#220: Why B2B Partnerships Might Be Your Biggest Growth Opportunity Right Now

In this video, we dive into why B2B partnerships are one of the most powerful (and underused) growth strategies in 2026, and how to get your first one off the ground.

We cover:

Why partnerships act as a trust shortcut with your target audience, how rising paid media costs (up ~14% per year) are making partnerships more essential than ever, and the exact 4-step framework to land your first B2B partnership.

If you are a B2B marketer or founder struggling with rising customer acquisition costs and want a more affordable, high-trust way to reach your ideal customers.

Tune in and learn:

- Why partnerships transfer trust from aligned brands to your audience

- How overlapping ICPs make partnerships more effective than cold outreach

- Why AI-generated content is making owned audiences even more valuable

- The importance of executive buy-in and clear KPIs to make partnerships stick

- Brian's #1 tip: don't go for the big fish first. Start with complementary, similarly-sized partners

- The 4-step action framework: identify, shortlist (top 3–5), reach out, and go deep

-----------------------------------------------------

🔗 Links + CTAs

-----------------------------------------------------

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organization with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

-----------------------------------------------------

SUBSCRIBE to our channel: / @theb2bplaybook

SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter

GET the latest CONTENT: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

-----------------------------------------------------

Timestamps:

00:00 – Why partnerships are a trust shortcut

00:56 – Welcome to Season 8 (first in-person recording!)

02:14 – The Five Bs Framework recap

10:52 – Why noise is getting worse (and what to do about it)

12:18 – The real-life analogy: partnerships as personal introductions

14:24 – Rising paid media costs & the 14% CAC benchmark

16:14 – How partnerships help share distribution costs

18:08 – Why AI makes trust-based channels even more important

20:04 – Key ingredients: overlapping ICP & give-and-get relationships

24:22 – Getting executive buy-in & setting clear KPIs

26:13 – The fastest way to kill a partnership

29:14 – The 4-step action framework to get started this week

-----------------------------------------------------

👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S08 E220 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #partnerships #b2bmarketing