Michelle Zhang on Acting as the CMO of Your Partnerships

Partner marketing isn’t a support function—it’s a leadership role. In this episode, Michelle Zhang shares how she approaches alliances marketing as the CMO of the partner business, owning everything from joint narrative and value creation to internal activation and execution.Drawing from experience across large enterprises and fast-moving startups, Michelle breaks down what it really takes to build high-impact technology alliances: activating sales and product teams, prioritizing the right partners, and creating “one-plus-one-equals-four” value for customers. She explains why partner marketers can’t wait for permission, how to navigate internal politics, and how to scale programs without reinventing the wheel every time.The conversation also tackles burnout, ownership, and why the best partner marketers succeed by inspiring the rest of the organization to move with them—proving that you’re never truly going to market alone when alliances are done right.