing webcasts to the partner community.
  • Support GitLab Analyst Relations requests for channel program input on MQs, WAVEs, market guides, as needed and with third party channel analysts.
    • Support requests for inclusion in third party publications
  • Support the web team in maintaining GitLab’s marketing website partner pages
  • Working with Sales Ops and Marketing Ops improve attribution and reporting of partner sourced leads (CQLs), and partner sourced opportunities.
  • Partner Concierge Program is starting a pilot program with a list of select partners approved for participation. Partner accepted into the program will have monthly meetings with Program’s Manager as well as a customer content calendar to track all social campaigns scheduled. Participants of the Concierge Program will not be able to participate in the MDF Program.

6 Month Planning Cycle with quarterly reviews: Channel Marketing Managers

The Channel Marketing Managers are responsible for creating channel marketing plans with our marketing-ready channel partners that align to a 6-month planning cycle with quartely reviews. This allows time for our channel partners to properly source resources and staffing for these campaigns.

  • Feb - July - Plans due second week of December
  • August - January - Plans due second week of June

The goal is that we eventually have our partners aligned to our planning cycle, but we realize that we need to take into account THEIR own planning cycle. Should there need to be a different planning cycle cadence to accommodate a Marketing-Ready channel partner, this should be clearly documented in the marketing-ready issue.

Tactically, how do we plan?

  1. The Channel Marketing Manager is responsible for identifying which of our partners are Marketing-Ready. This is done by the CMM completing a marketing-ready issue, indicating that the partner has committed resources to work with GitLab.
  2. The CMM builds a strategic plan of campaigns with the Channel partner’s marketing contact. The team is expected meet on as frequent of a basis as is needed to support the plan. At least bi-monthly.
  3. In advance of the due date for the plans (due dates listed above), the CMM is expected to add their plan directly into Allocadia. Our CMMs need to add their plan into Allocadia as this is where we track our program spend and can run reports based on the various attributes in the Allocadia details panel.
  4. Each campaign run by the CMM should have a related epic that further details out with the specific campaign entails.
  5. In advance of the quarterly scheduled QBR, which is run in alignment with Q1, Q2, Q3 & Q4 Field Marketing QBR schedule, the CMM’s will complete this regional deck. This deck should be shared with the regional channel sales directora as well as the partner account managers (PAMs) and partner territory managers (PTMs).
    • Communication about the campaign should happen in the epics, this Google slide deck is for the purpose of the QBR and high-level plan sharing. Allocadia,the epics and issues are the SSOT.
    • While it is our goal to avoid mid-execution timed campaigns, it is possible to submit for approval mid-planning cycle. Should that be the case, you do not need to go back into your QBR deck and add the activity.
  6. On a bi-annual basis (every 6 months) our CMMs are responsible for creating a scorecard with our partners. We have this scorecard in order to align around what’s mutually important to the success of both of our business and to help with goal setting for future quarters. This should be built in collaboration with the Marketing-Ready Channel partner.

Team Roles and Responsibilities

  • Channel Marketing Manager (CMMs) - Responsible for building and driving the marketing strategy with the Marketing-Ready partners, including the usage of MDF & proposing which partners are ready to run campaigns WITH the Field Marketing team. The CMMs are regionally aligned, to collaborate with PAMs and PTMs in specific geographies.

  • Field Marketing Managers (FMMs) - The field marketing managers are responsible for articulating where we need channel partner engagement to drive demand generation plans, the FMMs collaborate directly with the regional Channel Marketing Managers to execute marketing campaigns WITH the marketing ready channel partners.

  • Partner Program Marketing Managers - Develops scalable marketing programs to support Partners.

Once a plan for the quarter has been established it is imperative that the CMM, partner marketing contact & PAM/PTM stay in close, consistent alignment about plan execution. If there is a plan in place where the channel partner is participating in a program WITH GitLab lead by the Field Marketing team, its the expectation that the Field Marketing team is executing this campaign jointly with the regional partner. The CMM should be involved to help communicate with and hold the channel partner accountable, as they own the marketing relationship with the partner.

Tracking Success

GitLab Marketing receives ‘credit’ for opportunities that are partner-sourced so long as the opportunity has a BATP (Bizable Touchpoint) from the campaign. We also track deal registrations specifically from MDF spend. This can be tracked on our lead sharing dashboard and is detailed out in our Marketing Strategy & Analytics handbook page, here.

How We Communicate with Channel Partners

Channel Marketing communicates with Partners through two online platforms and via a quarterly webinar.

Partner Flash/News On Demand

Partners who create a profile in the GitLab Partner Portal are automatically included in our broad communications and marketing announcements through our Partner Flash newsletter and custom program and marketing announcements. This is our default method of communication. Partners may alter their preferences, such as the frequency of communications, preferred topics and declination of receiving messages, in the My Profile section of the portal.

For more information about Partner Flash/News On Demand and process to become a contributor, please see the Channel Program Operations handbook page.

Quarterly webinars to Channel Partners

Global Channel Marketing hosts a quarterly webinar for our partner community. Our goal is to provide updates and general marketing program news, as well as highlight one to three larger marketing program topics for a deeper dive. Invitations are sent via our Partner Flash and News on Demand platform. We target the global list of marketing contacts (those who have chosen a “marketing” role in their profile) as well as those in GitLab Channel roles, including our sales and program operations teams. Invites are sent 30 days in advance of the event with a follow up at two weeks out and one day prior. Those who register will receive a reminder email the day before the event. Members of our global channel marketing team attend and speak during the webinar, along with special guests from other GitLab organizations, depending on the topics we are covering. Thank You and Sorry We Missed You emails will be sent post-event and provide access to webinar recordings, assets and resources.

Our FY25 webinars dates are:

  • February
    • 2024-02-28 AMER/EMEA
    • 2024-02-29 APAC
  • May
    • 2024-05-29 AMER/EMEA
    • 2024-05-30 APAC
  • August
    • 2024-08-28 AMER/EMEA
    • 2024-08-29 at APAC
  • November
    • 2024-11-27 at AMER/EMEA
    • 2024-11-28 at APAC

Visit our partner portal page for registration links for future webinars, access to past recordings, assets and resources.

Post event survey results

The results from our post event survey can be found here.

Technical platform used to host

Our team hosts the Channel Partner webinar using On24. Details on how this operationally set up can be found here.

MDF Program Introduction

GitLab Marketing Ready partners have access to the proposal-based GitLab Marketing Development Funds (MDF) Program. These funds are intended to support our partners’ demand generation efforts.

MDF Investment Objectives:

  • Demand Generation - The objective of these activities is to gain net-new end-user customers for you and GitLab. Examples of eligible activities include seminars, workshops, telemarketing or email marketing campaigns, participation in tradeshows, exhibitions, and direct mail. - Eligible costs may include mailing costs, fulfillment items, lead qualification, distribution, venue costs, food and beverages (excluding alcoholic beverages), speakers’ fees, management costs, and lead capturing costs. - GitLab supports a limited number of partners in the selected regions, please check your eligibility with your regional Partner Account Manager and Channel Marketing Manager.

  • To be considered for funding support you must: - Be a Marketing Ready GitLab Partner. Marketing ready means: - partner has an approved business plan with GitLab - has a list of focus accounts mapped with GitLab - has a dedicated person who manages leads sent to the partner by GitLab (Partner Prospect Admin) - acknowledges the lead passing and recall process - has a dedicated marketing responsible person to work on the join activities with GitLab - has regular calls with the GitLab Channel Marketing Manager - acknowledges the MDF Policy and requirements for MDF process (Requests and Claims) - Comply with GitLab Proof of Performance (POP) requirements for the activity - Meet minimum required MDF request amount of $1,000 USD - GitLab will cover up to 50% of the total cost of the activity

Requesting MDF funds

  • Marketing Ready Channel partners with marketing plans in place will submit MDF proposals through the Partner Portal, and GitLab approvers will be notified of the request via email.
    • The MDF proposal will go through 2 levels of approvals
      • Level 1 approval - Channel Marketing Manager
      • Level 2 approval - Sr Partner Program Manager
    • Once the MDF request has been either approved or declined the partner will be notified: - If declined, the Channel Marketing DRI will reach out to the partner and let them know. We will copy the PAM/PTM on the notification - If approved, the MDF Operation’s team will open an epic and correlating sub-issues defined therein.
    • Once Epic has been created, the following sub-issues are created automatically and are linked to the Epic (links are to templates):
      • Campaign Creation
        • List Upload
        • MDF POP
          • For POP issues add labels:
          • MDF-POP and use the scoped labels below to work through the approval process:
          • MDF::POP Pending issues created but POP has not yet been received
          • MDF::POP Approval Needed once POP is received change this status to have Samara Souza approve the POP documents submitted
          • MDF:: POP Approved POP has been reviewed and is approved, list can be uploaded into List upload issue, Zip requisiton can be created
          • MDF:: POP Completed Once all of the steps above are completed, change to this status and close the MDF POP issue
    • Once all sub-issues are completed, close out the epic.

PTO Process for MDF Request Approvers

Prior to your PTO, as an MDF request approver, you will need to update the Delegated Approver to your reporting manager so they have access to approve MDF requests while you are away. When you return, please remember to remove the Delegated Approver.

When an approval request email is sent to the assigned approver, the delegated approver also receives an email notification that there is an approval request to review. Delegated approvers can’t reassign approval requests; they can only approve or reject approval requests.

Following the steps to update your Delegated Approver:

  1. Log into Salesforce
  2. On the top right of the page, click on the your name to drop down a menu, then select My Settings
  3. On the left column, click on Personal > Approver Settings
  4. In the settings:
    1. Select the Delegated Approver (This would be your manager)
    2. Select If I am an approver or delegated approver
    3. Save.

Demand Generation activities eligible for MDF

Details are listed out in the MDF handbook.

These activities are captured as Campaign Type Details on the campaign level in Salesforce.com for Partner - MDF Campaign Type only.

Requesting Swag for Channel Events and Awards

We offer Marketing Kit Swag for Marketing Ready partner, these kits consists of:

  • Banner stand
  • Table Cloth
  • 1000 stickers
  • 200 Swag items (examples would be: colorful cable set, iPhone stand, bottle opener key chain, etc) Please work with your Channel Marketing Managers to order your Marketing Kits.

Concierge Program

The Partner Concierge Program was created to help support partners to promote campaigns in their social channels by using a through-channel marketing automation platform to empower partners to market to their customers using co-branded campaigns. The tool is known as TCMA Demand Generation and it will be known for Partners as the Marketing Center within the Partner Portal. Partners will have a monthly meeting with the Program’s Manager and receive a customized content calendar that best suits their needs. In the Marketing Center, Partners will have access to real time reporting.

Key Features:

Social Syndication - SMARTlink technlogy directs each call to action to the relevant Showcase page that belongs to the partner whose post generated the demand. Lead Management - gives your partners the ability to manage all the leads generated within the TCMA system via our simple dashboard.

How to Participate:

Reach out to partner-marketing@gitlab.com with the subject line: Partner Concierge Program and we will respond within 1 business day to schedule an introductory meeting.

Partner Instant Marketing Campaign

With GitLab Instant Marketing campaign assets, GitLab’s Select and Open partners have access to marketing resources to help them quickly, and easily generate qualified prospects for their sales teams. We’ve developed turnkey, integrated partner campaigns-in-a-box, which we refer to as “Partner Instant Marketing” campaigns, so partners can simply and easily co-brand assets and execute!

These assets leverage GitLab go-to-market motions, such as DevSecOps and Automated Software Delivery, but are modified and expanded (in some cases) for partner use. Campaign assets include: nurture emails, landing pages, short videos, mini-books, social media and paid ads, quick sales guides and sales call scripts. All assets can be found on the GitLab partner portal.

Our modular campaign is designed to be a flexible, self-service model, so partners can download an entire campaign, or a couple of assets, and the materials are customizable and co-brandable. These campaigns are also available in 6 languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Spanish.

Partners and team members may review current campaigns available to partners by logging into the Marketing Demand Generation section of the partner portal.

Partner-Initiated GitLab Free Trial Lead Gen Program

Get all the assets you need to host a GitLab Ultimate SaaS or Self-Managed free trial custom link on your own website and run an end-to-end multi-touch campaign, offering customers and prospects the opportunity to try before they buy. We provide two unique tracking links that direct your prospects and customers to the GitLab 30-day Self-Managed or SaaS free trial registration forms. Free Trial lead requests come in and are tagged with your partner ID and then routed automatically into the partner portal deal registration prospect section. Partners can access and manage their GitLab leads in the same interface as their deal registration.

We currently offer the Self-Managed form in English, Spanish, German, French, Korean and Japanese and the custom SaaS free trial form in English.

How to Sign up for the GitLab Free Trial Program

  • Reach out to the GitLab Global Channel Marketing team via email at partner-marketing@gitlab.com to get your custom free trial link(s) and assign your your Partner Prospect Admin. This role will need to be assigned before you test and use your free trial link.

    • Please note if you are using the SaaS free trial form you must add the following consent on your website and any marketing materials you are using that point your customers to the SaaS free trial form:

      I agree that GitLab may share the data in this form with the GitLab partner that referred me to this landing page and GitLab’s partner may contact me by email or telephone about relevant products, services and events. You may opt-out at any time by unsubscribing in future emails or contacting the GitLab partner directly.

  • Next, test your custom URL to ensure you are receiving the leads inside the partner portal deal registration prospect section.

    • Learn more about where to find your leads by watching this video.

  • Use our ready made assets to create co-branded display ads, social posts, and emails to invite prospects to the trial. Link to your custom free trial URL to drive traffic to the Free Trial landing page.

  • Once a user registers for a free trial on the landing page, they receive an auto-generated email from GitLab with their license key. Your next step: nurture and convert those leads! The links below provide you with the copy and supporting assets that you need to run your own email campaign to nurture your leads over the next 30-days on their buyer journey, from evaluation to purchase.

  • GitLab has created customizable assets that include social posts, display ads and emails to help promote your custom free trial links. You can download the full kit of free trial assets here.

  • We recommend promoting these social posts and display ads on the following platforms:

    • LinkedIn
    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • X (formely Twitter)
    • Developer focused communities such as Stackoverflow

  • GitLab has provided you with a list of recommended AdWord keywords that can effectively help you target your desired audience and increase visibility for your microsite and free trial links. These keywords cover a wide range of topics related to DevSecOps and have been carefully selected to target the relevant audience interested in topics related to DevSecOps, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and software development. This list can be found here.

  • Additionally, it is asked that partners add “GitLab” as an account level phrase match negative keyword to their Google Ads.

GitLab Hosted Partner Microsite Program

Content syndication can be a great way for organizations to get information and messaging onto partnersʼ websites. But often, this content isnʼt optimized for search engines, plus it can become outdated and inaccurate unless partners maintain it, and it offers only limited metric tracking. To help our partners have access to the latest content available, we created a demand generation Partner Microsite Program. With a little information and commitment from you, weʼll build and maintain a co-branded microsite with compelling information for your customers. We offer the microsite in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Korean.

Check out a sample microsite.

How to Sign up for the GitLab Hosted Partner Microsite Program

  • Provide us with your company logo, contact information for a designated person to receive and take action on leads and a value statement for your company (value statement optional).
  • GitLab generates a co-branded microsite with content that is consistently refreshed with the latest GitLab solution-level messaging. The microsite will include a customer call-to-action for a 30-day Free Trial. Weʼll provide you with a unique URL to include in your nurture efforts. Note, the call-to-action for this campaign is for customers to take a 30 day free trial. We currently offer the Self-Managed free trial on our English, Japanese, French and German sites and the SaaS free trial on our English sites. Note, you can add the 30-day free trial functionality to your own website by accessing our Free Trial campaign.
  • You commit to running at least one full nurture effort (including at least three emails), pulling a target lead list with a minimum of 50 customers from your own database, taking follow-up action via either telemarketing or direct sales contact on all leads routed to your organization, tracking the results of the leads through your own Salesforce system, and providing GitLab with a report three months after the completion of the campaign. Note: You can create the content for your nurture emails or Google ad campaign, or you can leverage materials in GitLab’s Instant Marketing Campaigns.
  • You can schedule custom reporting to receive leads that come in from your nurture emails and marketing efforts.
  • GitLab will provide you with metrics reports on a bi-weekly basis.
  • GitLab will manage any changes or updates to the microsite and notify you of changes.

Channel Partner Program Participation Overview

Channel Partners can enroll in multiple Partner Programs including the Microsite and Free Trial offerings. We keep track of the program participation by updating the Salesforce Activity, which can be reviewed in a SFDC Report.

Anytime a partner registers to a new program, the Channel Partner Program DRI must complete the following steps to ensure we can accurately report on the program participation:

Video instructions >

  1. Identify the Partner Account of the Channel Partner Program

    1a. Ensure the Account Detail - Account Record Type = Partner

    1b. Ensure the GitLab Partner Program Info - Partner Type = Channel

  2. On the Account page layout, go to Open Activities, select a New Event

  3. In the New Event, add the following:

    3a. Input the Subject:

    • Microsite Program - Partner Site
    • Microsite Program - Sales Site
    • Free Trial Program - Self Managed
    • Free Trial Program - SaaS
    • GitLab Dedicated Landing Pages
    • Partner Concierge Program

    3b. Select the Type to Marketing

    3c. Update Description if applicable. If they have a GitLab Dedicated Landing Page, you can add the URL here.

    3d. Unselect Reminder

    3e. Save

Note, the subject needs to be an exact match of what’s displayed above, otherwise, it will not show up in the SFDC report.

Beyond our Team’s Scope

  • Custom campaigns: Channel Marketing does not currently have the resources to support individual partner campaigns and events. Please encourage your partners to leverage one of our turnkey, and integrated Instant Marketing Campaigns available on the Partner Portal.
  • Unique Partner Asset Creation: Channel Marketing is unable to work directly with partners to customize their marketing assets.
  • Event speakers: The Channel Marketing team does not have the resources to help locate GitLab speakers for partner events.
  • Partner Blogs: The Channel Marketing team does not have the resources to craft unique content to support a partner blog or content request.
  • Public Relations: The Channel Marketing team is not responsible for editing or approving blogs or partner press releases. Please see the Corporate Communications handbook page for more information.
  • Sponsored social media posts: partners looking to GitLab to promote partner activities would not route those requests through Channel Marketing. Instead, CAM’s obtain the partner’s social media channels and create an issue for the Social Media team. This request should include the partner’s social media information, detailed description of what we are being asked to promote and target dates.
  • Event attendance: The Channel Marketing team does not own a database of contacts by which to drive attendance to partner specific events nor do we possess the resources to support such requests.
  • Partner training is managed and supported by the Channel Partner Training, Certifications, and Enablement team.
  • Partner portal management: Partner portal administration is managed by GitLab Channel Program Operations.

Meet the Team

  • Samara Souza: Senior Partner Program Manager, Samara’s focus is on creating new programs for our partners to leverage in their demand generation motions which are the MDF Program, Partner Concierge Program and Swag Program.

  • Lauren Roberts: Partner Program Manager, Lauren will be focusing on supporting our Channel Partner programs including the Quarterly Marketing Webinars, Free trial program; Partner Microsites, MDF and integrated instant marketing campaigns for GitLab channel partners.

  • Gabby Chorny: Senior Channel Marketing Manager for AMER and PubSec. Responsible for Planning, and MDF allocation of AMER Managed Partners. Works closely with PAMs and PTMs and the Field Marketing Team

  • Daria Polukanina: Channel Marketing Manager for EMEA and APAC. Responsible for Planning, and MDF allocation of EMEA and APAC Managed Partners. Works closely with PAMs and PTMs and the Field Marketing Team

The best way to contact our team is through our Slack channel

channel-marketing

Channel Marketing Campaign Issue Templates & Epic Codes

Channel Marketing Epics

Operational set up of Partner Marketing Campaigns

The Channel and Alliance share the same operations/process in Marketo. They both require CRM Partner ID in their list import and UTM parameter (form fills).

We have two smart campaigns the filter the CRM Partner IDs by Alliance and Channel Partner lead.

  1. Channel Partner - When CRM Partner ID reflects a Channel Partner Account ID (18), then it will populate the Vartopia Partner Account required to sync to Vartopia, mark the leads as marketing suspended, and additional fields to support the Channel Partner lead workflow.
  2. Alliance Partner - When CRM Partner ID reflects an Alliance Partner Account ID (18), it doesn’t populate the Vartopia Partner Account.

The main difference between Channel vs Alliance partner leads are:

CRM Partner ID (For list import and form fills) Passed to Partners via Vartopia Marketing Suspended Lead Score Responsible for Lead Follow Up
Channel Partner leads Yes Yes Yes No Partner
Alliance Partner leads Yes No No Yes GitLab S/BDRs

An addition, Interesting Moment also highlights whether a lead participates in a Channel or Alliance campaign.

Example:

ALLIANCE LEAD with {{my.Partner Name}} visited Booth at {{my.event name}} on {{my.event date}}. Location: {{my.event location}}

and

CHANNEL LEAD with {{my.Partner Name}} visited Booth at {{my.event name}} on {{my.event date}}. Location: {{my.event location}}

Channel Marketing Campaigns

This handbook page is to walk through the technical and operational setup of different partner campaign types from Marketo → SFDC → Vartopia, including Marketo and SFDC campaign set up for MDF, Joint GitLab and Partner, Trials and Partner Managed Campaigns.

The general steps required for creating a partner campaign include:

  1. Clone and update Marketo program template and tokens.
  2. Sync Marketo program to Salesforce - if necessary update campaign info.
  3. Import the partner lead list.

Email Management

When a lead is passed to a partner, they will be suspended from GitLab marketing unless they opt-in specifically to GitLab marketing after being passed, or the partner returns the lead to GitLab. Read more on the email management page.

Keep in mind, they will still be eligible for operational email sends - which includes most follow up emails. If you want to exclude them, you will need to add a parameter to the smart list of that send campaign to say Prospect Share Status not equal to Pending, Sending to Partner, Accepted.

Note that the smart list, SSOT - ALL EMAILABLE already excludes partner leads.

Scoring

Leads that are actively being worked by the partner will be excluded from scoring. Once they are no longer being worked by the partner, they will be scored again. More details on the scoring page.

Channel Partner Lead Sharing via Vartopia

Leads generated from Channel Marketing campaigns are shared to Channel Partner in Vartopia where they can accept, reject and action by Partners. There are specific fields that are required to allow leads to sync, to list a few: Vartopia Partner Account, Prospect Share Status and Partner Prospect Status. Learn more, see the Vartopia handbook page.

Note that Channel Partners refer to Vartopia as Prospects in the Partner Portal, as they can only access Vartopia through SSO via the portal.

Partner Recall

The recall process is built to be able to pull back partner leads that are not being actioned in Vartopia. Not all partner leads are subject to recall, only Joint GitLab and Partner campaign leads can be recalled. See the full overview.

CRM IDs for Channel and Alliance Partners

For a running list of Channel Partners and their CRM IDs, which is critical to the channel partner lead flow, click here, while the CRM Partner ID for Alliance Partners can be found here.

Types of Partner Campaigns

Partners have many different type of campaigns that fit into specific categories. Each campaign has it’s own ROE for lead routing and email practices. See the campaign flow chart to understand how leads are distributed.

Issue first - Partner Pilot

In an attempt to extend our GitLab CREDIT values to our partner ecosystem, the EMEA teams have decided to run a pilot with partners where the partner will be invited to collaborate in GitLab issues for joint event execution. More info can be found in the Partner Pilot Issue.

MDF Campaigns

MDF campaigns involve financial support or funds provided by GitLab to the Channel Partners to manage a lead generation campaign. These campaigns follow their own processes not found on the campaigns-and-programs page.

🖇️ Quick Links: Lead Routing

Before starting this steps, note you’ll need to have already set up the Allocadia subcategory and line item.

Step 1: Setup Marketo Program

  1. Clone Marketo Template and update program name: YYYYMMDD__MDF_000_Partner_Name_Region_Event_Name.
  2. Select the Program Name on the Summary page, this will unlock a description, where you will update description with the links to the SFDC MDF request, Coupa ID and Allocadia ID (if you have it), then Save.
  3. Update the Marketo tokens: {{my.Partner Name}} with Partner Name and {{my.CRM Partner ID}} with Account ID (18).

Step 2: Sync Marketo Program to SFDC

  1. In the Marketo Program Summary page, in Salesforce Campaign Sync, click on Not Set.
  2. Salesforce Campaign Sync will pop up, with a Campaign dropdown, select Create New, then Save. This will automatically populate the campaign tag, so you do not need to edit anything.

Step 3: Update SFDC Campaign

  1. Under Vartopia Partner Information, select the Partner Account and check Sync to Vartopia for the campaign to sync to Vartopia.
  2. Budgeted Cost in SFDC pulls from your plan number, not your forecast number from Allocadia. If you do not have a plan cost in Allocadia then Budgeted Cost in SFDC will remain blank. If this is the case, you will want to add in your Budgeted Cost manually into your SFDC campaign.
  3. Once Allocadia has updated the SFDC campaign, you will need to double check Campaign Type and make sure it still says Partner - MDF. If it does not, please update the field.

Step 4: Update List Upload Request Issue

The list import issue will be automatically be created via Allocadia - GitLab issue integration.

Skip to step 2 of the list import instructions for partner leads.

Joint GitLab and Partner Campaigns

When GitLab and Partners participate in campaigns together including events, webinars and more.

🖇️ Quick Links: Lead Routing

NOTE: For Vartopia sync, the campaign field, Is Channel Partner Involved? = Yes.

First, use the general set up, found in campaigns and programs page. The partner steps are nested in the typical Marketo program templates to clone. Once the campaign is cloned, follow the steps below in addition to the other setup steps found on the campaigns and programs page.

All Marketo templates will have 2 tokens added to them that the campaign owner should update, {{My.Partner Name}} and {{My.CRM Partner ID}}.

  • Partner Name: Does not need to be official, it will be used on the form consent language and interesting moments, so needs to be customer facing. Example: By registering for this GitLab and {{My.Partner Name}} event....
  • Partner ID: All partner IDs can be found here.

Online Campaign - Lead Capture via Form/Landing Page

These instructions must be completed prior to launch.

  1. Update the Marketo tokens: {{my.Partner Name}} with Partner Name and {{my.CRM Partner ID}} with Account ID (18).
  2. Update Registration Landing Page to use FORM 3146: Partner + GitLab Joint Event with Token
    • To update the page:
      • Right click Registration Landing Page, edit draft.
      • Under Elements, find Custom Form and double click on the form.
      • Update Edit Form Settings, select: FORM 3146: Partner + GitLab Joint Event with Token and click Swap.
      • Top right, Landing page Action select for the dropdown menu, then click Approve and Close.
  3. Processing Registration Smart Campaign
    1. Processing smart campaign’s Smart list must reference the landing page used in Program.
    2. Schedule, Activate smart campaign.
  4. Set up asset expiration as described here, if needed.
  5. (no setup needed) Marketo will process.
    1. If there is a CRM Partner ID,
      1. Set Vartopia Partner Account
      2. Set Partner Consent = True.
  6. (no setup needed) Interesting moments will dynamically change if there is a partner involved to reflect that.
  7. (no setup needed) Traction picks up from there, and the lead is routed accordingly to either GitLab or the Partner in Vartopia.

The process above will work for an event with multiple partners driving to it. Make sure they have their UTM Paramter URL correct when sending traffic to the registration page. You still need to fill out the token, but only one value will be accepted. Please decide ahead of time who the default partner is that will receive the leads they did not source.

Offline Campaign - Lead Capture via List Upload

If a form/landing page isn’t available to capture registrations, see List Import for Partner Leads.

The process above will work for an event with multiple partners driving to it. Make sure they have the partner ID properly appended to each person on the list. You still need to fill out the token, but only one value will be accepted. Please decide ahead of time who the default partner is that will receive the leads they did not source.

Partner Sponsored Events

GitLab allows Channel Partners to sponsor our owned events. The leads acquired by the Channel Partner will be shared regardless of their Lead Status and BDR Prospecting Status and will not be applicable to the recall process despite Lead Source = Owned Event and not Partner Qualified Lead.

Lead Acquisition Source needs to be manually updated to Partner Sponsored Event in the Marketo program flow. To do so, the steps below must be followed.

Step 1: Should there be any Partner sponsors, the Partner Marketing team specify to Marketing Operations team which campaign/program and Channel Partners are the sponsors.

Step 2: Marketing Ops team will need to update the program flow.

Step 2a: Update the smart campaign flow according to the lead creation method:

  • For online lead creation via form submission, update 01b - Registration
  • For offline lead creation via list import, update 02b - Manual Upload Processing

Step 2b: Update the data change value from:

If Vartopia Partner Account is not empty, Lead Acquisition Source change value to Owned Event

to

If Vartopia Partner Account is empty, leave blank (Do Nothing).

Step 2c: Add Choice: If Vartopia Partner Account is equal to Account ID of the Partner Sponsor (s), Lead Acquisition Source change value to Partner Sponsored Event

Trials from Partners

Self-Managed Free Trial

Partners can host our self-managed trial form. They will have a specific UTM parameter that is captured upon form submit that allows us to pass that lead directly to the partner. Each page must have the UTM utm_partnerid in the URL populated, otherwise we cannot pass to the partner. See the UTM Paramter URL section for more on how to set up the URL for partners.

🖇️ Quick Links:

Every partner trial campaign can utilize setup from Partner - Trial - Self-managed campaign, without creating a new Marketo or SFDC campaign.

Returning Trial Requesters

GitLab allows only one self-managed trial license key per user. In the case, when a lead returns and attempts to fill out the self-managed trial form from Partners, they will be prompt with a rejection email.

As partner leads are suspended from receiving marketing communications, the Marketing Suspended status is temporarily switch to False to send the email to the recipient.

SaaS Free Trial

Partners can use the SaaS free trial submission via GitLab.com. They will have a specific UTM parameter that is captured upon form submit that allows us to pass that lead directly to the partner. Below explains the backend for the activity.

🖇️ Quick Links:

Each page must have the UTMs in the URL :

  • glm_source and glm_content to pass to the partner
  • utm_source to track online touchpoints

Example

https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_source=partner&utm_source=partner&glm_content=0014M00001pg2zmQAA

NOTE: glm source and utm_source should always be equal to partner and glm_content will be equal to the CRM Partner ID associated with the partner account.

There is no marketo program or SFDC campaign setup necessary to track SaaS trials. Every partner trial campaign can utilize setup from Partner - Trial - SaaS campaign, without creating a new Marketo or SFDC campaign.

Partner Managed Campaigns

Partner managed campaigns are marketing activities organized and leads generated are owned by partners.

Partner Campaigns

Note that this type of campaign are not generated by MDF.

Step 1: Setup in Marketo

  1. Clone the Marketo program template: YYYYMMDD__Partner_Name_Event_Name_Region
  2. Update the Marketo tokens: {{my.Partner Name}} with Partner Name and {{my.CRM Partner ID}} with Account ID (18).

Step 2: Sync to Salesforce Campaign

  1. In the Marketo Program Summary page, in Salesforce Campaign Sync, click on Not Set.
  2. Salesforce Campaign Sync will pop up, with a Campaign dropdown, select Create New, then Save. This will automatically populate the campaign tag, so you do not need to edit anything.

Step 3: Update Salesforce Campaign

  1. Update Campaign Type Details
  2. Change the Campaign Owner to your name
  3. Update Start Date to the date of launch
  4. Update End Date to when the campaign concludes
  5. Update Budgeted Cost - If cost is $0 list 1 in the Budgeted Cost field. - NOTE there needs to be at least a 1 value here for ROI calculations, otherwise, when you divide the pipeline by 0 you will always get 0 as the pipe2spend calculation.
  6. Update Region and Sub-region if you have the data available
  7. Update Is a Channel Partner Involved? = Yes
  8. Update Channel Partner Name
  9. Click Save.

Step 4: List Import

Follow the steps in List Import for Partner Leads.

Alliance Marketing Campaigns

This section is to walk through the technical setup of webcasts hosted by GitLab and/or Alliance Partner. Unlike Channel leads, Alliance leads follow the regular lead and contact statuses and scoring model.

Webcast Setup

All Marketo templates will have 2 tokens added to them that the campaign owner should update,{{My.Partner Name}} and {{My.CRM Partner ID}}.

The CRM Partner ID can be retrieved by identifying the Account ID (18) of the Alliance Partner - refer to this list.

First, use the general set up found in campaigns and programs page. The partner steps are nested in the typical Marketo program templates to clone. Once the campaign is cloned, follow the steps below in addition to the other setup steps found on the campaigns and programs page.

On24 Webcast Hosted by GitLab - Lead Capture via Form

GitLab can drive webcasts with Alliance Partners using On24. To incorporate the steps required for partners, follow these additional steps.

Step 1: Setup in Marketo

  1. Update the Marketo tokens: {{my.Partner Name}} with Partner Name and {{my.CRM Partner ID}} with Account ID (18).
  2. The registration landing page must have the following:
    • FORM 3299: Alliances with a hidden field that captures utm_partnerid.
    • The URL must include the utm parameter with the CRM Partner ID to the landing page to lead to be associated with the Alliance partner.
  3. Activate 01a Registration Flow (single timeslot)
  4. Activate 00 Interesting Moments and interesting moments will dynamically change if there is a partner involved to reflect that.
  5. (no setup needed) Marketo will process.
  6. If there is a CRM Partner ID
    1. Set CRM Partner ID (Look up)
    2. Set Partner Type = Alliance Partner (by Salesforce)

Step 2: Update SFDC Campaign

  1. Update Campaign Type Details
  2. Change the Campaign Owner to your name
  3. Update Start Date to the date of launch
  4. Update End Date to when the campaign concludes
  5. Update Budgeted Cost - If cost is $0 list 1 in the Budgeted Cost field. - NOTE there needs to be at least a 1 value here for ROI calculations, otherwise, when you divide the pipeline by 0 you will always get 0 as the pipe2spend calculation.
  6. Update Region and Sub-region if you have the data available
  7. Update Budget Holder
  8. Update Is an Alliance Partner Involved?
  9. Update Alliance Partner Name
  10. Click Save.

Webcast Hosted by Alliance Partner - Lead Capture via List Upload

NOTE: Upon list import, ensure the Google sheet column for CRM Partner ID is populated, this will help associate the partner lead with the Alliance partner.

If a form isn’t available to capture registration, follow these additional steps:

Step 1: Update Tokens in Marketo

  • Update the Marketo tokens: {{my.Partner Name}} with Partner Name and {{my.CRM Partner ID}} with Account ID (18).

Step 2: Update SFDC Campaign

  1. Update Campaign Type Details
  2. Change the Campaign Owner to your name
  3. Update Start Date to the date of launch
  4. Update End Date to when the campaign concludes
  5. Update Budgeted Cost - If cost is $0 list 1 in the Budgeted Cost field. - NOTE there needs to be at least a 1 value here for ROI calculations, otherwise, when you divide the pipeline by 0 you will always get 0 as the pipe2spend calculation.
  6. Update Region and Sub-region if you have the data available
  7. Update Budget Holder
  8. Update Is an Alliance Partner Involved?
  9. Update Alliance Partner Name
  10. Click Save.

Step 3: Update CRM Partner ID Column in Google Sheet

  • In the list upload, include the CRM Partner ID value in the spreadsheet column. If the lead is not associated with an Alliance partner, leave the column blank.

Step 4: Update List Upload Request Issue

List Import for Partner Leads

  1. Create a list import issue using the issue template found in the Marketing Operations project titled general-list-import-request.
  2. For the list import spreadsheet (found in the list import issue), be sure to follow the general instructions.
    1. For specific instructions related to Partner, here what you need to know:
      1. Ensure the CRM Partner ID column is populated with the Account 18 (ID)
      2. Lead should not be marked as Opt-In, unless they specifically opted in to GitLab emails.
      3. Phone number is mandatory for Vartopia sync, make sure that field is populated.
  3. Once spreadsheet is completed, proceed with self service list import instructions.
  4. (no setup needed) Marketo will process.
    1. If there is a CRM Partner ID that equals to a Channel Partner Account ID (18),
      1. Set Vartopia Partner Account - if CRM Partner ID is asociated to a Channel Partner.
      2. Set Partner Consent = True
    2. If CRM Partner ID equals to a Alliance Partner Account ID (18),
      1. Do nothing.
  5. (no setup needed) Interesting moments will dynamically change if there is a partner involved to reflect that.

UTM Parameter URL

The UTM parameter URL plays a huge part on partner lead routing and reporting. We utilize utm_partnerid in the UTM parameter URL to capture the Account ID (18) of the Partner Account, which populates into the CRM Partner ID. This process is embedded as a hidden field in all our partner-related Marketo forms. Each page must have the utm_partnerid in the URL, otherwise we cannot pass to the partner.

You can use the UTM link builder to create your URLs.

Note that, the Account ID (18) is case sensitive when populating utm_partnerid into the URL. This means it has to be an exact match when you input the ID in the URL, otherwise partners will not receive their leads.

For a running list of Channel Partners and their CRM IDs, which is critical to the channel partner lead flow, click here, while the CRM Partner ID for Alliance Partners can be found here.

If you are working with an Open or Select partner who is not listed in the linked SFDC report, their partner ID which can be found in their Partner Account record within SFDC, in the 9th section called Vartopia Deal Registration Access. If you can’t find the field, do a quick commandF for the word Account ID (18) and that will take you to the ID or you can retrieve the 18 character ID from the Salesforce URL. If for some reason the ID is missing, reach out in the #channel-programs-ops slack room.

Field Glossary

Below are the glossary of fields used for Channel and Alliance partner campaigns and workflows.

Channel Partner Channel Partner Distributor Distributor Alliance Partner Alliance Partner
Leads Records Leads Records Leads Records
Alliance Record X
Channel Record X X
CRM Partner ID X X X
CRM Partner ID (Look Up) X X X
Lead Acquisition Source X
Partner Consent X X
Partner Managed X
Partner Manager X
Partner Type X X X
Subscribe - Partner X X X
Vartopia Partner Account X

Go to the Vartopia page to review fields that are relevant to Vartopia.

Alliance Record

This field shows when a record belongs to an Alliance Partner meaning they are an employee of said Alliance Partner. When this field is checked = true, the record will be suppressed from general marketing communications.

Channel Record

This field shows when a record belongs to a Channel Partner meaning they are an employee of said Channel Partner. When this field is checked = true, the record will be suppressed from general marketing communications.

CRM Partner ID

This field is populated with the Salesforce Account ID (18) of Partner Account used for both Channel and Alliance.

For a running list of Channel Partners and their CRM IDs, which is critical to the channel partner lead flow, click here, while the CRM Partner ID for Alliance Partners can be found here.

CRM Partner ID (Look up)

The lookup field retrieves the name of the partner account associated with the Account ID (18) used for both Channel and Alliance.

Lead Acquisition Source

This field records the source type of the partner lead. The biggest driver for this field is to isolate the source type that applies to the recall process including Owned Event and Trial - Enterprise.

The reason why Initial Source isn’t used for this use case is because the field value must equal to Partner Qualified Lead to be attributed to and sourced by Partner.

This field indicates when a lead has granted consent to allow their information to be shared with a Partner. This only applies to Channel Partners because Alliance Partners are not enrolled in the lead-sharing module.

Partner Type

This field specifies when a partner lead is associated with a Channel or Alliance Partner account.

Partner Managed

This field marks when a lead is managed by a Channel Partner via Vartopia. Vartopia Partner Account must be populated and their Prospect Share Status and Partner Prospect Status must have a status that suggests they are being worked on by a Channel Partner.

  • Partner Prospect Status = Qualifying, Qualified or Converted to DR, or
  • Prospect Share Status = Sending to Partner, Pending or Accepted.

Partner Manager

This field reflects the Account Owner, Channel Account Manager or Partner Account Manager associated to the partner account.

Subscribe - Partner

This field records when a lead has opted-in to Partner communications. Subscribe - Partner resides only in Marketo.

Page moved here: https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/channel-marketing/
Channel Marketing Epics
A comprehensive list of all of Channel Marketing epic codes.
Last modified April 16, 2024: Program Updates: MDF, Swag and Concierge (79eb36a1)
View page source - Edit this page - please contribute. Creative Commons License