Your engineering team spent six months building an integration with a major platform. It works beautifully. The API connection is solid. The data flows perfectly.
And almost no customers use it.
The integration sits in your marketplace listing with 47 installs. Your partner's customers don't know it exists. Your customers don't see why they need it. Both sales teams mention it occasionally but rarely as a selling point.
This is the technology partnership failure pattern. Companies invest heavily in building integrations, then treat marketing as an afterthought. They assume "if we build it, they will come."
They don't. Technology alliances only drive revenue when you actively market them to both customer bases.
After building technology alliance programs that generated $50M+ in mutual pipeline, I've learned: the integration is table stakes. The marketing is what drives adoption and revenue.
Here's how to do it.
Why Technology Alliances Fail to Drive Revenue
Most technology partnerships follow this pattern:
- Product teams agree integration would be valuable
- Engineering builds it (3-6 months)
- Both companies announce partnership (press release, blog post)
- Integration goes live in marketplace
- Teams move on to next project
Then everyone wonders why adoption is low and no pipeline materialized.
The failure points:
No customer demand validation. You built what was technically possible, not what customers actually need. Integration exists in search of a use case.
No joint value proposition. You can't articulate why customers should use both products together. "They integrate" isn't a value prop.
No go-to-market plan. Neither sales team knows how to sell the integration. Neither marketing team drives demand for it.
No activation experience. Customers who want to try the integration face a confusing setup process. Friction kills adoption.
No success metrics. You don't know if integrated customers are more successful, so you can't prove ROI.
Technology alliances drive revenue when you treat them like product launches, not engineering projects.
The Alliance Selection Framework
Before building an integration, validate it will drive business value.
Filter 1: Customer overlap and need
Do both companies serve similar customers who have workflows spanning both products?
Strong signal: Your customers frequently ask "Do you integrate with [Partner]?" or you see both tools in customer tech stacks.
Weak signal: "It would be cool to integrate" without customer demand data.
Filter 2: Workflow complementarity
Does using both products together enable better outcomes than using either alone?
Example of strong complementarity:
- CRM + Marketing Automation: Sales needs marketing data, marketing needs sales data
- Data warehouse + BI tool: Warehouse stores data, BI visualizes it
- Communication platform + Project management: Teams discuss work and track it
Example of weak complementarity:
- Email tool + HR software: No natural workflow connection
- Analytics + Accounting: Used by different teams for different purposes
Filter 3: Technical feasibility
Can you build a meaningful integration with reasonable engineering investment?
- APIs available and well-documented?
- Authentication mechanism compatible?
- Data structures mappable?
- Expected engineering timeline <3 months?
If building the integration requires 12 months of engineering, ROI probably doesn't justify it.
Filter 4: Go-to-market alignment
Do both companies have sales and marketing capacity to promote the integration?
Red flags:
- Partner won't commit marketing resources
- Partner won't train sales team on integration value
- No joint customer to reference
- Unclear who owns ongoing maintenance
Pass all four filters before committing engineering resources.
The Joint Value Proposition Framework
Integrations fail when you can't explain why customers should use them.
The value prop structure:
"[Customer type] using [Product A] + [Product B] together can [achieve specific outcome] that's not possible with either product alone. This results in [measurable business impact]."
Example:
"Revenue teams using Salesforce + Gong together can automatically log all customer conversations in CRM and trigger sales actions based on deal insights. This results in 20-30% faster sales cycles because reps have complete context without manual data entry."
Test your value prop:
- Can a sales rep explain it in 30 seconds?
- Does it articulate specific outcome, not just "they work together"?
- Is there measurable business impact?
- Would customers care about this outcome?
If you can't clearly articulate integration value, don't build it yet.
The Launch Campaign Strategy
Launch the integration like you'd launch a product feature.
Pre-launch (60 days before):
Build beta customer base:
- Recruit 10-20 customers who use both products
- Get them to test integration
- Collect feedback and testimonials
- Refine based on real usage
Create launch assets:
- Integration overview page (joint landing page)
- Setup documentation and video
- Use case explainer (2-3 specific scenarios)
- Customer case study showing results
- FAQ covering common questions
Align sales teams:
- Train both sales teams on integration value
- Create sales one-pager with value prop and demo talking points
- Develop discovery questions to identify integration opportunities
- Establish referral process between sales teams
Launch (Day 0-7):
Public announcement:
- Joint press release (if strategic partnership)
- Coordinated blog posts on both company sites
- Social media campaign from both companies
- Email announcement to both customer bases
Marketplace listing:
- Prominent placement in both app marketplaces
- Rich description with use cases and benefits
- Video demonstration
- Customer testimonials
- Clear installation instructions
Sales enablement:
- Internal launch announcement to sales teams
- Demo certification for sales engineers
- Competitive positioning (vs. competitors' integrations)
- Compensation incentives for selling integrated solutions
Post-launch (Week 2-12):
Ongoing promotion:
- Monthly webinars showcasing integration use cases
- Customer success stories published regularly
- Sales team deal coaching on integration opportunities
- Product marketing content (blogs, guides, videos)
Activation campaigns:
- In-app prompts for customers who use one product but not both
- Email campaigns to customers in both databases
- Integration recommendation engines
- Customer success team outreach to high-fit accounts
Most companies do great at launch day, then stop. Ongoing promotion drives long-term adoption.
The Customer Activation Playbook
Getting customers to install and use the integration requires removing friction.
Discovery: How do customers find out about the integration?
- In-app notifications when integration would add value
- Sales rep mentions during demos or QBRs
- Customer success recommendations
- Marketplace featured placement
- Email campaigns to qualified users
Education: How do customers understand the value?
- Short explainer video (2 minutes max)
- Specific use case examples
- Customer testimonials showing results
- ROI calculator estimating benefit
Activation: How do customers set it up?
- One-click authentication (OAuth)
- Clear step-by-step setup wizard
- Default configuration that works for 80% of use cases
- Setup progress indicator
- Test connection verification
First value: How do customers experience immediate benefit?
- Instant data sync upon connection
- Sample dashboard or report showing integrated data
- Onboarding checklist of quick wins
- Proactive customer success outreach
If customers can't get value in first 15 minutes, activation rates will be low.
The Revenue Model Design
How does the integration drive revenue for both partners?
Model 1: Mutual customer expansion
Both companies have customers who don't use the other product. Integration creates upsell opportunity.
Tactics:
- Identify customers using one product but not both
- Sales outreach: "You're using [Product A]. Have you considered adding [Product B] for [specific benefit]?"
- Offer integration setup support
- Track expansion revenue attributed to partnership
Model 2: Joint selling to new customers
Sell both products together as integrated solution to net-new customers.
Tactics:
- Co-sell to prospects evaluating either product
- Bundled pricing for both products together
- Joint demos showing integrated workflow
- Shared case studies proving integration value
Model 3: Influencing product selection
Integration influences which product customers choose in competitive evaluations.
Tactics:
- Competitive differentiation: "We integrate with [major platform], competitor doesn't"
- Sales battle cards highlighting integration as advantage
- Technical validation proving integration depth
- Customer references discussing integration value
Model 4: Reducing churn through ecosystem lock-in
Customers using integrated products are less likely to churn from either.
Tactics:
- Track retention rates for integrated vs. non-integrated customers
- Customer success team encourages integration adoption
- Product team builds deeper integration over time
- Renewal conversations highlight integration value
Measure revenue impact for all four models to prove ROI.
The Success Metrics Framework
Track these metrics to know if technology alliance is working:
Adoption metrics:
- Integration installs (total and monthly active)
- Percentage of eligible customers using integration
- Setup completion rate (started vs. finished setup)
- Active usage rate (installed but actually using it)
Revenue metrics:
- Pipeline influenced by integration (deals where integration was selling point)
- Expansion revenue (customers who bought second product due to integration)
- Win rate impact (do integrated value props improve close rates?)
- Customer lifetime value for integrated vs. non-integrated customers
Customer success metrics:
- NPS for integrated customers vs. non-integrated
- Retention rate comparison
- Feature usage depth
- Support ticket volume related to integration
Partnership metrics:
- Co-sell opportunities generated
- Joint customer count
- Marketing campaign performance
- Sales team engagement (how often integration is mentioned)
Set baseline expectations: 10-20% of eligible customers should be using integration within 12 months of launch.
The Ongoing Partnership Management
Technology alliances require ongoing attention, not just launch effort.
Quarterly business reviews:
- Review adoption metrics and revenue impact
- Discuss product roadmap alignment
- Identify joint customer expansion opportunities
- Plan next quarter marketing campaigns
Integration roadmap:
- Gather customer feedback on integration improvements
- Prioritize enhancements based on customer demand
- Coordinate product releases
- Communicate roadmap to sales teams
Continuous enablement:
- Quarterly sales training refreshers
- New customer success stories
- Competitive positioning updates
- New use case development
Issue resolution:
- API changes and version updates
- Bug fixes and technical issues
- Customer escalations
- Support process improvements
Treat technology alliances like long-term partnerships, not one-time launches.
The Reality
Building integrations is engineering work. Turning integrations into revenue is marketing work.
Most companies excel at the first and neglect the second. They build great integrations that drive minimal business value because they don't market them effectively.
Validate customer demand first. Build strong value props. Launch like a product. Drive customer activation. Measure revenue impact. Manage the partnership ongoing.
That's how technology alliances become revenue drivers instead of engineering expenses.